Malawi Cichlids in a tank.
Alright, your tank is ready for the addition of fish! Right now, we’ll talk fish per gallon. Many people say that for every inch long your fish will be at adult size, you would use one gallon of water. But that is very limiting. Some people say five gallons per inch, and some say three. I say… do your research before you buy a fish! Each fish has different territorial needs. For example, my dwarf puffer needs at least 5 gallons per puffer you have in the tank. He has an entire ten gallon tank to himself. They are highly territorial, and I’d rather avoid that kind of stress for my fish.
Note the picture of the Cichlids. They belong in a species only tank as Cichlids are notoriously territorial and agressive to non-cichlids. Also, many species of Cichlids grow very large, so that’s another thing to take into account.
You do not want to overstock your tank, which can lead to overcrowding. Overcrowding can be detrimental to all the fish in your tank. From decreased territories, increased fighting and stress, and deprivation of oxygen. Overcrowding also causes pollution, like a build up of ammonia or nitrates, which aside from being harmful to your fish, can also stunt their growth, create other health problems in the long run.
Another good idea would be finding fish that inhabit different areas of your tank. Researching the tank region a fish inhabits can avoid conflict with your fish. If you have only a few crevices for your fish to hide in, and they are all bottom dwellers, then you’ll constantly see fish being chased off by the fish that took that spot as its territory, which causes undo stress and can lead to sooner demise.
A good example for a 20 gallon tank which demonstrates these principals would be betta splendens, corydoras cat, and neon tetras. Bettas are mainly found on top, as they are labyrinth fish, and need to get some air from the surface every so often. Cory cats are mainly bottom dwellers, and tetras, a schooling fish, usually inhabit the middle.
So you’ve set up your tropical fish tank, allowed it to cycle, and are in the process of choosing your fish. First, let me start by saying NEVER trust a fish store or pet store when they tell you with perfect assurance that this fish would fit perfectly in your tank. I will gripe about that in another post. Just for now, trust me. You always want to do your research before buying a fish. No impulse buying.
I’m a big proponent of “as much space as you can afford” when it comes to the space you keep your animals in. This not only includes fish, it is crucial to fish. Dogs, cats, birds, and reptiles, can be taken out for exercise from the confines of their homes, cages, and terrariums, but fish live in an aquatic world limited by the size of your tropical fish tank. You can’t exactly take them for walks in your bath tub. Nor would that be healthy for either of you. So you want to consider several factors when choosing a fish for your tank.
There are many things to consider when stocking your fish, from if you want a species tank, a community tank, how many fish minimum of a schooling species would be comfortable, how much space you have for it in your tropical fish tank, the temperament of a species (aggressive, semi-aggressive) and even the area from which a species comes from. All these effect things like water maintenance, decorations, and plant selection.
Another thing you want to consider when buying a fish is what it eats. Obviously, anything that will eat something smaller than him is a no-no for a community tank with small fish. But also, you may have to adjust how you feed your fish to accommodate your fish. Simply feeding goldfish flakes won’t cut it for most fish. And if you have a fish, like a puffer, that requires live or frozen food, you may have to adjust how you feed your fish. Puffers, for example, need snails to grind their teeth down on, and many people have a small tank just to breed snails for their puffer.
We’re going to discuss each factor in future posts.
You’ll find a lot of information about this online, so let’s include it again. I can’t stress how important this cycle is. In this article, you’ll hopefully understand how important it is to cycle your aquarium BEFORE you go out and buy fish, and how important it is to have a testing kit, making sure your aquarium is ready for inhabitants. Also, we’ll talk about products to help the process along.
The Nitrogen Cycle is the process by which ammonia is eventually broken down into nitrates. There is a reason why many starter tanks come with instructions that tell you to leave the tank running once prepared without fish for three or four days – to introduce helpful bacteria into your tropical fish tank. Three or four days, however, is not long enough. The process can take up to six weeks.
See, fish waste and other decomposing matter release ammonia into the aquarium, which breaks down into either NH3 (un-ionized ammonia) or NH4 (ionized ammonium), the former of which is toxic. This will attract bacteria which will convert the ammonia into nitrites, which is also toxic. Starting to see why we need to cycle, first? After this, another bacteria will come along and change the nitrites into nitrates, which is also toxic to fish, but is neither on the same level as the others, and can be rid of by doing simple things like doing partial water changes, which you’ll have to do eventually, anyway. This is also another reason why aquarist like live plants – they actually use up a lot of nitrate. In saltwater tanks, live rock would perform this role.
Now some people will tell you the best way to cycle your tropical fish tank is to get a fish you don’t mind losing, like goldfish or danios, and expose them to the harmful, and often times deadly, chemicals for the sake of getting your aquarium together faster. As you can probably tell, I don’t approve of this process at all. There is no need to sacrifice a fish so you can have other fish any sooner. Even if they survive, first of all you’re stuck with an animal you didn’t want to begin with, and there is always the possibility that the stress of the nitrification cycle lowered it’s immune system, thereby exposing it to disease which it has now carried over to your newly introduced fish.
Instead, you can start your process with fish food, instead. Or use sand or gravel from a cycled tank. The problem with this method is if the tank is already contaminated with disease, so it’s a little risky in that sense. You can also use someone’s filter to bacteria in your newly cycling tank. There are also products that claim to add the bacteria to your aquarium so you can use them right away, but I’ve never used them, so I don’t feel comfortable suggesting one. Also, if you keep the temperature up in your tropical fish tank, say around 80 degrees, you should be able to create an environment where bacteria can flourish as opposed to a colder temperature.
Lastly, test, test, test. A testing kit is a good investment when it comes to keeping fish. You can test often for raised levels of harmful amounts of ammonia, nitrate, nitrites, and the like, which is essential when cycling an aquarium. You’ll be able to tell how far along you are in the process with a test kit, and when it’s safe to begin adding your fish. Remember, without any aid from cycled aquariums or other products, the process can take up to six weeks. Which gives you plenty of time to research the appropriate fish to put into your tank.