My First Fish & Q? on Second Fish

[GeoPappas]

Finally! :headbang2:

My tank finally cycled and I got my first fish. It took almost 7 weeks to cycle, but ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates finally hit 0 yesterday morning. (See thread here for more info: http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=133678).

I picked up 3 Long-finned Zebra Danios and 3 Long-finned Leopard Danios yesterday afternoon and introduced them to their new home. They made it through the night and all of the water levels are still at 0.

First, I would like to thank everyone for all of their help.

Second, I have been thinking about which fish I should get next. I was wondering if the 6 Danios create enough of a bioload or if I need to get some more fish soon (like today or tomorrow) in order not to lose all of those beneficial bacteria that I struggled so hard to get. When I was cycling the tank, I was adding 10 drops of pure ammonia a day. I'm not sure that the Danios are creating such a high bioload. What do you think?

I was thinking about getting 6 Guppies as a second fish. What are your opinions on Guppies as a second fish?

[Lupin]

Finally! :headbang2:

My tank finally cycled and I got my first fish. It took almost 7 weeks to cycle, but ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates finally hit 0 yesterday morning. (See thread here for more info: http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=133678).
Zero nitrates?:confused: Do you have plants or denitrators in your tank? What test kit do you use?

I picked up 3 Long-finned Zebra Danios and 3 Long-finned Leopard Danios yesterday afternoon and introduced them to their new home. They made it through the night and all of the water levels are still at 0.
Nice choice.:) However, I'm still confused with zero nitrates.

Second, I have been thinking about which fish I should get next. I was wondering if the 6 Danios create enough of a bioload or if I need to get some more fish soon (like today or tomorrow) in order not to lose all of those beneficial bacteria that I struggled so hard to get. When I was cycling the tank, I was adding 10 drops of pure ammonia a day. I'm not sure that the Danios are creating such a high bioload. What do you think?
It depends on how often you feed although I don't see them to excrete wastes a lot.:)

I was thinking about getting 6 Guppies as a second fish. What are your opinions on Guppies as a second fish?
It's fine.

[GeoPappas]

I guess what I am wondering is how many fish equates to 10 drops of ammonia per day.

If 10 drops of ammonia per day equates to 20 fish and I only have 6 fish, then the beneficial bacteria will start to die off until they balance out at the lower level that can support them. And I just lost a lot of beneficial bacteria.

I understand that this is not an exact science. Ammonia production by fish is dependent on many things: how much you feed them, their size, the type of species, etc., but I was just looking for some general comments.

In the long term, I am hoping to have about 25-30 fish (all small community fish). I understand that I shouldn't add them all at once, but I am wondering how much I can stock at this point and feel safe.

[Lupin]

I'd add 3-4 fish per week until you are fully stock, Geo.:)

[GeoPappas]

Zero nitrates?:confused: Do you have plants or denitrators in your tank? What test kit do you use?



I was confused as well. No plants. No denitrators. I use the API Freshwater test kit. If you read my other thread (@ http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=133678) then you will get the full story, but here is a synopsis:

On Thanksgiving Day, I got tired of waiting for the cycle to complete. I thought that if I did a complete water change, I would be able to get some fish and let them complete the cycle on their own (understanding that I might have to do some PWCs). But I miscalculated. I didn't realize that my tap water contained 1 ppm ammonia. The next day when I tested the water, it showed:

Ammonia - 0.5
Nitrites - 1
Nitrates - 10

Over the last week, I noticed that Nitrates were reducing (as well as Ammonia and Nitrites). I asked on the forums about this, but nobody seemed to have an answer. I finally realized that I was testing Nitrates incorrectly (I was just adding the drops from both bottles and shaking), and tested the right way yesterday morning. But testing the correct way and incorrect way yielded the same results: 0 Nitrates. I tested again this morning and got the same thing: everything is at 0.

I'm still confused on that. My only thoughts are that there is (unseen) algae or bacteria that is reducing the Nitrates, but that is just a guess.

[wataugachicken]

when you do a fishless cycle, if you have been using a larger amount of ammonia (3-5ppm) you can add a full stock to the tank as soon as the cycle is finished. doing a fishless cycle and then just putting a couple fish in means all the excess bacteria that you spent so much time growing is just going to starve and die. then when you add fish the bacterial levels will have to readjust to the new bioload and possibly cause a mini-cycle each time, if only for a day or two.

[GeoPappas]

when you do a fishless cycle, if you have been using a larger amount of ammonia (3-5ppm) you can add a full stock to the tank as soon as the cycle is finished.

What do the rest of you think about this statement? I don't remember reading that statement in any of the cycling articles. I know that a tank that has been cycled is supposed to allow one to add fish to a tank without worry, but can you add a full stock? In my case, that would mean I could have added about 25-30 fish (in the 2" range) at once.

[GeoPappas]

Well, I just thought that I would update this thread just in case anyone in the future has the same question.

I went and purchased another 6 fish (male Guppies) and the water has tested perfectly ever since.

So now I have 6 Danios and 6 male Guppies.

I plan on getting some plants next so that the fish will have more places to hide and sleep before I get another batch of fish.

[wataugachicken]

(2) Fishless Cycling

Just as it sounds, you can establish the cycling environment without any fish. This method does not pose any threat to fish, establishes a large bacteria colony allowing full stocking upon completion and gives you time to decide on what fish you want.


That is directly from the Cycling sticky here on AC.

[montysmum]

By dosing your tank up to 5ppm during the fishless cycle you are putting more ammonia into the tank than your fish will produce. because of this you don't have to add fish in dribs and drabs but can go and get the full quota of fish for your tank.

[silentskream]

i agree.. if you've done a fishless cycle and kept the ammonia at 3ppm daily (or higher) then you should be able to add all of your fish immediately. However, since you've already gone a day or two without the full bioload in the tank, there's a chance that some of the bacteria has started dieing off, so you may want to test the water a couple times after you add more fish.. and if you're going to add more fish, doing so within the next day would make your life a lot easier. If you're not going to do it within the next day, i would recommend that you add fish slowly

i'm a little confused on the 0 nitrates, but keep an eye on it as you add more fish.