How soon to put in fish for new tank??

kittyfyinc

kittyfyinc

Medium Fish
#1
Oct 22, 2002
53
0
0
53
Maiden, North Carolina
#1
A big question for newbies......
I lost a few fish when I set up the tank and 2 hrs later put in my fish. I knew nothing about cycling.
Now I just got another tank. I put in the water (included a gallon from older tank), conditioned and stress formulas, let it run for 8 hours now. I tested PH and ammonia and both came back perfect.
If I wait till morning at about 18 hrs total,
What is the soonest I can put my fish in the new tank??
I have platys ,guppies ,and a cordy. I want them to be happy  in their new tank but not to rush it too much. What about just one pair at a time???
 

W

Wonderwoman

Large Fish
#2
Oct 22, 2002
166
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san diego, ca
#2
I think maybe you're a little confused about cycling?  ???  ammonia will come back as zero unless there's a source of ammonia in the tank, and not enough bacteria to convert it.  running your tank without a source of ammonia, be it fish or your grocery store, won't cycle anything.  some people will put in one or two very hardy fish, and their waste is the source of ammonia, and the tank will cycle that way.  otherwise, you can ready one of the many good articles on fishless cycling that won't use fish and subsequently make them suffer.  new tanks are always exciting  *thumbsupsmiley*
 

W

Wonderwoman

Large Fish
#4
Oct 22, 2002
166
0
0
san diego, ca
#4
how big is your tank?  ideally you should put the fish in veeeeery slowly at first...for something like a 10 gallon, maybe 2 platies.  this means you'll be doing fish cycling, so they'll be under some stress for awhile  :-[.  I wouldn't put in the cories until the very end, after the tank has cycled (this means about 4 or 5 weeks, usually), the guppies I'm not so sure.  at this point you should probably put in two platies and wait for the tank to cycle before adding any more fish. :)
 

M

Mike

Large Fish
#5
Nov 9, 2002
248
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0
38
Los Angeles, California
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#5
when i set up my 10gallon tank i didnt know anything about fishless cycling so i just went on ahead an put 4 mollies in and they are doing just fine. i do frequent water changes with a gravel vacume and am usingthis bottled bacteria that realeases 1000 of them per dosage and my bio-wheel does the rest.
 

M

Mike

Large Fish
#7
Nov 9, 2002
248
0
0
38
Los Angeles, California
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#7
to do a fishless cycle just get the ammonia and nitrite readers then fill your tank with 5ppm of ammonia. then lets it run continuosly for days/sometimes weeks and keep reading the ammonia and nitrie levels. try to make the ammonia and the nitrite read 0. when they finially read 0 you should then do a 25%-50%water change to get rid of the nitrate that was created from the bennifical bacteria. then you can put your fish in the tank. remember if you have live plants in the tank the cycle might take weeks because the bacteria and the plants compete for the nitrite.most inportant of all read this carefully and don't confuse nitrite and nitrate.ammonia----->nitrite------->nitrate------>25%-50% water change------->add fish
 

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