Floating Fish

[victor]

Hi All
I have been preparing my new [and only] tank for a week and am going to add a few plants next. Next week or the week after I will get a few 'starter' fish.

Questions:

1. How do you actually 'float' the fish.....I know you leave them in the bag to 'aclimatise' them....but not by just 'floating' the bag on the top of the water? or do you?

2. Having filled my tank a week ago and adding the plants a week later [today] is it ok to add fish next week?

3. Any thoughts on fish?....I have seen the posts regarding starters ....but I am spoilt for choice!

Thanks all

Victor

Update
Got some plants ....and 4 fish......Leopard... [can't remember the rest of the name!]. Spoke with the guy in the shop and he said it would be ok to add the fish today....'floated' them successfully and they are now happilly swimming around!....well, they seem happy anyway!

 

[Ava_Banana]

Hello Victor..........congratulations on setting up your tank and "floating" etc.

To give you an idea of what is happening with the chemistry of your water have a read of the "cycling with fish" sticky that is at the top of this forum, and have a look at "cycling" as that will explain what is happening to the water.

Good luck..


......oh, and are they Leopard Danios?

 

[victor]

......oh, and are they Leopard Danios?

The very same!!

and thanks for the pointer

 

[Yenko]

I generally just dump the bags in the tank, turn off the lights to avoid stressing the fish due to being trapped in a bag under bright light, and go do something for 10-15 minutes, pierce the bag a few times, make a slit that they can escape out of, and leave for another half hour. Then I come back and pour them in.

Speaking of that, once, I had used that method to add my clown loaches to my tank, when I came back to discover two loaches exploring the bottom and a very freaked-out apistogramma trying to escape the bag.

 

[BlueIce]

Don't float the bags.
You need a small empty bucket...dump the bag of fish into that...add a cup of your tank water to that..wait 15 minutes or so..add some more tank water...wait again 10 minutes or so....and then add more tank water...wait another ten minutes....
use a net and scoop the fish out and place in your tank.

The MOST important thing is getting your fish used to the ph of YOUR water...and NOT all at once..by doing this slowly as I described ,you will reduce stress and shock.

 

[astroboy]

Also, i avoid getting LFS water in my tank.

Floating isn't the best method od acclimation. The only thing it does is match temp, which is the least important thing.

Here are some useful links.

http/www.aquamaniacs.net/newfishselection.html
http/www.bestfish.com/tips/050798.html

 

[victor]

Thanks all for the continued advice.....

.......well, they are still alive....thought I had lost one....got up this morning to find only 3 of the 4...searched the tank.....still only 3.....it was inside the plastic holder that contains the pump,heater and filter.....dragged the bits out and eventually scooped it out with my hand.

It seems none the worst for the adventure.....but I have no idea how it got in there.....the water is about .25" from the top of the plastic rim and there is no plant leaning on it that could give it a 'launching platform'



Any budding Sherlock Holmes out there with a theory?