stock list for new tank?

[elixerb]

i got a new tank and would love to set it up as a planted discus tank. ive kept blue rams in the past so know how important regular water changes are. my main question is weather what i want to put in the tank would be a good idea. if it would be over or under stocked.

its 215 liters with the dimentions being 98cm x 60cm x 44cm

the stock list would include 2 bristle nose pleco, 3 yo yo loaches, 15-20 neon tetras and 4 discus

any corrections would be greatly welcomed.
thanks,
brooke

[tlambert]

what you want is perfectly fine for that size tank just rember not to buy them all at once but in stages so as not to hurt the biological filtration :wink:

[DiscusEden]

Or you could cycle the tank completely before putting any fish in, then get them all at once?

[elixerb]

2 of the loaches and some of the tetra's come from a smaller tank i've got, so ive been running it with the filter sponge and bio noodles from that for a week and only lost 2 neons. not rushing into it at all i want to make sure the tank is perfect for when i bring the discus home.

thanks heaps for the quick reply :D
brooke

[tlambert]

Or you could cycle the tank completely before putting any fish in, then get them all at once?

if you completely cycle a tank then add all the fish at once that kills the bioligical filtration anyway you must add fish gradually cant just go and throw 30 fish in all at once there would certanly be deaths sorry to be so blunt :wink:

[Merrilyn]

Perhaps I could explain how the bio filtration in your tank works.

Your bio filter houses a colony of beneficial bacteria. The size of that colony will depend on the available food, food in the form of ammonia produced by the waste products of fish. The more fish you have, the more available food, and the larger the bacteria colony.

If you remove some of the fish, then the amount of available food will be less, and so some of the bacteria colony will die off.

When we use ammonia to cycle a tank, we are adding so much food, that the bacteria colony will grow huge. It's quite capable of dealing with all the ammonia produced by a full tank of fish. With discus, and especially african cichlids, it's much better if all the fish are added at once. Lot less fighting that way. They are all new guys, and they all have to establish a territory at the same time.


Doing a fishless cycle (using liquid ammonia) means that you can add all your fish at once. The bio colony is large enough to handle all the waste produced by the fish.

If you are taking some used filter media from another tank, that will be home to a small bio colony, and you should add fish a few at a time so that the filtration has time to catch up with the increase in fish waste. That's a totally different method to doing a full cycle with ammonia.

Adding fish won't kill the bio filtration, but there is more waste than the small bacteria colony can handle, and you will need to wait for it to catch up. In the meantime, you need to do frequent water changes and keep an eye on your ammonia level.

Your bio filter is a living thing. The size of the colony will grow, but it does take a couple of weeks to catch up after the addition of a few new fish.

My suggestion is to take it easy, add your fish gradually, feed lightly, and do more frequent water changes. Soon your bio filter will be large enough to handle all the waste your fish can produce.