When to add fish

[wontonflip]

Age old question.....when to add more fish.

I cycled my 125g, then moved the lr and livestock from the 45g into there. How long should it take for the tank to adjust to the new bioload (which isn't that much -- 1 clown, 1 banggai, 1 firefish, 1 pep shrimp, a few cuc) before I can add more fish? And then, how many fish can I add? I was either going to get 6 chromis or 3 more banggais (but I'm worried how my fat a$$ banggai will react to smaller ones). I don't have a skimmer yet, but I've just been monitoring my water, and params are stable -- ammonia and nitrites 0, nitrates are around 5ppm. I'll be doing a water change this weekend when I redo my sump.

I've never added more than 2 fish at a time to any of my tanks, so adding 6 new ones at once is a task for me.

 

[yote]

Your tank basically dont have any bioload right now.So I think it would be safe to add 6 chromis in there.Then watch the parameters for a week or so then add the cardinals.

 

[wontonflip]

I probably won't add anymore after the chromis until I get a skimmer LOL I'd be pushing the envelope if I did, and I don't want to be constantly doing water changes to keep the nitrates down due to high bioload.

 

[XxKnuckleheadxX]

+1 wonton

 

[yote]

That would be the best way.:D

 

[Melosu58]

Your tank basically dont have any bioload right now.So I think it would be safe to add 6 chromis in there.Then watch the parameters for a week or so then add the cardinals.

Sounds good to me.

 

[dcantucson]

Wonton did you already add more live rock? And that has been in there long enough to have gotten 'seeded' ?

 

[wontonflip]

Not yet :yikesu:

LOL But I'm not picking up the chromis until January. Right now, it's just the 40lbs or so of lr, and live sand. I'm about to start seeding my garf rocks in a separate tub once I do my water change on my 125, then I can plop those bad boys in the 125. I'm going to make lots more rocks in January, too. That should finish off my lr needs.