Accidently Added 11 Fish To My Aquarium At Once. Now Im Worried About

[tropicallover]

Took the LFS's advice, added 11 fish at once and now im terrified of an ammonia spike. What can i do besides giving the fish away without having to spend lots of money?
20 gallon tropical tank.

 

[swanseastilo]

What size tank do you have?
Is it cycled??
What other fish are in the tank?
How long has the tank been up and running?

 

[swanseastilo]

Take a look at the link below it will help us help you.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/2330-please-read-before-posting-to-emergency-section/

 

[andyj986]

Took the LFS's advice, added 11 fish at once and now im terrified of an ammonia spike. What can i do besides giving the fish away without having to spend lots of money?

Has your tank been cycled before your fish have been introduced? Ammonia spikes (to my knowledge, someone correct me if im wrong) only happen during the cycling process of a new tank. Cycling a tank can take a few weeks to establish and neutralize the Ammonia levels.
Thats if you have already cycled your tank.

What fish have you put in? How big is your tank?

EDIT: Looks like someone already bet me to the same reply

 

[swanseastilo]

You can still get ammonia spike from adding alot of fish if the filter cant handle the extra load.

Thats why its always good to test the water every week in my case.

 

[tropicallover]

I have some Zebra fish, Mollies and a Male Betta. Another mistake...The petstore told me to use Nutrafin Cycle and Stress Zyme and it would take about 3 days. So then i added fish like they said. They said the fish were hardy and i did a nitrite, ph and nitrate test and its okay but on Wednesday Im doing a Ammonia Test and adding some more live plants to help. But I feel horrible that i was so stupid. I should have done more research.

 

[the_lock_man]

Took the LFS's advice, added 11 fish at once and now im terrified of an ammonia spike. What can i do besides giving the fish away without having to spend lots of money?

OK, now I understand where you're coming from.

Effectively, you get into a fish-in cycle situation. Best info is in the link in my signature area - the circumstances may be different, but the consequences are the same. Basically, test your water daily, see whether you get the spike - if you do, change the water. Do this every day, until you can go a week without seeing any ammonia or nitrite on your test results. The amount of water you need to change will depend on the ammonia and nitrite levels registered on the tests.

 

[mishmash]

How do you "accidentally" add fish ? LOL. You knew you were adding them when you put them in because you had already bought them at the LFS. If you are worried now, why were you not worried when you bought them ? I don't get it.

Anyway, you have them now, so just keep on top of monitoring your water conditions and be prepared to to some big water changes if you get a spike. Alternatively take half of them back to the LFS and tell them your tank cannot handle this many fish at once, and they should have known that. Some LFS's suck. BIG TIME !

Good luck. You could go out and buy some zeolite tomorrow and put it in your filter and it will handle any excess ammonia hopefully.

 

[tropicallover]

Thanks Everybody!

To Mishmash: Lol i knew i was adding the fish...however I am a newbie at aquarium keeping and had no idea about Ammonia Spikes from adding too many fish. Thanks for the luck and I will keep you all posted!

 

[Fishy friend2]

Hello, fishboy. How are you doing today if I were you I would just take the fish back as those fish aren't good choices for a 20 gallon IMO

 

[Mowbz]

How do you "accidentally" add fish ? LOL. You knew you were adding them when you put them in because you had already bought them at the LFS. If you are worried now, why were you not worried when you bought them ? I don't get it.

Anyway, you have them now, so just keep on top of monitoring your water conditions and be prepared to to some big water changes if you get a spike. Alternatively take half of them back to the LFS and tell them your tank cannot handle this many fish at once, and they should have known that. Some LFS's suck. BIG TIME !

Good luck. You could go out and buy some zeolite tomorrow and put it in your filter and it will handle any excess ammonia hopefully.

Clue was at the start ......

Took the LFS's advice, added 11 fish at once

 

[Fishy friend2]

And if you listened on the other thread, we told you tha those aren't suitible fish for your tank and by taking them back you are preventing the ammonia spike

 

[tropicallover]

What are you talking about? I'm sorry I dont understand what you mean by "Clue was at the start" And "If you listened to the other thread fishboy?" I'm sorry but i dont understand?

 

[Mowbz]

Lol, the "clue was at the start" comment wasnt to you, it was to the person that obviously didnt read the thread, as they would have noticed you mentioned you did it based on bad advice from the LFS.

Fishy's comment related to a thread ive not seen, in which it seems you were advised the fish were not suitable for you tank anyway. As i said, ive not seen it, and dont know your stock, so cant comment.

 

[gforce17]

TAKE THEM BACK TO THE SHOP AND CYCLE YOUR TANK IF YOU WANT TO DO THE KIND THING FOR YOUR FISH. Not being harsh. WE've all made mistakes! Good luck!