When Can I Put My Other Fish In?

[Cal116]

Hi, I set up a new 20 gallon tank. I did a fishless cycle for 1 week using the product Stability daily for that week. The following week I added 5 Tiger Barbs and they have been in there for a little over a week now and they seem to be happy. Can I start adding the fish from other tank yet? Got any advice?

 

[ebross67]

It depends on your Ammonia and Nitrate levels. One week doesn't sound like enough time to cycle a tank. Have you checked your levels? The ammonia should be 0ppm. If all is well the you should be able to add 1in of fish for every gallon. Tiger Barbs grow to 3in, so that's 5X3=15 gallons. You could put two more 2-3in fish. The tank would be at full capacity, but you probably have decorations and gravel, maybe live plants that take up space. I wouldn't add anymore.

 

[Cal116]

It's been cycling for 2 weeks. 1 week without the fish and 1 week with the fish in there. Regarding the inch of fish per gallon rule, those rules can be bent because of advanced filtration these days.

 

[ebross67]

Are you checking the water properties? What are your readings? This will tell you how many fish to put in (if you don't follow the 1in per gallon rule).

 

[coldcazzie]

They can yes, but not by a huge amount, and it depends on the adult fish size - if it's a small fish like neon tetras you can add more than the inch per gallon rule, and if it's a large fish it's usually less than the inch per gallon rule.

More importantly though, have you got liquid test kits to test your water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? If not you need to buy some, because it's only by testing the water that you will know whether it is safe to add more fish - we can't tell you unless you test and post up the results

 

[Cal116]

They can yes, but not by a huge amount, and it depends on the adult fish size - if it's a small fish like neon tetras you can add more than the inch per gallon rule, and if it's a large fish it's usually less than the inch per gallon rule.

More importantly though, have you got liquid test kits to test your water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? If not you need to buy some, because it's only by testing the water that you will know whether it is safe to add more fish - we can't tell you unless you test and post up the results

I haven't bought any test kits, BUT I'm going to go to PetCo for a free water test. I'll let you know what the results look like.

 

[coldcazzie]

Sounds good. Ideally you should have your own though. 1, because it saves the phaff of having to go to the store every time you want a water test done (can't be bothered with that lol!) and 2, because if any of the readings are off you might need to test 2 or 3 times a day whilst also doing water changes, and it would actually be very impractical to go to the store that many times a day.

 

[Cal116]

0.5 Ammonia and everything else was ready

 

[Harlequins]

You're tank is not cycled if you are showing ammonia

 

[coldcazzie]

If you are showing 0.5 ammonia then you need to do a water change to bring that as close to 0 as possible. Ammonia is poisonous to the fish, so any levels in the tank will be harming them, even though they might look fine. Don't add any more fish for the moment as fish produce ammonia by their breathing and in their poo, so adding more fish will mean more ammonia in the tank. The best thing you can do at the moment is 50% (minimum) water changes every day until you get 0 for ammonia and 0 for nitrite, and then you can think about adding some more fish in. This is why it's better to have your own test kits! Otherwise you're going to get to know the staff at the fish store very well indeed lol.

I know you said you cycled without fish for a week with the stability product and then the fish have been in for a week so far, but that's actually not very long at all, and certainly not enough for your filter to have grown the bacteria needed to remove the ammonia and nitrite that will be produced in the tank. If you go to the beginners resources section there are topics there on fishless cycling and fish-in cycling which are well worth the time to read them (I learned a lot!), but basically the product you put in almost definitely did absolutely nothing for your cycle (sorry to break it to you!) and so it's only since the fish have been in (ie, 1 week, not 2) that the filter has been cycling, and therefore you probably have a good few weeks to go yet.

To give you some kind of indication - I'm currently doing a fishless cycle, where you add ammonia by syringe instead of by having fish in the tank, and I'm currently on day 31, and nowhere near finished yet - so that's what I mean by 1 week not being very long.

 

[Cal116]

he said the kits automatically read .05 UNLESS something is off in your tank (i.e higher amonia levels). He said they never read at 0 and that they were older strips. Would floating the bio-wheel from my other tank that has been established help out at all?

 

[fatheadminnow]

he said the kits automatically read .05 UNLESS something is off in your tank (i.e higher amonia levels). He said they never read at 0 and that they were older strips. Would floating the bio-wheel from my other tank that has been established help out at all?

I am sorry, but the people at your LFS are wrong!

Any reading in ammonia over .25 ppm is harmful to fish and will give them permanent gill damage!

he said the kits automatically read .05 UNLESS something is off in your tank

This is so NOT true!

You said he used strip test kits? Well, strip test kits are extremely inaccurate! You need to get a Liquid reagent base test kit! Petco should carry the API Fresh Water Master Test kit for around $28.00, you need to get it and read you ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels immediately!

Also, that product you added the first week of your tank, really did not do anything. The beneficial bacteria that grow in our filters will only grow if there is an ammonia source. But that first week you did not have any ammonia, so there could be no cycling at all. On average, a tank done right will cycle in about 4-6 weeks, usually a little longer.

You are now in a fish-in cycle, read about it here:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=224306

-FHM

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, clearly this is early in a Fish-In cycling situation.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[coldcazzie]

Hmm... that sounds like tosh to me... my tank reads 0.

But I use liquid test kits, not test strips. If he's said that the test strips are old then that immediately begs the question of whether they are accurate (because everything has a use-by date), and the test strips are not as accurate as the liquid ones anyway (some of the forum users get quite het up about the test strips!)

Any media from an already established tank will definitely help yes - although I'd still do the water change if I were you. And get your own test kits! lol

It's my bedtime now (very busy day 2moro), but let me just say this: if your tank were completely cycled, with the filter being completely able to handle all the ammonia the fish were producing then the test would read 0. And anything other than 0 is not good for your fish.

And a word to the wise: don't beleive everything the fish store tells you. It's a mistake everyone makes, and some are very good, but most are either money grabbing, clueless, careless or all three. Please read the cycling threads in the beginners section - they will help a lot!

ETA: sorry, cross posted with WD and FHM there!

 

[aussieant32]

agreed with everyone, apart from the lfs!! the tank is definately not cycled and is not ready for more fish. Its impossible to give a timeframe as each tank and filter set up etc is different. Also you will be fairly limited to the type of fish as tiger barbs usually are fin nippers so and harrass alot of smaller fish.

My tip is get a liquid test kit, API Master kit is your best bet as it covers everything you need, leave the fish as they are, get all your water right and then add some more, it isnt really fair on the fish to rush it, because they will most likely die!

Feel free to ask any more questions though, you will always get the right answers here, we are not trying to sell you anything!!