Prepping your tank for more fish:

[chesspupil]

I have a working idea... Do you think it will work?

If I have a tank that is at 50% bio-loaded based on 1" fish per gallon, can I take an already cycled tank and add 3-5 drops of ammonia to it every other day for a few days prior to the arrival of the new fish to prep it?

(10ml clear ammonia for a 30 gal tank would send a ammonia to roughly 4ppm)

I have a separate 3 gal tank that will serve as my isolation / quarantine tank, and I am adding a fish to it today.

 

[eco23]

I have a working idea... Do you think it will work?

If I have a tank that is at 50% bio-loaded based on 1" fish per gallon, can I take an already cycled tank and add 3-5 drops of ammonia to it every other day for a few days prior to the arrival of the new fish to prep it?

(10ml clear ammonia for a 30 gal tank would send a ammonia to roughly 4ppm)

I have a separate 3 gal tank that will serve as my isolation / quarantine tank, and I am adding a fish to it today.

Noooooooooooo! That would be a death sentence. It would be worse than exposing your fish to an uncycled tank. Just slowly add the new fish over time and the beneficial bacteria will adjust to the bioload. Remember to keep a close eye on ammonia levels and do pwc's any time they rise.

 

[Homedog98]

Definitely follow eco's advice. And the one inch rule is bogus... What do you have in there?

 

[chesspupil]

OK, maybe I wasn't clear... the tank was established with ammonia. Just low on fish.

WAY---Back when I was cycling the tank I added the 10 ml Ammonia.


Now, in preps for adding more fish I added 1ml ammonia to 29gal which was set to take the tank to roughly .25 ppm (less than .50 at any rate per the API ammonia test after 30 min of tank circulation)

The tank is still taking this to 0ppm nitrite in six hours, and still 0 at 12 hours.

HISTORY
During a recent ICH problem I had the current stock of fish had a serious test of their hearty-ness prior to getting in the 29 gal tank... 15 total inches of various fish were added to a small 4-5 gallon tank whilst waiting for the big tank to got though its cycle... and every 12 hours the ammonia would climb in this small un-cycled tank to 2ppm+ with a 75% water change every 12 hours. This went on for three weeks until the fishless tank was ready. I did not loose any fish during that time in the 5 gal tank and two weeks later with everyone now back in the 29 gal tank.

Since all fish have proven their heartiness I felt a tiny boost of ammonia would simulate an extra fish and lessen the shock to other fish when they enter the tank.

 

[Homedog98]

Why? If the tank is cycled... Why would you want to un-cycle it before adding fish? Just add the fish in once you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and some nitrates, and that will shock them much less then adding ammonia. They'll be just fine when you transfer them.

 

[eco23]

I don't understand the logic. Just add them slowly. If I was going to bring my dog to someone's house who smoked...I wouldn't throw him in a room full of cigarette smoke first to prepare him for it.