How long do I have to get a tank ready before putting in Guppy?

Question

I have 2 10 gallon tanks and plan to put 2 females in one 10 gallon and plan to put 3 males in another 10 gallon. I asked the people at petsmart and they said 24 hours, but I've read that it should be at least a month? I bought a bacteria supplement and something else to help start up the tank, so how long should I keep it running until I get the fish?

Answer 1

That is not a large bio-load for your tank. I would suggest adding a decoration or plant from an established tank at the pet store to help seed your new tank with the beneficial bacteria. Don't add any more fish though for at least another week while your tank adjusts to the new fish. Salt for freshwater fish will help protect the guppies from 'new tank syndrome'
A

Answer 2

To understand why it is a few weeks, up to a month, you need to understand what happens during that time.

An aquarium is far more than simply a bunch of water. The fish create waste, which creates Ammonia. If the ammonia is not removed, the fish will die. Ammonia mitigation is handled by two things, working together.

1. Bacteria that break down the ammonia.
2. Water changes (~25% per week)

The bacteria need time to colonize the tank. This process is called "Cycling", and refers to the Nitrogen cycle. When the bacteria eat the ammonia, they create Nitrites as their own waste, which are also highly toxic to most fish. Thankfully there are other bacteria that break the nitrites down into Nitrates, which while still tox, are much less so than Ammonia or Nitrites. This is where the water changes come in, they will minimize the Nitrate levels.

You should buy a basic test kit, which will allow you to test for these three contaminates. When they all read acceptable levels, then you can safely put your fish in.

For a more explict set of directions than I have the patience to write up, please check out the link below.

And feel free to ignore most anything the idiots at Petsmart tell you. They are indistiguishable from the cashiers at Target in terms of thier knowledge about fishkeeping.

Answer 3

Take the Bacteria Suppliment back to your LFS and get your money back.

Then - read this...

Fishless Cycling
http://www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk/Fishlesscycle.htm

Some of the answers out here are so ludicrous it's not even funny! You need to cycle your tank, and that is not going to happen by some magical aquarium fairy coming out during the night, and waving her magic wand to make the tank ready.

Also - don't ever buy bacteria products to start or aid your tank's cycle (because usually the bacteria is already dead, and you are doing nothing for the cycle at all). Plus those bacteria are not always the nitrifying kinds that are needed to get the tank going, and can actually do more harm than good for getting things started (in some cases they can actually delay the nitrifying bacteria from establishing).

If you read that article on Fishless Cycling you could possibly have both of those thanks ready in as little as 10/14 days.

Good luck!

Answer 4

A Month? ... well... if you were setting up a saltwater tank, that would be about right.
When setting up a new fresh water tank, i usually wait about a week before getting fish. (Just to be safe)
i usually set up on the weekend and run it a few days. By the time i'm ready to shop for fish it's the weekend again.
I also don't like to shop during the week just because i'm usually tired from working all day and need to be alert enough to concentrate on what it is i want to purchase.
(the Quality of the fish you buy is important because not all the fish in petshops are healthy.) You need to observe the little guys first.
24 hours may be fine, if guppies are the only fish you are putting in. they are pretty hardy. It takes 24 -48 hrs for the clorine in the water to disipate (if exposed to direct sunlight) unless your communitiy uses cloramines (which are salts and require 7 days) in which case you need to purchase a chemical (Declor) to remove both. Even then i would still wait the 7 days. So, set up your tank, put in the water and fire up the filter. go get your fish a few days later if you can't wait a week. and float the bag they come in inside the tank for at least 2-3 hrs to acclimate them to the water temperature.
BUT BEFORE YOU DO ... go get a good book on taking care of fish.
a small reference book will come in handy if you run into problems like ICK or parasites. fish die very quickly from disease and parasites if not taken care of quickly. Also, read these links (especially #3), they may help. Good Luck and enjoy the company of your little friends.

Answer 5

The general rule of thumb is 24 hours, but I've set up a tank, and had the fish in it in less than 2 hours. And yes, those fish are all still alive and well almost a year later.

Answer 6

24-48 hours. 30 days seems excessive and may be true for salt water but not fresh water fish. Guppies are pretty hardy, just make sure your temperature is right, you pump is up and running and if you have chlorinated water, make sure it the chlorine is cleared out. There is water treatment for this, but running the pumps for 24 hours will do the same thing.

Also make sure, rinse your gravel and anything artificial you put in the tank to remove dust and excessive chemicals.

Then float your fish in the bags for an hour or so get them to the same temp. I would just open the bag and let the fish swim out on their own.

Make sure there are nooks and crannies for newbies to hide in.

Answer 7

at least a couple of days till the water clears and the filter starts working. You want the tank settled and there are good bacteria that need to grow too. It's not a month....more like 2-5 days.

Answer 8

go with the petsmart people....i dont have much fish exp.,but the 24 hrs is along the lines of letting water get righttemo.etc.
start right is an additive that gets rid of chlorine and other tap water addons that could hurt fish.
i know when we added fish to a tank that they rec we float bag in water awhile so fish are not shocked by temp diff.
good luck.

Answer 9

5 hours

Answer 10

I waited about 2 or 3 days till i got my guppy's and put them in. Mine seem fine and healthy.