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Adding a Fish

2K views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  muse435 
#1 ·
I transfered/upgraded my tank a little over a week ago, my ammonia reading is/was 0ppm, the nitrite is/was 0ppm and the nitrate is currently around 5ppm. Yesterday I added two more zebra danios (now a total of five in the tank) and the levels for the ammonia and nitrite today is 0ppm.

I have read that it is a good idea to only add around 2-3 fish per week.

A LFS has a spacial for buy one get one free and have neon orange cory cats in stock. I was wondering how soon I could safely add two of them to my tank (I plan to add more cory cats to keep them happy with time).

Thanx for the help.

also any opinions on cory cats are welcome
 
#2 ·
You should be fine adding another one or two but it's important to keep checking the levels to make sure you have no ammonia spike. Prime conditioner will neutralize ammonia and nitrites for approx. 24 hours at a time so that might be a good idea to get some if you don't use it already.
 
#3 ·
I have a 55gal that's fully cycled, I slowly added neons til I had 15 and then I waited a month for the bacteria to be well established (It's also well planted) and then I added 6 cherry barbs. Two weeks after that (last friday) I added 2 more cherry barbs and ten harlequin rasboras. No one seems to be bothered and it never dented the ammonia or nitrite :) Personally I would get all 5-6 cories at once but then I'm not familiar with your tank as far as size and plants so maybe not.
 
#4 ·
How big is your tank and is it planted? I initially added up to 6 at a time, but I have a heavily planted 65 gallon.

You could always ask your LFS to hold X amount of the cories and you could pick them up slowly if needed.
 
#6 ·
I would definitely get the corys together in one group. With the buy 1/free 1 deal, 4 corys of this species would be good. You could get another species later. But, if you only want this one, getting 6 now is fine too.

Live plants would give you more leeway as was mentioned, and you should consider live plants even if only floating, not only related to adding fish but generally. But with your tank and from what you've told us, 4 corys should not be an issue. And this is a fish that always is better with more, they adjust better; netting and moving corys is very stressful on them, much worse than many other fish. The more there are together, the quicker they will settle.

Byron.
 
#7 ·
Thanks Byron. I just got back from a "real" fish store (all they do is fish) and talked for a while with a worker and went with four panda corys. I plan on adding some more down the road. The bag is floating now and my hybrid drip method is about to begin.

Does anyone have any thoughts on laser corys?
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#9 ·
So right now I have 5 zebra danios and 4 panda corys.

I want to plan it out ahead of time so here is what I am thinking (in addition to what I have):

2-3 more zebra danios

2-3 corys of some type

6-7 neon tetras

I have only read up on the types I currently have and plan on reading more about any new fish I get. My current plan is to add the fish in that order spaced apart. If anyone has any suggestions I'm all ears.

[for any information on my tank check "my aquariums" it is all up to date.

thanks as always for the help.
 
#10 ·
Those for sure won't overload your tank =) Sounds like a good mix too me. Have you thought about having a few live plants? When I got my first few I was hooked and completely got rid of the artificial.

And I don't know if you've seen them or not but I have Cherry Barbs, and they have quickly become my favorite fish in my community tank. Awesome characters.
 
#11 ·
Are these three the species you want to focus on? If so, I think it would be great if you upped the number of neons to 10-12. They like to have buddies, like the cories, and they'd be happier in a larger group. I'd also err on a larger school of any group if you have the room -i.e. a total of 8 danios instead of 7.

(Not speaking for the water condition capabilities as I don't know them offhand.)

I like the panda cories - very cute. How are your little guys doing?
 
#12 ·
They started out shy but now they are swimming all over the place and keep racing most of the way up the tank then rocketing back to the bottom. They have been fun to watch.

As far as what I want in the tank I really like my zebra danios and the corys. I deffinatly want a few more zebras to keep them happy, and so far the corys are cool and I plan to get more (maybe different spiecies but still corys). My wife liked the neon tetras at the store so I have been thinking about them.

I know it keeps changing slightly but for now I think I am just going to get my remaining zebras and corys, then reevaluate my remaining tank availability. Between now and then I plan on asking many questions and continue to read articales.

Thanks everyone
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