Stocking Ideas... For The Tank!

[Schmill]

Many thanks for your reply MW, I see what you are saying completely.
The only part I have a question about is the section I have quoted here:

...but remember that however you do it when you're going from an existing cycled filter and building up the stock you have to do it slowly anyway.

I understand that if my tank has been running with fish in it for x amount of time, that the filter bacteria will have 'balanced' themselves to cope with these fish, no more, no less, and so to increase stock has to be done slowly.
However if I have 'just' finished a fishless cycle (oh I wish!), and my filter is processing 5ppm ammonia to 0 in 12 hours, I believed this to be representative of the waste of a heavily stocked tank? If thats the case then I would presume you can go for perhaps a quicker initial stock than you could if adding to a tank that had already allowed it's bacteria colony to die back to match the current stocking levels? (Of course you still have to allow for the Cycled Vs Mature issues though)

 

[Miss Wiggle]

oh yes sorry fishless cycle is different..... just me forgetting/confusing the specifics of your case. (old age)

remind me - you've got an existing tank that you're upgrading, fishless cycling the new tank then planning to move over the existing fish and add to the stocking....

if you've fishless cycled the new tank then you can stock around 75% straight away. if you've no 'existing fish' in there to put in danger through the spread of diseases then what's the point of quarantining anyway?

just put all the new fish in the main tank when it's cycled, leave it for 1 months as 'quarantine' then move over fish from the old tank when you're happy the new fish are not carrying diseases.

of course if one of the new fish is carrying a disease then they could spread it to all the other new fish, but you'd get that danger anyway when putting a group of fish into a Q tank.

 

[Schmill]

oh yes sorry fishless cycle is different..... just me forgetting/confusing the specifics of your case. (old age)

No worries, I wasn't specifically talking about my case anyway, just generally, but your reply answers both cases

remind me - you've got an existing tank that you're upgrading, fishless cycling the new tank then planning to move over the existing fish and add to the stocking....

if you've fishless cycled the new tank then you can stock around 75% straight away. if you've no 'existing fish' in there to put in danger through the spread of diseases then what's the point of quarantining anyway?

just put all the new fish in the main tank when it's cycled, leave it for 1 months as 'quarantine' then move over fish from the old tank when you're happy the new fish are not carrying diseases.

of course if one of the new fish is carrying a disease then they could spread it to all the other new fish, but you'd get that danger anyway when putting a group of fish into a Q tank.

Now remind me... why didn't I think of this?

Heres me thinking that I need to cycle my new tank, put my old fish in it, give the old cycled tank to the wife for her to put some fish in, go out and buy a quarantine tank to put my new fish in, (and her new fish for her tank), and then wait a month.

Much prefer your idea;

1) keep old fish in old tank
2) Put my new fish and her new fish in the new tank
3) After a month of 'quarantine' take my 'old' fish out of my old tank and place in the new tank. Take her new fish out of the new tank and place in the old tank.

Seems a WHOLE lot simpler!

Thanks

 

[tenohfive]

For the rainbows, an alternative is to add a load of danio's - my pearl danio's, leopard danio's and praecox rainbows all shoal together - they're fairly similar fish, in terms of the area they inhabit so they get on great.

 

[drobbyb]

For the rainbows, an alternative is to add a load of danio's - my pearl danio's, leopard danio's and praecox rainbows all shoal together - they're fairly similar fish, in terms of the area they inhabit so they get on great.

They make great community fish.

 

[Schmill]

10 Cardinal Tetras - 10"
1 Juv. Male Guppy - 1"
1 Female Guppy - 1"
4 Guppy Fry - 4"
5 Male Rainbow Praecox - 10"
5 Female Rainbow Praecox - 10"
6 Albino Corys - 12"
2 Bulldog Pleco - 8"
2 BristleNose Pleco - 12"
Total - 68"

Ok, I have no fish in the tank yet due to some small hiccups in the cycling, but I'm not back in the area to think about stocking lists

I'm actually thinking of dropping the bristlenoses, (maybe, not sure yet), and I would like to put in some Rummy Nose Tetras and perhaps some cherry Shrimp.

Would the Rummy's and the Cardinal's be happy together? Would they go as far as shoaling together, or would it be 2 seperate shoals?
Will the Cherry Shrimp be ok in there with the albino cory's and the Bulldog / Bristlenose plecos, or will they all harass each other? If the Cherries would be ok then how many should I look at getting in there initially? (I don't know if they breed, or how easily etc etc)

Thanks again

 

[Syphoniera]

Hi, Schmill,
congrats on the new, bigger tank!
This is undoubtedly a silly question, since it's probably been considered and rejected for some reason such as a second filter just won't fit in your tank, but, why not run one in the one you have going?
Might be a bit late now, but if it will fit, might give you a bit of extra reassurance when you do start moving them in, in view of 'hiccups' slowing down the works.
Even if a HOB won't work because of built-in equipment or other issues, one or two sponge or other air-driven filter(s) could possibly be squeezed in a bottom corner, although I'll admit it mightn't look very nice.
And even a week or so might help, depending on whenever your tank's actually cycled - or act as insurance if fishless cycling hiccups recur and set you back again.
I ran an extra box filter (cheap to buy, and you have the option of running activated charcoal) in the stinky, rotten, frickin-fracken tall 20g (bought some time earlier as a temporary tank out of sheer desperation, as long 20's aren't sold new out here anymore ) my original tetras were stuck in until I got the 35g for them and actually had 2 box filters in one side and a HOB on the other of that new tank for the first 2 or 3 months - although appearances don't concern me so much regarding such things, whereas normal people are different, lol.
(But I'd planned to tear down that tall tank and get rid of it anyway, so was able to transfer the bacteria-bearing gravel from the 20g as a top layer in the 35 on the day they were shifted over, and had very gradually exchanged quite a lot of the water between the two tanks in the days prior, etc. so there really wasn't that much of a change for them in that respect and they brought bacteria with them virtually every step of the way, neither tank being a Walstad.
So the tetras had to wait less than a week further in that wretched nose-bumper.
Your fish are, of course, more comfortably disposed as they wait for their new home.)
Granted, I'm financially challenged and accustomed to having to jury-rig and make do, and you'll probably be doing a show-tank in a nice living room where people outside of family will see it - but if I didn't make silly suggestions, who would?