Stocking The Tank After A Fishless Cycle: How Fast?

[cryslea]

I'm currently in the process of doing a fishless cycle on a 20g, using the "add and wait" method that's been stickied in this forum. I've been using the waiting time to research fish, and I think I know what I'll ultimately add to my tank. My question is: do I stock everything at once, or do I add a few fish at a time?

Here's my tentative stocking list (I'm still researching, and am open to suggestions):
1 betta (this is the most up in the air part as I know some bettas do great in a community and others... don't)
6-10 rummy nose tetras
4 panda cories (although I'm not sure about these; I want a bottom dweller for visual interest, and this seems like the best bet for my tank size, but I'm open to other suggestions)

But assuming this stocking works and is what I go with, once I'm fully done cycling, do I add everybody all at once OR do I add a couple fish every couple of days/weeks? If I don't add everyone at once, who should be added first, and at what intervals?

Thanks!

 

[K.J.]

Because you did a fishless cycle instead of with fish, this allows you to add the whole stocking load all at once - in fact, it's probably better that way.

 

[Musho3210]

i wouldnt add all fish at once, it may work if you overdosed the ammonia little by little since that will raise the amount of bacteria (like once the first cycle is over and ammonia and nitrite are at 0 with live bacteria in your filter etc, double the amount of ammonia that you put in than before and get an even bigger bacteria culture, or if your just lucky and already have a large bacterial culture in the filter from the first cycle) but i like to stay on the safe side.

I would get the least agressive fish first, then add the more aggressive fish afterwards. So maybe rummy nose first, then cories, then the betta. Get all the rummy noses, wait a week, get the cories, wait a week, get the betta.

 

[rdd1952]

Since she is using the add and wait method, the tank will easily have enough bacteria to handle a full stock. By the end of the cycle using that method, the tank will be processing 4 to 5 ppm of ammonia in 10 hours. That is more than probably a triple stock of fish can produce. Actually, I doubt that the stock list she has (not sure about the betta either) would even produce 1ppm per day.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Just adding another vote to the fully stock crowd. If you only partially stock then the large bacteria colony you currently have will shrink down to conform to the number of fish you get (bacteria are living organisms, and if there isn't enough food some will die off). Don't forget to do a big (80-90%) water change to remove the excess nitrates at the end, and add fish ASAP. If something happens that you won't be able to stock them the same day, dose with ammonia again until you can (don't leave the bacterial colony more than 24 hours without a food source).

The only risk with fully stocking right away is the fact that you can't quarentine the fish from each other to check for diseases.

 

[Amunet]

I did the add and wait method & after the cycle was complete, we pretty much fully stocked the tank in a few days w/ no problems concerning any sort of ammonia or nitrite spike.

The only risk with fully stocking right away is the fact that you can't quarentine the fish from each other to check for diseases.

Yeah, also don't get discouraged if a few of the fish end up dying. Buying so many at once, you'll more than likely get your hands on some that will be weak/sickly and just won't survive the stress.

 

[rdd1952]

A lot of the times you will also get a fish that was injured by the person that netted it. They chase them around the tank with the net and end up pinning them against the side of the tank sometimes. It's much simpler with 2 nets. Just use one net to herd them into the other one.