Replace Entire Population Of Tank?

[Darius]

If I have a tank populated with 8 Chiclids, can I then remove them and replace with say 25 community fish in one fell swoop, or how is it possible to change from a species tank to a community tank?

I'm sure this question is silly, but thats what we newbies are for...

 

[fatheadminnow]

It really depends on what fish you are going to be getting, and what size they are when you are getting them.

You want to try to match the "bio" load form the previous fish to the new fish, this way there might not be an Ammonia and/or a Nitrite spike.

-FHM

 

[Darius]

Thanks for the reply - so try and match the inches up and hopefully it will be a similar load?

 

[waterdrop]

Its really easier when you think of it as "match or be smaller," which are the only options that will keep you from a mini-cycle-water-changing situation. The cichlids may be bigger fatter fish than most small commnuity fish so the inch calcs will be dissimilar. One reason it pays to be a bit conservative in transitions such as you envision is that fish being moved are stressed by definition, so you don't want to add to their stress by providing not fully cycled water.

~~waterdrop~~