# New Community Tank



## shiftyfox (Aug 2, 2019)

16 year old nephew wants his first aquarium and just wanted your thoughts on fish and stocking ect. 
Measured up and looks like a 36x15x15 inches is all that will fit. 
He's seen my fish and instantly wanted Mbuna which I've kinda steered him away from. 
Does this size even rule him out of saulousi..? 
I took him to LFS and he was drawn to the Apistogramma and the tetras. 
Could he do a pair of Apistos, x8 rummy nose tetra and 8 Cardinal tetra..?

Any other combos/number of fish would be great to know.


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

He could do saulosi and try 3m:9f.

CF cookie cutter for apistos:

• Apistogramma species - 1 pair
• Corydoras catfish - 4
• Hyphessobrycon eques "Serpae Tetra" - 6-8


----------



## shiftyfox (Aug 2, 2019)

Looked at a few tanks and think I've convinced him to go for a four footer, this way I could start him off with a few species of my juveniles. Which would be nice to watch them grow on for me as well as him.

I would like to try and get his tank cycled using a filter I have in one of my breeding tanks and maybe the filter floss from one of my canister trays. 
He lives about 25 mins from me. Is it best I transport them in a tub of my tank water or is it ok to take by itself?
Didn't know how long it would take before BB died off..

I assume it would be ok to add say 5 fish straight away..?


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Transport wet but the tub does not have to be bigger than the media.

As to how many fish the media will support in the new tank?

What is the bioload you have in the established tank and what percent of the media will you take?

If you have 12 fry and you take half of the media the new tank will support 6 fry.

Remember the problem of managing aggression. In a 48" tank 5 fish are likely to hide (not much fun) and when they mature you may have an aggression problem with 5 fish in the tank.

Why not use the established filters to jump start a cycle with ammonia? Then add all the fish at once.


----------



## shiftyfox (Aug 2, 2019)

The box filter is in a tank with about x20 one inch mbuna. The filter floss is part of a canister that I replace every month that is used on a tank with virtually 9 fully grown adult Mbuna.

I only suggested 5 mbuna to start in case the filter needed to catch up. 
More would be added over the next few months to a total of around 15 fish that mature at no more than 5-6 inches

I will make sure filter and media is kept wet when transporting - worth knowing DJ.

I guess it's worth constant testing after the initial batch of 5 is added to make sure the media is doing its job. 
I could also take some of the matrix and biohome out of my canister to put in his too and top mine up with fresh.


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Its a dilemma. If the filter could support 10 and you add 5 the bacteria will start falling off because of less ammonia.

If the box filter is currently supporting 20 why not move 20? What will you use to filter that tank if you remove the filter and leave some fish in the tank?

If you add fish in batches usually you wait a month in between.

If you have enough spare media you could always add more if you start getting an ammonia reading.

I would choose something with more growing area than the floss to add beneficial organisms, but anything is better than nothing.


----------



## shiftyfox (Aug 2, 2019)

Yeah it's just to give it a little kick start. As he can't wait to put fish in it straight away. 
The tank I have with 20 fish in it has plenty of internal filters as well as the box filter, probably too many. A large sponge filter, a double sponge filter with media and an eheim pick up 45. I pinch them when I start a new fry tank and replace the box filter each time.

I might throw 5 jalos in and 5 labs then, see how things go and then put a 3rd species in a month later.

God I've just had two hour question session from him. What's prime, what's BB, what rocks, what substrate and so It went on lol.


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Tell him to read the CF Library. :thumb:

If the filter you are removing is only 1/2 of the media in the tank or 1/3 or 1/4...then it will support 1/2 or 1/3 or 1/4 of the number/size fish you have in the same tank.

1/2 the media will not support 100% of the original bioload.

The tank has only the amount of beneficial organisms that can live on the ammonia generated. Each filter (among many) will not have all the organisms to support the bioload. Assume the organisms are spread across all the filters.


----------



## shiftyfox (Aug 2, 2019)

Good to know DJ. I'll add some fish and show him how to test water parameters just in case we see a spike in the bad stuff and do water changes if necessary.


----------

