How to introduce new fish to new aquarium?

[aqua.land]

Hi,
I have a new aquarium and I'm planning to get various fish. (Aquarium is cycled, and planted already).
Eg; some platies, a bumble bee catfish, albino ancistrus and butterfly pleco.

Some people say to gradually put them in the tank....
Eg; the platies first, wait a week, then put in the bumblebee catfish, then wait a week, then put in the buttefly pleco.....
(I've asked and read, I think they can do well together without fighting).

Some people say to just all put them in at once so none of them feel territorial.....not sure if this is the right way...

What is the right way to introduce fish? How do you guys do it?

 

[dmpfishlover]

Have you already confirmed that the species you are considering will be okay with your water parameters? For example: water hardness (GH), pH, etc.. Do you know what your water parameters are and if the fish you have selected can live in those water parameters? Also, have you confirmed that the species you would like to add will not get too big for your tank? These are all things that will determine what kinds of fish you can keep, so if you have not already determined these things, I would suggest that you do, before you add any fish to your tank.

 

[aqua.land]

Have you already confirmed that the species you are considering will be okay with your water parameters? For example: water hardness (GH), pH, etc.. Do you know what your water parameters are and if the fish you have selected can live in those water parameters? Also, have you confirmed that the species you would like to add will not get too big for your tank? These are all things that will determine what kinds of fish you can keep, so if you have not already determined these things, I would suggest that you do, before you add any fish to your tank.

Yes, I have, hours and hours of research and talking to people
I will do a few water tests before putting them in though, and will monitor the water all the time.

 

[Salty&Onion]

Yes, I have, hours and hours of research and talking to people
I will do a few water tests before putting them in though, and will monitor the water all the time.

What is your water hardness?

 

[Byron]

You have compatibility/stocking problems with the fish species in post #1. Butterfly Pleco I am assuming is the Hillstream Loach, species Beaufortia kweichowensis (this or another species in the genus), and this fish cannot be housed with the others mentioned. This loach requires strong water currents and lower temperatures than the other fish. More info here:

Beaufortia kweichowensis – Butterfly Loach (Gastromyzon leveretti kweichowensis; Beaufortia kweichowensis gracilicauda) — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

The Bumblebee Catfish I will assume is the species Pseudomystus siamensis, and while the temperature might not be an issue here, the light would, and the water current. The above species needs light to promote algae which it grazes from smooth rocks. The bumblebee is a nocturnal shy retiring fish. The two cannot possible co-exist without one or both suffering the consequences. Reliable data on this fish here:

Pseudomystus siamensis (Asian Bumblebee Catfish) — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

 

[dmpfishlover]

How big is your tank? # of Gallons/Liters? Tank Dimensions?

 

[Salty&Onion]

This loach requires strong water currents and lower temperatures than the other fish.

I disagree

 

[threecharacters]

I would add slowly. None of those fish are known for being territorial (as far as I know). Adding all at once is something you would want to do with a highly territorial fish like cichlids.

The best combination would be to add the platies one week then add all the catfish week or two later. This way you break up the stocking, reducing the stress on the immature biological filter, and you avoid territory problems by adding all the fish that inhabit the same part of the tank at once (i.e. add the middle-dwelling fish (platies) then the bottom-dwelling fish (catfish)).

What are the dimensions of the aquarium?

Side note: A lot of people on here seem to make a big deal about getting the 'correct' gH and pH for the fish you have. You may hear that platies and catfish are incompatible because they require different gH or pH, but honestly this is overblown. pH is a remarkably useless water parameter. It does tell you the toxicity of ammonia and large, rapid changes in pH can be fatal, but besides that it's really not that important. I have currently wild caught Apistogramma bitaeniata in breeding condition in a tank with a pH of 7.8-8.0. gH is slightly more important, but neither of these parameters are all that useful except in cases where the fish are wild caught and come from very specific environments with very specific water parameters (for most fish this isn't true) or if your tap water is extremely hard or extremely soft. It's not a bad idea to ask the store you will be purchasing the fish from about the water parameters (pH and gH) in their tanks. If these parameters are very different from the water parameters at home you may want to take your time acclimating the new fish (e.g. drip acclimate).

Butterfly pleco could refer to Dekeyseria brachyura. If you are referring to the Hillstream loach I would recommend not putting it in the tank. Hillstream loaches are a specialized fish that really need a specific set up to thrive. At the very least, they require a thick, mature bed of algae to graze on and do best in a well-established (1yr+) aquarium. There are a few fish with the common name Bumblebee Catfish. It would be helpful if you could provide scientific names to correctly identify the fish.

