Stocking Order

[Cinnebuns]

I guess I've never really know this officially. What is the best order to go in to stock a fresh tank and what is the reasonings?  My main tank's cycle crash is resolved and I want to start putting people back. My instinct is to do otos first so they don't starve in that algae free tank they are in and then cories but I want to make sure. I also want to know the reasoning behind the order. 

For referrence, the fish in question are:  otos, hillstream loaches, panda cories, thicklipped gourami (possibly. Might rehome as it's lost its friends), male guppies, forktail rainbow fish, and snails. 

[JettsPapa]

Normally I'd recommend adding the more fragile fish, like otos, last, but that's for new tanks.  In this case, you might want to add them fairly soon, especially if there's still algae, biofilm, etc in the tank.

My typical recommendation for a community tank is to add the less expensive and more hardy inhabitants first, which would generally be fish like tetras or rasboras.  When they're all in, wait a couple weeks then add the center piece fish, followed by bottom dwellers (since bottom dwellers are often more susceptible to poor water conditions).  In new tanks I don't recommend adding shrimp or otocinclus until the tank is at least three months old, but again, this is a different situation.

Snails can go in just about any time.

[Cinnebuns]

On 9/30/2022 at 11:48 AM, JettsPapa said:

especially if there's still algae, biofilm, etc in the tank.

Oh there's plenty! Lol

On 9/30/2022 at 11:48 AM, JettsPapa said:

Snails can go in just about any time.

I kinda figured they were the wild card. 

On 9/30/2022 at 11:48 AM, JettsPapa said:

followed by bottom dwellers (since bottom dwellers are often more susceptible to

Part of the reason I was thinking cories first is because the tank they are in has sharp gravel and I fear for their barbels. Would you still recommend them last?

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 9/30/2022 at 11:34 AM, Cinnebuns said:

Part of the reason I was thinking cories first is because the tank they are in has sharp gravel and I fear for their barbels. Would you still recommend them last?

For what it’s worth, all the Cory’s in my tanks are on gravel and I haven’t had any issues whatsoever. 

[JettsPapa]

On 9/30/2022 at 12:34 PM, Cinnebuns said:

Oh there's plenty! Lol

I kinda figured they were the wild card. 

Part of the reason I was thinking cories first is because the tank they are in has sharp gravel and I fear for their barbels. Would you still recommend them last?

Yours is a special situation instead of a brand new tank.  I don't think it really matters much which order you stock it.  If there are no other inhabitants in the tank you're moving them from you could move the filter over to this tank when you move the fish, but it's probably not necessary.

[Cinnebuns]

On 9/30/2022 at 12:49 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

For what it’s worth, all the Cory’s in my tanks are on gravel and I haven’t had any issues whatsoever. 

Oh there's gravel in all my tanks but there's a difference between smooth, rounded gravel and sharp jagged gravel is all. 

 

On 9/30/2022 at 1:14 PM, JettsPapa said:

Yours is a special situation instead of a brand new tank.  I don't think it really matters much which order you stock it.  If there are no other inhabitants in the tank you're moving them from you could move the filter over to this tank when you move the fish, but it's probably not necessary.

Ok sounds good ty!

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 9/30/2022 at 12:17 PM, Cinnebuns said:

Oh there's gravel in all my tanks but there's a difference between smooth, rounded gravel and sharp jagged gravel is all. 

 

Agreed. I have some on smooth gravel, and I have some on sharper gravel. Cory has talked about funding them on extremely sharp substrate in Peru. At the end of the day, it’s your tank so do what you’ll enjoy!

[Jeff]

Just as a general rule of thumb, like others have mentioned: always put your most fragile / skiddish / timid fish in first. If you have other fish you're planning on that are more dominant. Always, always, always put them in last. They won't have the ability to 'set up shop', and determine their battlegrounds if other fish are in before them.

Or, even if you don't have dominant fish...maybe just 'dither fish', and some more fragile fish. For example: a Discus tank. You would want to put the Discus in first, let them get used to feeding / the surroundings of the tank...and then once they're settled...go with the faster dither fish.

Hope that helps.

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/30/2022 at 9:41 AM, Cinnebuns said:

I guess I've never really know this officially. What is the best order to go in to stock a fresh tank and what is the reasonings?  My main tank's cycle crash is resolved and I want to start putting people back. My instinct is to do otos first so they don't starve in that algae free tank they are in and then cories but I want to make sure. I also want to know the reasoning behind the order. 

For referrence, the fish in question are:  otos, hillstream loaches, panda cories, thicklipped gourami (possibly. Might rehome as it's lost its friends), male guppies, forktail rainbow fish, and snails. 

The rule of thumb, typically is about how you want to control them setting their regions in the tank.  If nothing is going to intefere with the bottom fish, they can usually go in whenever. Corydoras, hillstreams, otos, pretty much nothing will bother them.

Then you would add in your secondary schools of fish.  You can decide to let the tank sit, build up the filtration, or add them in if you're confident in the cycle and controlling the nitrates spike / bacterial blooms.  I would add in everything except the rainbows at this point.  Let them get settled.  Your "most aggressive" is going to be the rainbows, but I don't think you'd have any issues.  You want to add the most aggressive thing last because it has to deal with other, established zones.  Adding a bigger fish at the end also tends to reset the tank in some cases.

If that's the case, you'd move around the hardscape and force new zones. Force everything in the tank to re-establish itself.

[Cinnebuns]

On 9/30/2022 at 10:10 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Your "most aggressive" is going to be the rainbows, but I don't think you'd have any issues.  You want to add the most aggressive thing last because it has to deal with other, established zones.  Adding a bigger fish at the end also tends to reset the tank in some cases.

This helps a ton ty!  I do know when I originally stocked the tank before the crash the rainbows were added last but that's because I I them last. Now I have all the species so that's not a reason lol. That's a good reason to add them last tho!