How Do I Properly Add Fish?

[Twoapennything]

Hi everyone,

I have typically gone to my LFS and purchased a handful of new fish and brought them home to my tank. I have had a lot of problems with my fish dying off though. I just lost my angelfish, which was a real bummer. I'm wondering what recommendations you have for stocking a tank. Should I buy one fish at a time? If so, how long should I go in between buying new fish? Currently I have a 40 gallon tank with a large school of neon, glowing, and serape tetras, two moonlight gouramis, and three silver dollars. As you know, silver dollars can grow to be 6"; mine are about 2.5 inches right now. Well, two of them are; one is still pretty tiny at 1". The gouramis are about 3-3.5 inches from mouth to tail. What kind of fish would you introduce to my tank (if any) and how would you suggest that I go about it? Thanks in advance for any replies.

Julie

 

[Tropical boy]

You can buy more then one fish at a time especially small ones like neons as the only reason for adding small quantities at once is so as the bio load is not increased by a large amount at once and to allow the beneficial bacteria to grow without an ammonia spike. When adding the fish I leave the sealed bag in the tank for about 30 mins to allow the temp to equalise with the tank water. After this I add small quantities of tank water to the bag of fish to allow them to get used to my water slowly to reduce the shock. I will add water to the bag 5 - 6 times over the course of around 3 hours, meaning the total acclimatisation period can take 4 hours or more. Remember the fish being in the bag is not as stressful as the fish being put into new water with different parameters. This is just the method I use and I have tried to perfect it over the years and this is the best I have come up with.

 

[tyspot1000]

For any fish tank, the general rule for stocking with fish is 1-3 at a time (For schooling fish, you can get away with getting a school of 6). So, depending on the fish you want, depends on how you can stock your aquarium. Bigger fish that have big bio-load should be added alone.

Always wait 2 weeks before adding any new fish, this is so that the bio-load can catch up from adding the other fish.

Really, I think your tank is overstocked. Generally, the problem with that stock is the silver dollars. They can get as big as a saucer (7-9 inches long), they need to be in schools of 6 also, that being said, they need at least a 55 gallon or more. Besides SD's, I think your tank would be stocked, but thats just my 2 cents.

 

[fort384]

How long has the tank been set up? Do you have a test kit? If so, what are the parameters testing at?

Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH