Next steps for aquarium set up
May 17, 2023 1:30 AM Subscribe
I currently have two fish tanks that I want to combine into one. Should I continue stocking the much larger new one before moving over the fish from the old one, or move them now and then add more fish later?
The new tank is 125 liters, planted, fully cycled, with 4-5 small snails and 6 Hengeli Rasboras, who have been thriving for about a week now. The other tank is only about 40 liters, lightly planted, housing an unknown number of snails, 4 cherry barbs and an adult bristlenose pleco.
We adopted this tank and are upgrading conditions for them. The plan is to get a few more Rasboras and Cherry Barbs to increase both schools to ~10 each and to add a small school of 5-6 Corydoras as well. As we don't currently have a place to quarantine any new stock as it comes in, I am unsure about the best order of operations. Should we:
1. Add the new Rasboras, Barbs, and Corys to the new tank now, then move in the ladies from the old tank in a couple of weeks.
1.a All at once, or in groups?
2. Move over the Pleco and the Barbs, then increase stock later.
3. Any number of other options that I could go into - move just the pleco now, just the barbs now, just add more Rasboras for the time being, get all the Corys first, etc etc.
The new tank is doing great with the new fish, and I've been regularly checking the parameters which are all fine. These 6 Rasboras are so tiny I'm not sure the tank even knows they're there. I do not want to crash the system by adding too much at once, and I don't really know the best way forward.
Sub-question - how long should I wait between new additions to the new tank (assuming that I should)?
Any help appreciated.
The new tank is 125 liters, planted, fully cycled, with 4-5 small snails and 6 Hengeli Rasboras, who have been thriving for about a week now. The other tank is only about 40 liters, lightly planted, housing an unknown number of snails, 4 cherry barbs and an adult bristlenose pleco.
We adopted this tank and are upgrading conditions for them. The plan is to get a few more Rasboras and Cherry Barbs to increase both schools to ~10 each and to add a small school of 5-6 Corydoras as well. As we don't currently have a place to quarantine any new stock as it comes in, I am unsure about the best order of operations. Should we:
1. Add the new Rasboras, Barbs, and Corys to the new tank now, then move in the ladies from the old tank in a couple of weeks.
1.a All at once, or in groups?
2. Move over the Pleco and the Barbs, then increase stock later.
3. Any number of other options that I could go into - move just the pleco now, just the barbs now, just add more Rasboras for the time being, get all the Corys first, etc etc.
The new tank is doing great with the new fish, and I've been regularly checking the parameters which are all fine. These 6 Rasboras are so tiny I'm not sure the tank even knows they're there. I do not want to crash the system by adding too much at once, and I don't really know the best way forward.
Sub-question - how long should I wait between new additions to the new tank (assuming that I should)?
Any help appreciated.
I am very much an amateur, and it's been a few years since I kept aquaria, but I always tried to avoid overloading the tank with fish relative to the tank size and filtering capabilities. Helps to keep a cleaner tank with less stress on the fish and the ecosystem.
125 liters appears to be about 33 gallons? Your plan of 20 fish + 6 corys + pleco seems like it would be too crowded for that size, IMHO. I'd suggest option #2 - get all your current fish into the big tank now, and let things stabliize for like a month before considering new fish.
posted by gnutron at 6:26 PM on May 17, 2023
125 liters appears to be about 33 gallons? Your plan of 20 fish + 6 corys + pleco seems like it would be too crowded for that size, IMHO. I'd suggest option #2 - get all your current fish into the big tank now, and let things stabliize for like a month before considering new fish.
posted by gnutron at 6:26 PM on May 17, 2023
I agree with Drosera and gnutron- the future plan seems like too many fish for that size tank.
For people who use gallons, the standard is 1 inch of fish length per gallon for small community fish (when you start having larger fish you have to think about what is comfortable for them in terms of maneuvering around their home as well). Generously (and to the fish's benefit) metric using aquarists follow 1cm of fish per liter (and it helps to use the maximum size of your fish unless you plan to keep getting larger and larger tanks).
If your tank is heavily planted and/or you overcompensate with filtration, you can push this number a bit, especially if you feed high quality food, use floating plants, and do regular water changes.
I would work on making sure you've slowly leveled up water parameters in the small tank to match the large tank, matching pH, temp and nutrients. When they match, add the cherry barbs to the new tank so they can figure out the new space. In a day or two add the pleco. Leave it at that for a few months while you continue to test and keep track of water parameters. If everything is going well in a month boost the cherry barb population to six.
If things seem stable after another month, you could then add a small school of cory cats or add a couple fish to the existing schools. You might have to increase water changes.
posted by oneirodynia at 11:49 AM on May 18, 2023
For people who use gallons, the standard is 1 inch of fish length per gallon for small community fish (when you start having larger fish you have to think about what is comfortable for them in terms of maneuvering around their home as well). Generously (and to the fish's benefit) metric using aquarists follow 1cm of fish per liter (and it helps to use the maximum size of your fish unless you plan to keep getting larger and larger tanks).
If your tank is heavily planted and/or you overcompensate with filtration, you can push this number a bit, especially if you feed high quality food, use floating plants, and do regular water changes.
I would work on making sure you've slowly leveled up water parameters in the small tank to match the large tank, matching pH, temp and nutrients. When they match, add the cherry barbs to the new tank so they can figure out the new space. In a day or two add the pleco. Leave it at that for a few months while you continue to test and keep track of water parameters. If everything is going well in a month boost the cherry barb population to six.
If things seem stable after another month, you could then add a small school of cory cats or add a couple fish to the existing schools. You might have to increase water changes.
posted by oneirodynia at 11:49 AM on May 18, 2023
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Your anticipated eventual stocking level seems high to me for that size of tank. Maybe consider pygmy cories. (Or a bigger tank :) )
Are you on any of the subreddits for aquariums? r/PlantedTank and r/Aquariums are worth checking out.
posted by Drosera at 3:54 AM on May 17, 2023