You are definitely not going to like my answer. But I have a lot of wild caught fish. Some I have had in my tanks in fewer than 3 - 4 weeks after they were caught in the wild. However, Most have been held by somebody along the way for some time before reaching my tanks so may be several months removed from the wild. I have Q'd my wc fish anyhere from 2 - 3 months. If they are known to be prone to arriving with nasties, I go for a 3 month min.
Certain parasites and other problems may not even manifest themselves for more than a month or more after arriving. So the longer you can Q the better. Wasting disease (caused by a parasite), for example, will take some time to show itself as the fish will eat normally for some time before you notice it is losing weight or not growing.
In addition, fish in the wild are exposed to the diseases of the wild while fish in tanks are exposed to the diseases common within the aquarium world. Often wc fish lack resistance to some of the more common tank ones and vice versa. So the mere act of putting a wc fish into a cyled Q tank is exposing them to some new things which could have an unknown result, i.e. they may or may not get "sick".
Its simple- longer is better and safer. Some people never Q and it never costs them. Some people don't Q once and pay a heavy price.
will they have any issues adapting to food and such?
am hoping to get a breeding group going so looking to get 4 or 5
