Seachem Stability

[Jeff]

I went to my favorite LFS today (Preuss Pets for any Michiganders here). Very respectable place.

Anyways; I have a dozen Chili Rasboras in my 10g planted tank - that's it; and was picking up 8 Ember Tetras today. My tank has been set up for over 3 years now - it'll be 4 in April.

Employee who was assisting me with getting the fish, was suggesting me to pick up Seachem Stability while I was there - as a precaution for the waste and ammonia these fish would generate.

I was a little surprised that she suggested that. Needless to say, I didn't get it; as my tank is pretty seasoned, imo; and I didn't really think I needed it. 

Does this seem like a logical thing to suggest, given my tank status?

Edited January 6 by Jeff

[Galabar]

My opinion is that it would be unnecessary.  The beneficial bacteria in your tank should be able to quickly increase to handle the new load.

My only advice would be to feed sparingly for a while.

[nabokovfan87]

On 1/5/2024 at 7:52 PM, Jeff said:

Employee who was assisting me with getting the fish, was suggesting me to pick up Seachem Stability while I was there - as a precaution for the waste and ammonia these fish would generate.

I was a little surprised that she suggested that. Needless to say, I didn't get it; as my tank is pretty seasoned, imo; and I didn't really think I needed it. 

Does this seem like a logical thing to suggest, given my tank status?

It's definitely not out of the norm and it's not something where it was a bad recommendation from my perspective. A brief explanation can hopefully shed some light on the reason behind it.

Let's say you've had the tank for years, 10 fish in the tank. You're adding 5-10 more fish. Increasing the bioload. If you're adding similar fish, maybe the bioload doesn't increase a ton, but if you're adding larger fish then you might run into a situation where it takes a little bit for the filtration and biological to catch up and handle the new load.

The tank in all reality should have enough bacteria for the sake of argument, but having some to help boost things isn't a bad thing. The bacteria might not be strong/active because of a very low demand on the tank. Adding in basically double the bioload will shock the system a bit and having strong bacteria to help that transition is the key.  If you're confident in the tank having that strong bacteria, then you're fine, but if you have minimal filtration capacity or just a maintenance routine where things have been sitting for a long time, that's where the stability can be helpful for some.

[Jeff]

Thank you both - appreciate ya'll. Really good perspectives and advice.