# How many fish can be added to a tank at once?



## RSidetrack (Dec 31, 2007)

I was wondering how many fish could be added to a tank at once? I picked out 25 fish with various varieties, all which would get a long, from an online store, but since the shipping is $35 I prefer to do one shipment at once. Would 25 at once be way to many? I have a 29g in cycling which I wish to add these fish to.

Thanks!


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

absolutely way too much too quick.

Also, can you post the list of fish? 25 is an aweful lot for a 29G. I'm sure some may not be suitable for it


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## RSidetrack (Dec 31, 2007)

The fish I am looking at right now are:
(5) Zebra Danio
(6) X-Ray Pristella Tetra
(2) Topsail Platy
(1) Neon Swordtail
(1) Marble Lyretail Molly
(3) Orange Sunshine Guppy
(3) Blue Cobra Guppy
(1) Boesemani Rainbow
(3) Olive Nerita Snails


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## RSidetrack (Dec 31, 2007)

Also, I read somewhere on here under a cycling topic that once a tank is fully cycled with fishless cycling you can fully stock it, so that is why I was wondering if it would be possible to put all of the fish in there at once


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

thats a lot of fish for a 29G, especially if you get male and female guppies. You will be overrun in no time.


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

I still wouldnt recommend adding all of those at once, because of the huge spike in ammonia, you may go through another cycle. You should add fish gradually, with a week or two between adding them


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## RSidetrack (Dec 31, 2007)

What if I keep the concentration of ammonia pretty high while cycling the tank through. Right now it is 5 or 6 PPM (nitrites havn't formed yet) - if I keep it about there and it maintains the filtration would that be sufficient? I guess the safest bet is to do what you said and stock slowly bi-weekly, maybe like just the set of one type of fish at a time - like guppies, then tetras, then swordtail, etc.?

I am going to try and keep breeding minimal by getting all females if possible.


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

Sidenote: Boesmani rainbows need shoals, and get quite large, so I'd leave that one out.


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## RSidetrack (Dec 31, 2007)

trashion said:


> Sidenote: Boesmani rainbows need shoals, and get quite large, so I'd leave that one out.


Thanks! I wouldn't have known that so I appreciate it.


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

yeah i agree with Julie about the rainbows.

Keeping the ammonia level high wont help, because the ammonia is actually stressful to the fish, which is why you should add them slowly to make sure you dont cause an ammonia spike.

I would say get all female guppies or all male guppies. The males are usually more colorful.


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## RSidetrack (Dec 31, 2007)

justintrask said:


> yeah i agree with Julie about the rainbows.
> 
> Keeping the ammonia level high wont help, because the ammonia is actually stressful to the fish, which is why you should add them slowly to make sure you dont cause an ammonia spike.
> 
> I would say get all female guppies or all male guppies. The males are usually more colorful.


That's right, I had forgotten it was the males that were more colorful so that is what I will get - thanks!


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## Sock Yee (Dec 29, 2007)

Have you considered the fact that having 25 fish to 29 gallon is too much? I understand the enthusiasm and excitement about getting new fish and also you want to save on the cost as well, but I think if you do that chance of losing a fish or two is quite possible. Fish take time to acclimatize and adjust to new environment including the tank mates. I think if you split them into two batches of shipment, it would be more practical. Oh yeah, you might want to consider limiting the number of fish in your aquarium.


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## ThatFishKid (Aug 9, 2008)

Yea, I'd have to agree. I know what I'm talking about when I say that 29's can only hold so much. If you'll turn your attention to my list of fish currently in my 29, you'll see what i mean. (the "larger" ones are still young, so it's not a problem...yet.) any ways, even having close to your tanks bio-load capacity can cause lots of problems to occur. i don't have tremendous experience with the live bearers types, you have (got my first EVER platies this week) so i don't know how big they'll get for sure, but since i know those are all fairly small fish, you should be fine if you eliminate about 2 types (not just species, but types ie, ALL guppies, or ALL platies, etc...). that might be enough. But as to your main question, no, that many fish at one time is FAR to many. you could try ordering one type of fish at a time to help lower the # of shipments you're dealing with.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Theoretically, you should be able to add a fish load equal to the "fishless" ammonia load. The issue is that no one has a good x fish = y ppm chart, so its safer to add fewer and ramp up slowly.


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## Guest (Aug 24, 2008)

I suggest taking off the rainbowfish and then sticking to 2 types of livebearers. If you can get only male Guppies, that would be even better. I would leave the Molly off, since they usually do best with a little salt and some of the other fish wouldn't appreciate salt. And since you only have 1 swordtail listed, I'd leave it off. 

Have you considered changing out some of the ones you want for something that stays near the bottom? A 29g is a tallish tank and all the fish on your list stay in the middle or top area. 

Cories are super peaceful, cute little fish. They do shoal, so you want atleast 5 or 6. And they are bottom feeders.

I think if you narrow the list down more, you'll be fine adding those fish all at once, but check ammonia levels and nitrite levels daily and do water changes as needed.


justintrask, he meant that he's keeping the ammonia level high during fishless cycling.....not while fish are in the tank.


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## learn2turn (Aug 31, 2008)

I'm just betting back into FW. When I had a FW tank in the past, I had one of about eight different kinds of fish in a 20g. Thinking back, it was unimpressive. 

I think your tank will be nicer if you pick three, or maybe four kinds then get a few of each type. Maybe pick the three you have six of.

The 10g I just set up has two fish. I plan to add three or four more, one of one kind and the rest of the other so it will be two and three or two and four. That's it for fish.

If you really want to, or have to, go Mail Order, maybe post on some local board and see if you can get one or two people to split an order with.


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## RSidetrack (Dec 31, 2007)

JustOneMore20 said:


> I suggest taking off the rainbowfish and then sticking to 2 types of livebearers. If you can get only male Guppies, that would be even better. I would leave the Molly off, since they usually do best with a little salt and some of the other fish wouldn't appreciate salt. And since you only have 1 swordtail listed, I'd leave it off.
> 
> Have you considered changing out some of the ones you want for something that stays near the bottom? A 29g is a tallish tank and all the fish on your list stay in the middle or top area.
> 
> ...


I'm working on reorganizing my list - but one question, what does "shoal" mean?


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## RSidetrack (Dec 31, 2007)

I modified my list to what follows:
(6) Zebra Danio
(6) X-Ray Pristella Tetra
(6) Cardinal Tetra
(3) Orange Sunshine Guppy
(3) Blue Cobra Guppy
(3) Olive Nerita Snails
(5) Cory Cat Fish (Salt n' Pepper)


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## Guest (Sep 17, 2008)

Shoal means to school. They like being in groups 

Your list looks pretty good now.


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## RSidetrack (Dec 31, 2007)

Ichthius said:


> Shoal means to school. They like being in groups
> 
> Your list looks pretty good now.


Great thanks! 

Also, I am thinking about only adding the 6 cardinal tetras and 3 orange guppies at first (so 9 total). I only have a 5.5 quarantine tank and realized that if I add all at once I could end up with a whole lot of dead fish if there was a disease with any of them. So would 9 at once be okay? I have been putting around 3-4 shots of ammonia in every day and it is fully cycled with no Ammonia or Nitrites within 12 hours. Would the 9 fish put out over 3-4 shots worth of ammonia?

Thanks!


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## Blue Cray (Oct 19, 2007)

I have full grown b.rainbows and they are almost the size of my full grown angelfish and need maybe 7 or so of the same fish and they dont mix well with small fish they can be a bit agressive.


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