Slow stocking... How soon before I can add more?

[domross]

Hi all,

Some of you have probably read my other posts about help setting up my tank, etc. Well its all up and running now and as of Sunday I bought my first cichlids. My first 4 were 3x Electric yellow, varying in size from about 4-5.5cm and 1 Melanochromis Johanni, about 4-5cm.

Background of the tank; its 4ftx2ftx18", added the water a week ago today, put my fish in on Sunday. Ph is at 8, holds approx 300L (i've been told) with a sump filtration system. Added Stress Zyme to give the filtration a bit of a boost.

I know the key to a safe aquarium is patience when stocking but I've been told some differing opinions, guys at strictly aquariums said 4 fish per week should suffice but my LPS guy told me 4 fish every 2 weeks. Wondering what the common opinion would be among ACE members. My LPS is quite expensive but unfortunately the next best thing, (Strictly Aquariums) is about 40 minutes away, so the few dollars I'd be saving on fish would be used in petrol and time... For the 4 fish I bought on Sunday I paid $110... Not cheap by any standard.

[Oosh]

If these are your first fish (you're not wrong about those high prices) then you need to wait for your filter to mature, after that it's more a percentages game.

i.e. Provided you have the overhead in your filtration system then doubling your stock (assuming similar size fish*) from 4-8 is going to put more stress on the bacteria than going 8-12.

There's no fixed time table, for now you need to test the water, and wait until the Ammonia->Nitrite->Nitrate cycle gets in to full swing.

When you have 0ppm of the first two, and a detectable amount of the last, you can think about upping the stock.

*excluding real wasteful ones like goldies and other no stomach critters for which I'd count as two fish for these purposes