after i fill my fishtank, how long must i wait to add fish?

Answer 1

You can add a few a few hours later, once the temperature has stabilized and the water is well circulated, assuming you dechlorinated. Certainly within 24 hours.
Initially, I suggest no more than 2-3" of hardy fish per 10 gallons for the first month.
For example, if you have a 55, you may ultimately be able to support 55" of fish (not always the case), but initially you will only be able to support 10-12" of fish, say three 3.5" Giant Danios (my favorite starter for larger tanks). I like Zebra Danios or Platies for starting medium sized tanks and White Cloud Mountain Minnows for starting tanks under 20 gallons.
After a month or so, you can introduce additional fish. Plan on taking 3 months to fully stock a tank.

Answer 2

Its all about personal preference here, most books and some ppl above have stated various lengths of time however, once the water has reached its correct temperature, and all the equipment checks out there's really no harm in starting with a fish or 2 to get the cycling of the tank going, i would suggest however that you stick to cheap fish just in case you move things along to quickly. Invest in a testing kit so you can test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate each day making sure that none of them go into the critical levels, if they approach do a partial water change. after a couple of days or if you see any of the above tests coming back lower and lower you can start adding fish, never add too many at a given time.
You don't say what sort of fish you intend keeping because that could make your approach totally different, I.E. Discus tanks need a mature stable system, Malawi and Tangs need all the fish to be added at the same time, so again best if the filter is already working well.
You can pre seed filters by getting material from an existing tank, or running your filter in a mature tank for a week.
alot of it is hit and miss at the beginning, things to watch out for are a. those tests and b. Bacterial blooms (cloudy water), are an indication to start checking and changing water.

lastly dont stop doing the test for a few months its surprising how once you stop new tank syndrome comes on.

Answer 3

If you have the tank set up and running with conditioned water then you should wait 2 to 3 days to add fish. At first you should only get a few hardy fish like Zebra Danios. Once your tank has established a biological filter then you can add all the desired fish your tank has room for. Do a little research on new tank syndrome.

Answer 4

72 hours, then you want to get 1 fish to use to cycle your tank (you can't properly start the cycle until you add ammonia - from a fish). Then continue to test the water every other day until ammonia is at 0 ppm. It takes about 4 weeks, but then you can safely add other fish about 3 at a time every week until you have a fully stocked tank. Adding any faster will very likely cause deaths due to the ammonia spike.

Answer 5

Despite other answers, if you filled the tank with room temperature water and dechlorinated it, once you see that the equipment works correctly and the tank does not leak there is no reason at all to wait before adding your first few fish or starting a fishless cycle.

Waiting will not in anyway assist the cycle of the tank or balance any chemicals in the tank.

MM

Answer 6

listen to magic man. although I lean more towards the fishless cycling, where you don't add fish until the tank is fully cycled. this is NOT letting the filter run for a few days. here's how to fishless cycle:
http://www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk/Fishlesscycle.htm

cycling with fish can be very stressing on them and if you don't know what you're doing to can lose fish, however, many people are impatient and don't want to wait for the tank to cycle before adding fish. it's really up to you.

Answer 7

try a fishless cycle. you can't wait a day or two to add fish, but that does not mean your tank is cycled. cycling takes 4-6 weeks or longer if you use fish and sometimes 2 weeks or longer if you use pure household ammonia.

Answer 8

the reason you wait after filling your fish tank is to allow chemicals such as chlorine to move out of the water. I used to leave my water 24 hrs to be on the safe side and when I clean I remove a third of the water with fresh water that I've already "rested" (can't think of the right word).

Your fishies will love you for looking after them. hehehe

godd luck and enjoy your fish,

Answer 9

You have to have the water de-chlorinated, and cycled. I would wait about 3 days, then add a few fish. You will lose the first few, but this is the best way to help build up the bacteria they need to survive.

Answer 10

You should wait 24 hours and then you can buy fish. Depending on the fish you bought, either saltwater or freshwater, is the tempeture you put the water on. And then you can put the fish in. I hope I helped and good luck with your fish.