In which order do you introduce fish in new tank?

[DiscusBR]

Hi all,

In another thread, I presented the 80g tank that I am currently cycling:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?86466-New-80g-tank!-How-to-build-one-with-Simply-Discus

As I explain there, I will have 6 wild discus in this new tank. But besides the discus, I plan to have 6 lemon tetras, 8 cardinals, 4 cories and 1 pleco. I have a lot of questions and I count on your advice:

1. Is this a good population size? I am really concerned about this because when filling the tank I got only 65 gallons out of the 80 nominal gallons (backgroung and substrate took 20% of the tank's capacity!). Considering the 10g-for-discus rule, I would be left with 5 gallons for the remaining 18 fishes. Is it ok? I don't want to overstock because I am going to travel a lot, skiping water changes sometimes, so I need advice.

2. What are the best procedures to introduce fish to the new tank? I plan to put the 6 wild discus in the new tank, once it is fully cycled. I don't have a quarentine tank yet, but I will get one. Should I put all other 18 fishes in a quarentine tank before introducing them to the tank? How big should this quarentine tank be? Can I put a sponge filter from the cycled tank to start the quarentine tank? How long should the fish be in quarentine? Should I add any product/medication to the quarentine tank while it holds the 18 smaller fishes?

Thanks in advance,

Mauro

[ericatdallas]

1) As someone who travels as well, I think I would keep my tank stocked at a minimum. I think if you were able to keep up with the WCs it probably wouldn't be a big deal but why risk it if you don't think you can keep up with it?

If you have some really good filtration going on and plants (maybe..?). I think then it becomes the art of deciding what your "effective volume" actually is. Under normal conditions (IMHO), I think your setup is fine so long as you can maintain it. I'm not very knowledgeable about Wilds though, so they might be more sensitive to nitrates/nitrites?

2) Yes, QT the other fish. Yes, you can use sponge filter to seed the QT. QT should be 4-6 weeks. No, don't add medication unless you see signs of disease.

[DiscusBR]

Thank you Eric. Some reponses/questions:


1) As someone who travels as well, I think I would keep my tank stocked at a minimum. I think if you were able to keep up with the WCs it probably wouldn't be a big deal but why risk it if you don't think you can keep up with it? If you have some really good filtration going on and plants (maybe..?). I think then it becomes the art of deciding what your "effective volume" actually is. Under normal conditions (IMHO), I think your setup is fine so long as you can maintain it..

So what are you recommending? Should I get less fishes? Less discus? Should I give up the other tankmates? (I would hate to do so).


I'm not very knowledgeable about Wilds though, so they might be more sensitive to nitrates/nitrites? .

From what I have learned from this site, there are no significante differences between wild and domestic discus in terms of water parameters.


2) Yes, QT the other fish. Yes, you can use sponge filter to seed the QT. QT should be 4-6 weeks. No, don't add medication unless you see signs of disease.

What size should the quarentine tank be?

Others?

[ericatdallas]

Thank you Eric. Some reponses/questions:

So what are you recommending? Should I get less fishes? Less discus? Should I give up the other tankmates? (I would hate to do so).

That's a personal choice :) It depends on how often you travel and what risk you put them in... Last week I was so busy I didn't change the water for almost 4 days and the ammonia went up to 2ppm. No matter what it's unhealthy for the discus. They're happy and they're okay but not everyone is as lucky as I was ... so there's always some risk and the more fish you have the riskier it becomes. It's kind of like rolling a die each time... one time you might have the perfect mix of conditions that means everything is okay and the next time you might have the "perfect" mix that harms your fish. I don't think this goes for just Discus either... In fact, I can speak more of "aquariums in general" than I can for discus... I know there have been times where my water has gotten so dirty it should be criminal and my fish survive with no problems and other times my fish flop for no "apparent" reason.

Maybe before you introduce more fish you can keep a running log of your water parameters. I mean, if it constantly reads 0/0/0 for ammonia/nitrates/nitrites you might be good for more fish or you need a new test kit :P



What size should the quarentine tank be?


That's another personal choice. I keep a 55G but that all depends on the bio-load of the fish you're QTing. I would imagine since you're holding them for 4-6 weeks you want to give them as much room as you would their normal tank. I think a lot of people I see keep 20-29G tanks. For the 18 fish you're keeping I would keep at least 20G.