How long between adding fish?

alvarez

New member
I know they recommend 1 fish per week with freshwater. After we have our first False Percula how long should we wait before we add another fish to our 75g tank? (i.e. a 2nd false percula)
 
well I dont think that fw rule is very smart.
for fw or sw it all depends on the cycling from the increased bioload
after introducing your 1st fish,every other day u need to do perform water test for amonia,nitrite,and nitrate
when the levels for the 3 tests are low-0,then its ok to add another fish or liveing thing
this includes fw
 
A week is not a bad yardstick, for a hobby [freshwater] in which many hobbyists don't have a full range of test kits. And a week is a pretty good guess, because it takes that long for the sandbed to adjust to the load.
However, in salt, having a full range of tests is a must.
You will want the following: a ph meter; a test for alkalinity, for nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia. In my own opinion, don't accept ANY nitrate or ammonia in the results. They're not good for the fish, even if they can survive them. Keep your alk at about 8.3 and the ph will ride about that level, too.
So yes, wait a few days, then test; and once you've tested clear, you can add another fish---and kudos for asking! Too many new salt tank owners just rush down and get half a dozen at once.
If you're keeping clowns, observe them carefully for the first few days, and pick out your fish carefully. They're susceptible to two problems, your old friend ich, the marine variety, and brooklynella, which is subtler and nastier, mostly involving sluggishness and a white film which some mistake for the clown's natural slime coat. Do not accept a lethargic fish, and particularly watch the gill action, to be sure it is easy. Do not buy from a tank with sick fish, period. Hope you have a long-lived and happy tank!
 
I plan on picking up test kits my tank is in great shape thus far and has bugs and micro spiders. There are lots of copods and my 3 hermit crabs are doing great.

The sand has developed a brownish color to it in places and a lot of the bugs are crawling around on the sand and not just sticking to the live rock.
 
Indeed---they're not large, and they're not very messy eaters. There are times you have to put in more than one fish: chromis, for instance, if you want a school. If they go in together, they'll hang together. If otherwise, you've got a fight. There's kind of an art to adding fish: the most aggressive and territorial go in last, the groups together, the hardest-on-the-system hindmost, so the sandbed will have adjusted to a heavier hit, etc. The clowns may spat about a bit, until they figure out which one curtsies and which one bows (they actually change genders) but they'll manage. ;)
 
Here are some pictures... The brown stuff on the bottom my wife keeps asking me about... I am sure its just a good bacteria as everything else has been going smoothly so I just assumed it was fine... but just in case here is the brown stuff on the sandbed the LR so far and the spider type bugs on the glass.

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The brown stuff is a diatom algae, its part of your tank porcess... If your tank is new, it will go away with time, make sure you have good flow, and not to big of a Bio-load... you will be fine down the road. you may even go threw a cyano outbreak, or hair algae problem... :) :) :)
 
I agree with bjones on the algae. I'm a little puzzled on the creatures on the glass. They could even be hydroids. I've never seen them personally---and I've never seen this. But they look as if they have a number of legs. Actually they're little jellyfish, and manifest for a while, then die off, just like the algae.
 
Should I worry about the Diatom Algae? it is getting thicker. I have 3 hermit crabs... should I add a snail of some sort to the clean up crew?
 
I think the lovelies on the glass are called hydroid jellyfish. They commonly appear on glass at the end of a cycle, which is where your tank appears to be. In fact, I just moved my 125, and the hydroid jellyfish population exploded in the fuge. They also appeared all over the glass in my seahorse tank. They population will reach a balance, and I think some fish may snack on them as I never see them in my display tank.
 
Nassarius and cerith snails might be a good idea, and you'll definitely need more crabs in the future (when you have more fish to clean up after or when you start to see algae on the rocks. Some people put as many as one per gallon in their tanks.
 
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