Adding Schooling Fish

[OneOnion]

Ok so I heard that if you add a lot of fish to the aquarium at once, it's like too much for the "bioload" or something like that and the water quality will get worse or something so that you're supposed to add like 2 fish every 10 days or so. Is that the same if you're adding schools of fish? Because they need to be in groups and they're so small anyway I don't see how it would matter. So Is it okay to add all of the schooling fish at once so they won't be stressed by being in a group of 2?(I'm going to get 6 pygmy corys)

 

[mattlee]

its best to add a few at a time but depending on the tank size i would say you might get away with it..... you could add 3 then add another 3 in a week or so

 

[CKutz]

pygmy corys will barely affect your bioload at all. you can add them at once.
i think it goes the same for schools of fish also. many of the schooling fish have small bioloads from what i understand.

if you're concerned about an ammonia spike (don't be with the pygmys..but for future reference), you could try just not feeding for a day or two. that would decrease the amount of waste and debris that gets turned into ammonia.

in a well established tank i don't think you have to worry about ammonia spikes that much..unless you're adding a boatload of fish. once a biological filter is well established it can reproduce quickly.

i certainly wouldn't worry about the pygmys. i'm interested to see if anyone disagrees with what i've said though?

edit:
if you are adding fish right after a fishless cycle it is ok to fully stock right away. or at least add most of the stock you want. This is because if you do a fishless cycle the way it is suggested on this site, you'll be preparing the biofilter to handle 5 ppm of ammonia. that's a pretty high amount. so you'll have this really built up biofilter ready for anything

 

[OneOnion]

Hm. I'm also adding like 8 shrimp, I'm assuming it's ok to add those all at once, too?

Also, I'm adding a lot of plants, so I don't have to cycle my tank.

 

[cowboy507]

Also, I'm adding a lot of plants, so I don't have to cycle my tank.

Wait Wait! adding plants will not cycle your tank!!! you will have to properly cycle the tank. see my links in my signature to read up on cycling

 

[mattlee]

Hm. I'm also adding like 8 shrimp, I'm assuming it's ok to add those all at once, too?

Also, I'm adding a lot of plants, so I don't have to cycle my tank.

shrimps dont have a massive effect on the tanks bioload, but what do you mean when you say "im adding a lot of plants, so i dont have to cycle my tank"? as all tanks need to be cycled whether you have fish/shrimp/plants anything in there..... if the tanks not cycled and you add the corys and shrimp i would expect the shrimp would die quite quickly as they prefer a more mature tank and the corys would be suffering from ammonia poisoning unless you change 50% of the water everyday..... adding plants doesnt mean you dont have to cycle a tank there are pinned topics on here showing you how to cycle a tank with fish in and with no fish, if its not cycled then take a look

 

[Truck]

Also, I'm adding a lot of plants, so I don't have to cycle my tank.

Wait Wait! adding plants will not cycle your tank!!! you will have to properly cycle the tank. see my links in my signature to read up on cycling

if there is a low bioload then the plants alone will deal with the ammonia as long as everything is right.

i do not recommend it though

 

[cowboy507]

Also, I'm adding a lot of plants, so I don't have to cycle my tank.

Wait Wait! adding plants will not cycle your tank!!! you will have to properly cycle the tank. see my links in my signature to read up on cycling

if there is a low bioload then the plants alone will deal with the ammonia as long as everything is right.

i do not recommend it though

yes but if he is adding all the schooling fish at once then it wont work, he will be in a fish-in cycle. you will have to add 3 small then wait a few weeks then add 3 more then wait another few weeks and so on

 

[Truck]

Also, I'm adding a lot of plants, so I don't have to cycle my tank.

Wait Wait! adding plants will not cycle your tank!!! you will have to properly cycle the tank. see my links in my signature to read up on cycling

if there is a low bioload then the plants alone will deal with the ammonia as long as everything is right.

i do not recommend it though

yes but if he is adding all the schooling fish at once then it wont work, he will be in a fish-in cycle. you will have to add 3 small then wait a few weeks then add 3 more then wait another few weeks and so on

if there are enough plants then it will...but getting the right balance if very difficult. the plants take up the ammonia as a source of nitrogen...the plants will need to be fast growing and pruned regularly

 

[OneOnion]

So.... Do I still have to cycle? o.o

 

[Truck]

So.... Do I still have to cycle? o.o

yes i would advise it

 

[OneOnion]

Shoot well I already ordered some red cherry shrimp. Should I just put them in normal water so that they don't have to feel the high ammonia/nitrite/nitrate water that the tank is going to face? I could put them in a vase or a plastic tank or something instead of the tank temporarily, it wouldn't have a filter but it's better than having to face large amounts of ammonia/nitrite/nitrate right?

 

[CKutz]

have you read dave spencers post about it? talk to the plant guys about it....the impression i'm getting from that is that it would be ok. but i don't really understand the whole plant thing yet.

adding them to a thing with no filter would be just as bad..actually worse.
ammonia starts to accumulate as soon as fish are in the water i think..i think it even comes from them breathing or something.

I would say set up the tank and plants as soon as you can, and add the shrimp when they arrive...maybe wait a week or so to add the corys, just to see how things are going with the plants "cycling" the tank for you.

 

[OldMan47]

It is possible to run a tank with no filter at all if you have enough fast growing plants. It is not easy to strike that kind of balance and is something that I would never advise for a new fish keeper or a new plant keeper. I am getting away with it on a couple of tanks but it not easy to get right and you do need lots of plants, plenty of light for good growth and a rich substrate. The water column is not artificially fertilized because you want the plants to eat all of the nitrogen that is produced. The RCS will not do well at all in a tank with any nitrogen problems. They even have trouble with significant nitrate levels much less the more poisonous forms of nitrogen in our tanks.

 

[Bobtastic]

I've also heard the term "Silent Cycle" applied to adding fish into a heavily planted tank. The way I understand it is that there is no need to cycle the tank if there is a high level of plant life (what is classed as "heavy" is probably quite subjective...).

If you do choose to go down the "Silent Cycle" route it is probably best to treat it as a regular fish-in cycle for your first time. Namely regular testing of Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates and pH just to make sure that the levels remain low. If they do rise to high you'll need to follow the standard Fish-in cycle guidelines.