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Just wondering, what's a "safe" number of fish you can add to you tank at a time? If you want a school of tetras, for instance, do you just buy a few at a time?

Depends on the tank. A mature (running six months or longer) 30 gal, for example, I wouldn't have a problem adding six or even eight small tetras to at once, but a newly cycled tank of the same size I'd say four would be okay. The smaller the tank, the fewer fish you can add at once, but age is important, too, and how close to fully stocked it is.

-Molly
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Good question fishygirl68,
It's one of those that have no definate answer. It will depend on the tank size is, if it's planted or not, and how you suppliment the adding. Most tetras won't add all that much to the bioload. For a larger tank you should be fine adding a full school. Since I tend to be a "better safe than sorry" type of person I'd suggest a smaller school, I added my white skirts 3 fish @a time, spaced a week apart.
HTH a bit .

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I just started my first aquarium. I added eleven Neon Tetras from the start. They seem fine, very active and eat a lot. After one week I added eight guppies. So far they are all very active with a good appetite.

I agree with both of them that it really depends on the tank, but it also depends on the fish. Did you fishless cycle your tank, or is it cycling now? I did a fishless cycle on my 55g and added only 6 red serpaes and a gourami right after it finished cycling. When it stayed stable for about a week, this was how I added the rest of my stock. You can count, 9 bags of fish However, I felt safe doing this because all my fish were pretty hardy and didn't contribute too much to the bioload. Everyone survived.

If a tank is being cycled with fish, I would only add 1 "big fish" (ex: a gourami, angel, plec etc.) or 3-5 "smaller fish" (ex: swordtails and guppies) at a time, a week apart. Then I would add any schools all together a week apart, once the cycle is over and the thank is stable (ex: week 1 school of lemon teras, week 2 school of neon tetras).

Sounds like your tank is doing well so far. Not the way I would have done it, but who says we can't both be right? How big is your tank, and what else do you plan on putting in it?

[span class="edited"][Edited by gartenzwerfe 2004-08-22 01:32][/span]