Bacteria Question

[Gourami Lover88]

While I wait for some nice weather to order my discus,would one gold and one kissing gourami make enough ammonia to hold the bacteria in a 55gal over till the discus get here?

 

[sylvia]

How many discus? It should be enough for about 2-3 adults so I guess 5 juvenile discus should be ok. If the kissing gourami is large, probably more but not by much.

 

[Gourami Lover88]

Sorry, guess I wasnt clear, the tank is cycled and while I wait for the discus to arrive, to hold the bacteria over I wanted to know if one gold and a kissing gourami could supplly enough ammonia to keep the bacteria from dying off.

 

[freddyk]

Of course, any amount of ammonia added to the tank will keep it from dying off completely. The amount of bacteria being sustained is enough to support those two gouramies, which is not a lot. You'll be fine adding juvenile discus, but if you plan to add larger ones you will see a spike.

 

[Gourami Lover88]

Thanks Freddyk, yeah the discus will be juvies so no worries I guess

 

[catfishfan]

if you really want to make sure the bacterial thrives ... just add an airstone temporarlily. it will oxygenate the water enough to keep the bacteria alive without ammonia

 

[Slyspy]

Not sure whether that is true. As always when stocking a tank do not add too many fish at once and you should be ok.

 

[jflowers]

if you really want to make sure the bacterial thrives ... just add an airstone temporarlily. it will oxygenate the water enough to keep the bacteria alive without ammonia

What will the bacteria feed on with no ammonia? Oxygen AND ammonia are needed to keep the bacteria alive, so if you have no fish, just keep adding ammonia until a day or two before you get your fish. Or add the tempory fish you were planning on.

Jon