 

[Salty&Onion]

Hillstream loaches are a specialized fish that really need a specific set up to thrive. At the very least, they require a thick, mature bed of algae to graze on and do best in a well-established (1yr+) aquarium.

I disagree to be honest, they don't require algae to graze on or a mature aquarium. You'd still have to feed them.

 

[aqua.land]

You have compatibility/stocking problems with the fish species in post #1. Butterfly Pleco I am assuming is the Hillstream Loach, species Beaufortia kweichowensis (this or another species in the genus), and this fish cannot be housed with the others mentioned. This loach requires strong water currents and lower temperatures than the other fish. More info here:

Beaufortia kweichowensis – Butterfly Loach (Gastromyzon leveretti kweichowensis; Beaufortia kweichowensis gracilicauda) — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

The Bumblebee Catfish I will assume is the species Pseudomystus siamensis, and while the temperature might not be an issue here, the light would, and the water current. The above species needs light to promote algae which it grazes from smooth rocks. The bumblebee is a nocturnal shy retiring fish. The two cannot possible co-exist without one or both suffering the consequences. Reliable data on this fish here:

Pseudomystus siamensis (Asian Bumblebee Catfish) — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

The fish keeper at the aquatic center told me it was okay...I also asked him, because out of my research the temperature didn't match the other fish'd temperature...
I'm going to another aquatic store today and will talk to some other people......Thanks for the info

 

[aqua.land]

Hi,
Yes..my water hardness is way too high...its 180ppm (mg/L), platies need 120........
My KH is 120ppm, which is fine (I think).
My pH is 7.0 - 7.5.
Nitrite (NO2) - is 0
Nitrate(N03) - Was 40/80....not sure why it is that high? Is it bad....

I've had the aquarium running for only 3 days but this morning the water looked a bit cloudy....also a lot of it evaporated onto the lid and the LED lights and the wires......
The temperature is only around 21 degrees c...the heater is put or not on?
Is this bad? What should I do?
I think I'm not going to get any fish anytime soon....I need to make sure the aquarium is ok and re think my fish choices.

Edit: I think the slight cloudiness is because of bacterial bloom, I've read that this isn't very bad and will soon resolve itself, but please tell be id I am wrong.

 

[Essjay]

(Aquarium is cycled, and planted already).

I've had the aquarium running for only 3 days

If there are more than the odd one or two slow growing plants, you can do a plant/silent cycle, but I would wait longer than 3 days to make sure the plants are actively growing before getting fish. Then add them one species at a time. Being extra cautious, I would also test for ammonia and nitrite every day until I knew that they were both staying at zero before getting the next batch of fish.

If you have only the odd one or two slow growing plants you need to get more, fast growing plants and allow them to establish before getting any fish.
Or put the plants you currently have in a bucket and do a fishless cycle with ammonia; maybe using a bacterial starter such as Tetra Safe Start to speed up the cycle. Then put the plants back in once the cycle is complete.



Don't take advice from any fish store worker; most of them give terrible advice.

 

[aqua.land]

Hi,
Thanks for the reply.
I have 5 plants - a coco cave (hideout with anubias), Java fern, Java Moss, Vallisneria, and another plant that I can't remember the name of...
Yes, I will probably wait some more time just to be sure, I'll be doing regular water tests.

 

[Byron]

The fish keeper at the aquatic center told me it was okay...I also asked him, because out of my research the temperature didn't match the other fish'd temperature...
I'm going to another aquatic store today and will talk to some other people......Thanks for the info

The fish keeper is wrong, and every knowledgeable biologist and ichthyologist in this hobby will say so. The site I linked is owned and run by ichthyologists. If you do not agree with that data, then provide contrary data from a reputable trained biologist to prove otherwise. Since I know you cannot, don't wast your time looking.

 

[aqua.land]

The fish keeper is wrong, and every knowledgeable biologist and ichthyologist in this hobby will say so. The site I linked is owned and run by ichthyologists. If you do not agree with that data, then provide contrary data from a reputable trained biologist to prove otherwise. Since I know you cannot, don't wast your time looking.

I'm not planning to look for anything...
I trust the people on this forum and I believe that you are right of course! I looked at the links myself
I'm not going to get the bumblebee catfish, its too big, much bigger than the platies and shrimp.
I talked to another experienced fish keeper - he told me completely different info from the other one at the aquatics centre - funnily enough his info matches yours, so I'll definitely be going back there.