Introducing fish into a Fish-less cycled tank.

[Jordan_Deus]

If I went the fish-less cycle route, how quickly can I stock my tank? For example if I need to add schooling fish, lets say about nine Cherry barbs, would I add all nine at once, wait a week then get the next school of fish?

 

[DutchMuch]

you could do that or cut every school in half and add that amount.

 

[Baker]

A lot of what your asking starts with "it depends" if your tank is on the smaller side (something around the 10g-30g you will want to introduce smaller amounts of fish every 2-3 weeks. Like if you're putting 9 cherry barbs in a 20 gallon you might put 3 in at a time over the course of 9 weeks. I know it seems like a long time but it's ideal for the fishes health.
As far as the cycle process is concerned, for a tank with no plants a fish less cycle could take up to around 9-12 weeks just to get established enough for your first batch of fish! On the other hand a heavily planted 30 gallon could be ready to take on upwards of around 10 small fish fairly quickly.

If you're doing a fishless cycle using pure ammonia it's best to wait for the entire cycle to finish before adding even a single fish, as the levels of ammonia in the tank are going to be near lethal.

If impatience is your concern, try to frame it as a project that you're trying to build slowly so that you aren't eager to just throw all your fish in and have a finished product within a month. If you take the time to ensure everything is building up healthily you may find that the slow process of building your ecosystem is more enjoyable than just finishing it up and moving on to the next project. I personally find the establishing of a tank to be the most enjoyable part of keeping fish so it motivates me to go slower and perfect everything over a long period of time.

Hope this helps and if you want more details about your particular tank, leave another comment with more in depth information about what you have or want

 

[Byron]

I tend to agree with Baker, especially that specific circumstances make a difference. Shoaling fish should whenever possible be added together, the entire intended group at the same time. This isn't as imperative with cherry barbs as it would be with some species; if for example angelfish were added a few at a time with three weeks between, you would probably end up with dead angelfish. The species forms a hierarchy, and the smaller the space the quicker this occurs. Many species are like this.

The other thing about shoaling fish is that the more there are, the faster they will settle in. So seven cories will tend to settle in much more quickly than will two or three (both of the same species). So the fish will get over the change in environment more quickly when they are all together. And this is important, as many fish like cories do not at all appreciate changing environments.

I happen to know from your other thread that this is a 60g tank, so you have sufficient water volume to add the entire species group together. But only one species with several days (minimum) between species.

And, having some live plants, especially fast-growing types (floating plants are the best for this) will allow you considerable latitude. Plants need nitrogen, and they prefer it as ammonia/ammonium, so they will take this up rapidly depending upon their growth rate. Floating plants have, with good reason, been termed ammonia sinks because of this; you will never see ammonia in a tank with a good growth of plants. And a bonus with plants is that nitrite is not occurring from the take up of ammonia.

Byron.

 

[Jordan_Deus]

Thank you both for your replies, it helps a lot.

Sent from my MX4 using Tapatalk

 

[Jordan_Deus]

I tend to agree with Baker, especially that specific circumstances make a difference. Shoaling fish should whenever possible be added together, the entire intended group at the same time. This isn't as imperative with cherry barbs as it would be with some species; if for example angelfish were added a few at a time with three weeks between, you would probably end up with dead angelfish. The species forms a hierarchy, and the smaller the space the quicker this occurs. Many species are like this.

The other thing about shoaling fish is that the more there are, the faster they will settle in. So seven cories will tend to settle in much more quickly than will two or three (both of the same species). So the fish will get over the change in environment more quickly when they are all together. And this is important, as many fish like cories do not at all appreciate changing environments.

I happen to know from your other thread that this is a 60g tank, so you have sufficient water volume to add the entire species group together. But only one species with several days (minimum) between species.

And, having some live plants, especially fast-growing types (floating plants are the best for this) will allow you considerable latitude. Plants need nitrogen, and they prefer it as ammonia/ammonium, so they will take this up rapidly depending upon their growth rate. Floating plants have, with good reason, been termed ammonia sinks because of this; you will never see ammonia in a tank with a good growth of plants. And a bonus with plants is that nitrite is not occurring from the take up of ammonia.

Byron.

One more question. In my stocking plan (image below), I'm adding two plecos can I first add the shoal of cherry barbs then the shoal of zebra danios with one pleco and then the last shoal of Corys with the second pleco?

 

[Baker]

I would say the most aggressive thing you'll be keeping in there are the plecos and BN plecos are not very boisterous so you don't have much to worry about, I would wait on both the plecos and shrimp until your tank is well seasoned and provides ample natural food in the form of algae. Other than that the barbs or danios first, then the cories

 

[Jordan_Deus]

I would say the most aggressive thing you'll be keeping in there are the plecos and BN plecos are not very boisterous so you don't have much to worry about, I would wait on both the plecos and shrimp until your tank is well seasoned and provides ample natural food in the form of algae. Other than that the barbs or danios first, then the cories

Thanks Yeah the shrimp will definitely go in last. What I'm worried about with the plecos is their bioload. Don't wanna overload the filter. So I thought it might be better to not add them in together. Thought?

 

[Byron]

I would say the most aggressive thing you'll be keeping in there are the plecos and BN plecos are not very boisterous so you don't have much to worry about, I would wait on both the plecos and shrimp until your tank is well seasoned and provides ample natural food in the form of algae. Other than that the barbs or danios first, then the cories

I'm with this too. With one additional comment, add the two plecos together. I'm not sure how easy it is to tell male/female in small plecos, so any territorial issues will be solved better if both enter the space at the same time.

 

[Baker]

If your tank is running a good 3-6 months before e plecos are brought in you should be absolutely fine in terms of bio load. The idea being that plant and algae growth is developed enough to take on that kind of waste production anyway.

 

[Jordan_Deus]

Thanks for the info.