Is this common?

S

Sly_Marbo

Say Hello To My Little Friend
Dec 31, 2005
71
0
0
Escanaba, Michigan
Hey, my 20 gallon finally finished cycling, before today I had 5 guppies and an upside down catfish in the tank. I went to my LFS and bought 5 pristella tetras. ( I know no QT tank...yet) They seemed to be healthy, in a good clean tank, etc... After adjusting them to my tanks water I added them. About an hour later when I ckecked on them again the tetras and the catfish were doing fine but the 5 guppies where staying almost motionless in a group in the center of the tank. They were under stress, breathing heavily, fins flapping fast, and tails angled in a set posistion. Tonight when I checked on them again 3 of the guppies are swimming around, but the other 2 are laying at the bottom of the tank. When I moved my finger around the glass they swam away, so they are not dead.
My question is this, why are the guppies acting this way? The tetras are peacefull and a good community fish so the guppies would have no reason to be afraid of them. Any ideas?
 
You just added a new bioload to your tank and possibly started a mini-cycle. Five fish is a lot to dump in a tank all at one time.

Test the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates and be prepared to "cycle" the tank again.

Roan
 
According to your post the fish were recently added, correct? This would make a mini-cycle to be an unlikely cause IMO, unless you added the bag water to the tank. What exactly was your acclimation procedure?
 
Good news, when I checked on the fish today they were all doing fine and seemed very unstressed. Thanks alot. Next time, how many fish should I add at one time?
 
Is there such a thing as a mini cycle? I mean don't bacteria multiply by division? So technically if i double my bioload the next reproduction cycle of my bacteria should catch up.
 
Sly_Marbo said:
Good news, when I checked on the fish today they were all doing fine and seemed very unstressed. Thanks alot. Next time, how many fish should I add at one time?
Click to expand...
One or two at a time.

Roan
 
Onikun said:
Is there such a thing as a mini cycle? I mean don't bacteria multiply by division? So technically if i double my bioload the next reproduction cycle of my bacteria should catch up.
Click to expand...
If that were true then the bacteria would duplicate and take over the entire world :)

You're forgetting that the old bacteria die from age and from insufficient food. Adding more fish provides more food, but if there aren't enough bacteria to eat the food, it does not get eaten and goes to waste (ammonia + nitrites). It takes longer than you think for the bacteria to replicate in order to support a new bioload. Longer still if something interrupts it.

It's also dependent on whether or not there is anyplace for the new bacteria to colonize, too.

As for the exact timeline for replication -- I believe it's 24 hours, but someone else will have to confirm it.

Roan
 
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