First Fish

Got 10 white cloud minnows today, am just wondering how long I should leave the light off for? And will they need fed on the same day as purchase?

Thanks.

Thanks Sue.

They are the only fish in the tank, so I'll just allow them time to settle in.

I go to work tomorrow at about 11am, around 19 hours from now (not sure if you are in the US , so would I be fine to feed them before I go to work and turn the light on?

No live plants. I'll turn the light on and feed a small amount before I go to work tomorrow and have my mum turn the light off again around 5/6 (I finish work 8 and won't be home until around 8.30)

They don't seem to be schooling this morning though like they were last night, could that be because they have realised they have the tank to themselves?

Quote from: bferg4 on October 08, 2014, 10:27:07 AM

They don't seem to be schooling this morning though like they were last night, could that be because they have realised they have the tank to themselves?

Yep. Schooling's a defence response and they've realised there's nothing to be scared of in your tank...... yet!

Haha. I won't be adding to the tank for another couple of weeks at least, so they have the place to themselves for a bit.

Quote from: ColinB on October 08, 2014, 12:27:31 PM

Yep. Schooling's a defence response

DOH!!! and here was me getting worried when my fish weren't schooling 

True schooling in an aquarium is rare, and most often a short term defence response as Colin says. Herring 'balls' are a great example of proper schooling.

If you have fish which you expect to shoal (generally hang about together in a loose group) but they aren't, it's quite possibly a good sign because it suggests that the fish are quite comfortable in their environment and not particularly worried about predators.

Did you add fish while there was still nitrite in the water? You are not supposed to get fish until both ammonia and nitrite are zero. Nitrite is quite toxic - it binds to the fish's blood cells in the way carbon monoxide does to ours, with similar results.

What has probably happened is that you now have enough nitrite eating bacteria. This is a 95 litre tank with just 10 white clouds, isn't it? 10 white clouds in 95 litres won't produce 3ppm ammonia per 24 hours.
If I understand you correctly, you had enough ammonia eating bacteria to process 3 - 4ppm ammonia in 24 hours but not enough nitrite eaters to process the nitrite made from that 3ppm ammonia. Now that you have less than 3ppm ammonia going into the tank there is less nitrite being made and this coupled with more nitrite eating bacteria growing since you go the fish has resulted in your zero nitrite reading.
And because there is less ammonia, therefore less nitrite, less nitrate is being made. If you have done a water change since getting the fish, that's what's lowered the nitrate reading.

Check the water for ammonia and nitrite and be guided by that. If both are zero, 20% is fine. If one or both are not zero, do enough to get the reading down to near zero.

Once the tank is fully stocked, 25 to 30% once a week should be fine.

Take things slowly with stocking. No more than 4 white cloud's worth of fish for the next addition. Check your ammonia and nitrite afterwards and if they stay at zero for a week, get more fish - this time the equivalent of 6 white clouds.
I am concerned about you saying you had high nitrite when you got the white clouds and I am worried that if you add too many fish too quickly you'll have a nitrite problem. You shouldn't really have got any fish at all until nitrite was zero.