Stocking Schedule

[jcmissionary]

Hey All,

Ok, I think I've ironed out my roster for my 20 gallon tank.

3 Otos
8 Black Neon Tetras
2 Kribs
3 Kuhli Loaches

Now, I'm in the middle of fishless cycling my tank, and I had read that with fishless cycling, you can introduce fish faster to a tank than you would normally, since your bacteria colonies will already be built up. Still, I would like to err on the side of caution and take things slowly. What would be a good schedule for introducing these fish? I really don't have an idea on what would be a good schedule. Any help anyone could give me would be great! Thanks!
:)

[JSchmidt]

If your cycling fishlessly, you're actually better off adding all the fish at once (assuming healthy, disease-free fish). That's because fishless cycling builds a robust biofilter. If you fishless cycle to the point where your tank can process 3-5 ppm ammonia to zero ammonia and zero nitrites in 24 hours, you can handle most fish loads.

If you add your fish gradually, many of those bacteria you're growing now during the fishless cycle will die off; the biofilter will shrink to the available food. Then, when you add new fish, there will be a mini-cycle as the biofilter again has to grow to accomodate the new bioload.

Much better to just add everyone at once, if you are assured the fish are all equally healthy.

HTH,
Jim