about adding new fish to new tank

[HappySkittles]

i have read you shouldnt add too many fish at once
will screw up the bacteria with the bio load

but how would i work this out if what im going to add comes all at once and is a pretty penny to ship

im going to get about 6 (3 pairs) dwarf seahorse for my 3 gallon tank

is there any way i could add them all and deal with the whole bio load issue safely? will it be much of an issue? i cant afford to order them a few at a time since the shipping is expensive (will be spending about $80 for them...shipping included)

just wondering how to keep the little guys from getting stressed or worse if thats a possibility D:

tank should be a few months old and well planted before i even get them if that will help with anything

 

[Roy G. Biv]

Re: about adding new fish to new tank

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13316347#post13316347 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HappySkittles
im going to get about 6 (3 pairs) dwarf seahorse for my 3 gallon tank

I think thats a bad idea all together, but im not a seahorse expert.

A trick that I used in the past that may work.. If your tank is cycled and you have some time before they arrive, drop in a raw shrimp for a few days and let it rot a little. This will simulate a large bioload. the filter will process all of the extra ammonia eventually and the bacteria will become stronger. Do a water change before they arrive to knock down the extra nitrates.

 

[HappySkittles]

quote from an excerpt from alisa abbot who from my understanding has the best dwarf seahorse book

"A 2-gallon tank can easily hold 5 pair including any babies that they may have"

that shrimp thing sounds like a good idea...lets see what anyone else has to say too

 

[sassafrass]

Instead of a raw shrimp just feed the tank as if your seahorses were in it it will create exactly the same bio-load whether the food gets eaten or not .I use this method when adding any significant amount of bio-load ,like a school of anthias or if you needed to add two fish at once to subdue territorial issues.

 

[crvz]

on a 3 gallon tank, you can easily control nitrate or other nutrient level increases due to higher bio-load with dilution... frequent large water changes for the first few weeks/months (if even that long) should supplement the biological filter until it's primed to handle the new fish.