Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => New Fishkeepers => Topic started by: Paddy60 on October 23, 2016, 05:47:09 PM
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Just finished fishless cycle and introduced some fish.How long should i wait before feeding ?
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Great re the fishless cycle completion. :)
Advice generally is to keep lights off and avoid feeding until the day following their arrival, just so that the fish have time to settle and de-stress from the stress of being caught, transported and then acclimatised to their new environment.
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ok thanks,have already put lights on after 4 hours, but will refrain from feeding till tomorrow .
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I know this is off-topic, but can I suggest you keep an eye on the siamese fighter, better known as a betta, for a few days. Bettas need to breathe air and some of them can't find that small square of air space in an Edge tank. Once you are sure he can find it, that's fine. If he can't, the only other option is to lower the water level so there is an air gap under the top glass. I know this doesn't look quite right but it is better than having a betta 'drown'.
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Congratulations on completing your cycle :cheers:
When your fish have settled please post lots of pictures :)
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will keep an eye on beta, did know they breath from the surface with labyrinth organ, but was under the impression they could survive just from oxygen in the water
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thanks donna, do pictures in coming days
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They do get virtually all of their oxygen from the water but all labyrinth fish have evolved so that they still need to gulp air into the labyrinth organ. They suffer badly if they can't do this. This applies to gouramis as well.
There are cases of bettas and gouramis being shipped in those breathable bags which are filled completely with water as oxygen can diffuse through the stuff the bag is made from - and the fish didn't survive because there was no air pocket for them to gulp. Those fish shipped in traditional plastic bags which are filled with one third water:two thirds air have no problems.
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thanks sue, great info, will drop level incase betta cannot find the tank opening
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Dropped water level 1/2 inch from top now, hopefully enough
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On the subject of feeding, bettas are notoriously picky eaters. It can take them some days to realise that what you are putting in the tank is actually food. If this happens with yours, persevere. Put his food in the tank and if the celestial pearl danios don't eat it, remove it before it starts to foul the water. He won't starve, they all start eating when they get hungry enough.
Some bettas won't eat hard food, and the solution is to soak the food in a bit of water before putting it in the tank. Others, like my current betta, won't eat soggy food so if he doesn't find it straight away he won't eat it.
Bettas are also gluttons. They will happily eat their own food, then steal all the food intended for the other fish. This is not good for them. Put the betta's food at one end of the tank and the cpd's food at the other (as much as an Edge will allow)
They will also beg for food - don't give in :)
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lots of good advice to take on board, thankyou
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Bettas sound like looking after children lol. Glad I read this thread as I would like to keep a Betta one day.