How many fish to stock in one go.

I plan to add about 12 flame tetra to my tank. Will there be any issues with adding all 12 in one go?
I have a 125L tank currently stocked with 4 cory cats, 2 ottos and 3 amano shrimp.
I have somebody that is taking my 3 dwarf gourami.

Reduce feedings before you put them in and gradually increase day by day.This way there isnt going to be any spikes and the bacteria will get a chance to handle its new bio-load.If your not sure do a water change a few hours before putting them in!

How long is the tank established? If izt is well cycled, 12 tetras shouldn't be much of an issue. Do a partial water change the day before you add them if want to be sure to be sure.

If the tank is fully cycled over 6 weeks it should be ok, feed sparingly fo the first week or so to give the bacteria in your filter a chance to multiply, and test your water!

The previous advice is spot on.

I had a bad experience with some Flame Tetras years ago.
They died off really quickly on me.

I found them to be beautiful fish but i haven't gone near them since, maybe it was just a bad experience on my part.

Actually, its a while since i've seen them in the shops, Where are you getting them?

dclifford wrote:

Will there be any issues with adding all 12 in one go?
I have a 125L tank... I have somebody that is taking my 3 dwarf gourami.

I think trading 3 Dwarf Gouramis for 12 tetra will not present any problem whatsoever.

If your water is not 'adjusted' in any way there is a filter medium you can buy called 'PolyBio Marine Poly Filter' which is without doubt the best chemical filter media on the market. Expensive! Worth the money once it will not affect your water Ph as it WILL extract every organic acidifier present in the water and make a considerable change to your water parameters if organics are involved. Likewise it will have no effect on sodium-based buffers and leave your water parameters exactly as they started (except for the fact that it will remove a lot, if not all, of the other pollutants present in your water at the moment). I use this on all my tanks that do not involve peat/leaf/organic additives and find it to be excellent in keeping water parameters where they should be…i.e. pollutant free. Any fish added, no matter the quantity, cannot compete with the filter medium and water stays at the pollutant-free level it should be.

Hope this is of some use to you.

I have come across very few other aquarists that use this filter medium (I think mainly due to its expense) and would like some feedback from you if you decide to include it in your regular tank maintenance. If so be careful! Not all fish react to cleaner water in the same way! Some actually like a little pollution to keep them happy:S

However, as I said at the start I do not think you will have a problem adding Tetras when you are removing 3 Gourami at the same time.


All d best, Carl

I saw the flame tetra in the Orchard garden centre in celbridge.
The tank is running for nearly 2 months now.

Thanks for all the feedback.

@Carl,
Poly Bio Marine Poly Filter sounds good if it does exactly what it says on the label and it sounds a great product for anybody with Central American and Rift Valley cichlids, marine or hard water set up. Not so great for softwater set-ups,like discus or any South American set-up. Don't want to risk a pH shock

The product site says it will not affect ph at all?
I'm considering this stuff Holger, it seems excellent.
Especially for my marine nano tank, could be just the ticket.

@ apistodiscus
I agree totally.
As I said in my post it will remove every trace of organics from the system and should not be used on tanks that have water adjusted with peat/leaf/acid additives.
It is the only product of its kind that I was able to find an independent lab analysis report on and it ‘it does exactly what it says on the label’. Actually it does a lot more! I always thought their marketing department could do a much better job of promoting it.

Didihno wrote:

The product site says it will not affect ph at all?
I'm considering this stuff Holger, it seems excellent.
Especially for my marine nano tank, could be just the ticket.

It will not affect pH provided there are no organic buffers but it will strip all organic acids from the water!
It think should be perfect for a marine setup though. I say think because I do not keep marines and there may be many factors I am not aware of.