# Adding Fish To An Existing Setup?



## live bait (Mar 2, 2007)

Folks are telling me I should add some fish to my 55 that has been home to 3 peacocks and 3 haps for the past 8 months. I started with 9 fish, but lost 3 to aggression in the first 4 months or so. I expected a few loses so I wasn't too bummed about it. The current mix seems stable, but there are some established territories and a definite hierarchy.

I would really like to add some fish, but I keep thinking it could end up ugly. My fish have grown considerably since I go them over the summer, and I don't want to buy fish of equal size because they will be pricey. Cost aside, I'm worried any new fish of any size might not be able to withstand the aggression they will most certainly be greeted with, and may end up dead or diseased from the stress. Worse, I'm worried they may pass on a latent disease to my current fish.

Thoughts?


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Quarantine any new fish and add a bunch at once so no one fish get's picked on.

I would not add more than 4 though. And no problem adding smaller fish, but make sure they are big enough to be reliably sexed so you can get males.


----------



## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Is it an all male tank? If so, you sure don't want to accidentally add a female, and buying younger fish will make this more difficult to determine.

Always add new fish to a well established tank in higher numbers - one will never survive. I've always had good luck moving the rocks around, adding the new fish, and turning out the lights for several hours to allow everyone to settle in well.


----------



## brinkles (Jan 30, 2011)

If you're really worried, when you remove the new ones from quarantine and move the rocks around, catch the meanest one and toss him in the quarantine tank for a week or two.


----------



## JonathanPrior (Sep 12, 2012)

I agree with brinkles,

If i see a fish being a bully, i move him into my other cichlid tank, where he is outside of there comfort zone, then move them back a day later.

It doesnt always work, but has on several occasions.

The main think is dont add fish from a similar breed or color to the existing ones.


----------



## live bait (Mar 2, 2007)

DJRansome said:


> Quarantine any new fish and add a bunch at once so no one fish get's picked on.
> 
> I would not add more than 4 though. And no problem adding smaller fish, but make sure they are big enough to be reliably sexed so you can get males.


I took half your advice: I added three new fish yesterday after acclimating them to my water in a 5 gal bucket. The largest is equal size to the largest existing fish already in the tank, and the smallest are about as big as my two existing smallest. All were big enough to sex as males. Things seem OK this morning, but obviously the jury's still out...


----------



## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

What fish do you have now, what fish are you adding and which ones are the dominant fish now?


----------



## live bait (Mar 2, 2007)

The above is some of my existing guys. I believe the one on the left is a copadichromus azureus. Little guy in the back is an orange shoulder. Can't positively ID big guy in the front, and the guy by the heater is anyone's guess.










The guy in the foreground is not a nimbochromis. He was labeled as a naevochromis chrystogaster, which is rare in the hobby according to what I've read on the web. Not sure if this puppy was labeled correctly. Guy in the background is the same fish hanging out by the heater up top.

I'll try to get some more pix up soon.


----------



## live bait (Mar 2, 2007)

These are the other 2 new guys. Blue guy on the bottom is some type of peacock. Guy up top is probably a hap. He has a nice yellow stripe running down his forehead. I know, I know... Not the best species description, but it's all I got!


----------



## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

So, you didn't quarantine? Sure hope they are healthy...

Your aggression problems are coming from your fish being too similar in appearance. They will most likely begin again with the maturity of the ones you just added.


----------



## live bait (Mar 2, 2007)

cichlidaholic said:


> So, you didn't quarantine? Sure hope they are healthy...
> 
> Your aggression problems are coming from your fish being too similar in appearance. They will most likely begin again with the maturity of the ones you just added.


I don't have a quarantine tank. The 3 fish I added last week were the first and only new fish I have added to my one and only tank in about 8 months. I just can't justify having another tank that would sit idle the majority of the time. That said, my big fear when adding new fish is the possibility of introducing a disease or parasite into the tank, especially after the columnaris situation I had after I introduced the initial batch in June. Nightmare.

I think the level of aggression in my tank is normal or even below average. On the whole, aggression hasn't been a real problem. My worry is that aggression directed at one of the new guys could lead to stress, which in turn could lead to some type of disease that could spread.

On a related note, I did add some fish in early July after I had lost a few of the originals to columnaris. I tried to get a variety of colors and varying patterns, but anything and everything that _wasn't_ blue was persecuted. From sunshine peacocks to OB's to hybrids with pink or red, it was goodnight Irene. Brought the survivors back to my LFS.... In general, any fish I have that get too big or too mean go into my neighbor's koi pond. He's had my borleyi and venustus for about four years and both are pushing a foot long, along with some others.


----------

