How Often Can You Add New Fish?

[SteveVenezia]

First I'd just like to say these forums are great, they've been really useful for a newbie such as myself, and I greatly appreciate any help you guys and gals can offer.

I've just bought a new tank, let it cycle for 48 hours and then introduced two Zebra Danios, a male and a female. They're doing very well, but the female keeps chasing the male into a corner. I've been told I have to wait a week before I can add more fish, I was just wondering if this is true? Is 48 hours too short a time between adding new fish?

Many thanks for any help!

 

[SamUK]

jus wondering but have you read anything on fishless cycling? if not youll find links about it in the pinned threads at the top of the forum.

much nicer for your fish and you can fully stock in roughly 1 month (jus enough time to plan your stocking).

cycling with fish you have to add the fish slowly because you have to wait for the bacteria to colonise in your filter.

so id say a week was about right and a couple of fish a week would be safe.

what size is your tank?

 

[sussexgirl]

Is 48 hours too short a time between adding new fish?

I would definitely say 48 hours isn't long enough, especially when you are still cycling and with fish. I set up my tank, added 6 platies a week later and then 6 neons another week later. I have additonal fish but waited 3-4 weeks each time between introducing them. I learned the hard way, was in such a rush to set up my tank and put the fish in and it's just not worth it - there is so much to learn about the cycling process and I would certainly fishless cycle in the future. I'm lucky, I've only lost one of the original fish. Good luck but take things easy for the health of your fish.

 

[MegTheFish]

As Sam said, do some reading up on cycling. And just to give you a heads up, your tank is not cycled, letting it sit for 48 hours does nothing. But don't worry, you choose some very hardy fish to cycle your tank with! In about a weeks time, you can add a couple more danios (they like to be in groups of atleast 6) and take it from there. BTW, what size is the tank?

 

[SteveVenezia]

Thanks for the replies guys!

It's a 10 gallon, and I have been reading a lot about cycling, I just wasn't sure how fast I should add fish. I have heard Danios can survive anything! I think I'll add another 2-3 Danios on monday, which will make it a week. I'll also get my water tested at my LFS just incase.

Thanks again

 

[OohFeeshy]

10g is generally considered too small for danios due to their highly active nature, so see if you can swap them for something like platies. In a tank that small, your final stocking would be something like

1 or 3 'centerpiece' fish
6 small schooling fish
3 or so small bottomdwellers

 

[dwarfgourami]

If you are cycling with fish, I would leave it a lot longer before introducing more fish, particularly in a small tank like that. I would not put anything else in until I had tested the water and was sure that the ammonia and nitrites had both spiked and gone down. And I would expect that to take at least a month. A test kit is going to be your best friend.

OohFeeshy has a good point too. Danios want space. We get a lot of posts about aggressive danios in the cyprinids forum, and I see a lot on other forums too: invariably, one of two factors are involved: not enough space and/or not enough danios. I wish the concept of "hardy fish with no special reqirements" could be abandoned once and for all. All fish have special requirements. Just because danios are quite tolerant of a wide range of water parameters doesn't mean you should keep them without doing any research on their needs first.

In particular, I wish members of this forum would stop automatically recommending "hardy" fish without calculating a poster's tank size or enquiring about other circumstances. I've seen that so many times in the last year: somebody posts a question about setting up a tank, it is clear from their signature that they have a 35 litre tank or whatever, and people go telling them that they should cycle with black widows or danios, without stopping to think what a 35 litre tank is in terms of size (=tiny).

Not your fault, Steve, I know you're only doing what you've been told. It's the people dishing out information- whether on forums or in shops- that should think twice. A few months of reading the emergency posts on this forum should disabuse anyone on the notion that there exists a breed of indestructible fish.

Sorry for the rant, not angry with anybody in this thread, just happen to very fond of danios, a smashing little fish that IMO deserves the best.