Question about adding fish...

B

boojumsnark25

AC Members
Aug 13, 2006
286
0
16
The cycle has been done forever, but I haven't had the money to stock it. Now, I'm ready to start adding the fish. My question is this...I live a good piece of time away from my LFS, and I'd like to have to go down there as little as possible. When I cycled it, I read about a method of adding frozen cocktail shrimp to get the ammonia going. I added 3-4 four inch shrimp into the tank and let them begin to decay. The tank got blurry and the ammonia skyrocketed. I've read that if the ammonia spike is very high during the cycle, then you can add your fish all at once because the tank has already been exposed to very high ammonia levels. This is what I want to get:

This is a 55 gallon saltwater tank. Fluval 305 Filter, Skilter 250(just because I had it laying around), Berlin Air-Lift 60 protein skimmer.

2-4 Ocellaris Clownfish
1 Black & White Butterflyfish
1 Auriga Butterflyfish
1 Coral Beauty Angelfish

Like I said, the place is a long ways away and I don't want to have to drive down there 8 times. Can I add more than one fish at a time, or even better, all at once?

I've heard that a good rule of thumb is 2 inches of fish per 10 gallons of water. Is that true?

I'm really sorry to ask so many questions, I'm just excited to finally be able to add fish! Thanks!
 
IPG or it's brothers are a misnomer, the inch per gallon does not work, I would also check the tank out to make sure your bacteria diddnt die w/o ammonia source.

Coral beauty is not good beginner fish, they tend to die, and some of the other fish I would be concerned about as well for the level of care they need
 
How do I check bacteria levels?

Ammonia and Nitrite are both at 0

Is there some other sort of rule of thumb for adding fish?
 
Last edited:
there is no accurate rule of thumb because there are so many variables. i wouldnt add a butterfly to a 55. and i agree you may want to wait for the coral beauty.
have you added anything to the tank to keep the bacteria living since the cycle? if not, you may need to cycle all ovver again. id start out with the two small clowns after your tank has cycled. then wait a few weeks (2-3+) and add another.
 
boojumsnark25 - Like "fishieness" pointed out, if you haven't added an ammonia creating source (fish food, pure ammonia etc) to the tank once the cycle completed, I'm sorry to say, but if your tank has just been sitting idle forever as you pointed out, most of the good bacteria have probably died off due to a lack of food source.

A good way to check if your ammonia and nitrite eating bacteria are still around, and since you don't have any livestock in the tank right now, would be to dose your tank with some PURE ammonia and see how long it takes for it, and the nitrITES caused by the NH3 being broken down to disappear. If it takes more than overnight, that means your tank does not have enough bacteria in it to support the ammonia. In this case, you might need to go through the cycle again.

I'd add a few drops of the NH3 so that the NH3 levels in your tank get bumped up to maybe 1ppm.

A very important thing to remember here is that you have to use PURE ammonia only – one without any additives or perfumes in it. The household cleaning stuff is perfect for this use, but make absolutely sure that it does not contain any additives or perfumes before using it! It should be free of surfactants, perfumes, and colorants. Always read the ingredients on the bottle. If it doesn't list the ingredients or say Clear Ammonia (or Pure Ammonia or 100% Ammonia, or Pure Ammonium Hydroxide), then leave it on the shelf and look elsewhere. Shake the bottle if you're not sure about it because Ammonia with additives will foam, while "good" Ammonia will not.

As far as adding fish goes, regardless of what you read on webpages and stuff, no matter what method you use for the cycling of your tank, it is always advisable to stock the tank really slowly. It is much better for the fish, as well as the general health of your tank in the long run. Again, not what you want to hear, but looks like you will need to make several trips to the LFS and stock slowly.

Hope this helps!
Yash
 
I used the ammonia method as outlined by Yash to cycle my tank. It worked great and would be a good test for you to see how much of your bacteria is left. Dose some ammonia to lets say 3ppm in the a.m. Come home after work and test again. You should be reading darn near zero. If not then you're going to need to cycle again.
 
drug store, grocery store etc. Just be sure it says 100% pure, clear ammonia. You want to be sure that it has no other cleaning agents, chemicals or fragrances in it. I think I dosed 3 drops per gallon in the morning which brought the levels up to around 3 or 4 ppm and by that evening it was 0. Your nitrites/ates will soar though so be sure to test for them too. Maintain 3ppm for 3 days and keep testing. My cycle took a week but had a bunch of live rock that was pretty much cured. Once everything levels out you can add fish...........slowly ;)
 
Wrench said:
drug store, grocery store etc. Just be sure it says 100% pure, clear ammonia. You want to be sure that it has no other cleaning agents, chemicals or fragrances in it. I think I dosed 3 drops per gallon in the morning which brought the levels up to around 3 or 4 ppm and by that evening it was 0. Your nitrites/ates will soar though so be sure to test for them too. Maintain 3ppm for 3 days and keep testing. My cycle took a week but had a bunch of live rock that was pretty much cured. Once everything levels out you can add fish...........slowly ;)
Click to expand...

3 drops per gallon? Is that right? that seems like a lot...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom