How To Introduce New Fish To My Aquarium

Imagine that your family/friends are taken unexpectedly by a stranger from your house. Then assume that you are brought to a mysterious place, and you are gone without time to begin your new life. For somebody, this would be more than a tiny bit stressful, and for a fish.

Transferring fish from home to home is a traumatic process. Poorly transferred fish will have or will die from health complications. Understanding what is and how to do this correctly reduces this risk.

 This article will discuss everything you may need to know about how often you should introduce your new fish to the tank. 

Also worth reading;

1. What to Feed Catfish In An Aquarium
2. 10 Different Types of Molly Fish: Can They Live Together?
3. The Best Fishes To Keep With Shrimps In A Freshwater Tank
4. What Aquarium Fish Eat Snails? Will They Eat Tiny Pest Snails

Setting Up Your Aquarium

Before introducing fish to a new aquarium tank, you should take a few precautions. Fish require a proper PH level, good water quality, hygrines, and various other necessary facts in their water. As a result, you must first prepare the tank before placing them in it.

1. Wash Your Tank, Gravel, Rocks, And Other Ornaments

Before you put any fish in your tank, you’ll need to clean it and all of its contents, such as gravel, rocks, or ornaments. Do not wash with soap or detergent. Lukewarm water will suffice. This will help to remove dirt, bacteria, and toxins from these items.

2. Fill The Tank With Room Temperature Water

You can fill the tank after you’ve placed the gravel, rocks, and other decorations in the tank. To complete this task, you must use a clean bucket. Fill the tank one-third with plenty of room temperature water and add a water conditioner to remove the chlorine. You must keep in mind that chlorine in the tank water is a lethal combination for your fish, and it can easily result in a variety of health problems.

3. Set TheAair Pump For Sufficient Oxygen

You must ensure that the aquarium’s environment is sufficiently oxygenated. To hold the air tube, connect the airline tubing from the air pump to air outlets and a small valve located outside the tank. If the tank’s power is turned off, the valve also stops, preventing water from backing up in the tank.

4. Add Live Or Artificial Plant

Plants, both live and artificial, play an essential role in your aquarium. Live plants help to circulate oxygen in the tank water, but you can also use plastic plants to give your fish somewhere to hide.

However, if you decide to use a live plant, you must first add 2 inches of soil before adding gravel, rocks, or other decorative items. You should make sure that the plant roots are on the gravel’s surface, as this will ensure that the roots have reached the tank’s bottom.

5. Give Your Tank Time

Several types of bacteria aid in waste processing in an aquarium; they convert toxic ammonia from fish waste into nitrates that your plants can use as food. However, this process takes time to complete, and getting the bacteria up and running in your tank takes time.

If you plant a tree and include fish on the first day, you may lose both plants and fish within a few hours. As a result, we recommend that you give your tank to establish the nitrogen cycle process after planting a tree.

How To Add New Fish To Aquarium

It is essential not only for new fish’s health to introduce new fish into your aquarium correctly. Before transferring the fish to their new home, carefully follow these basic steps to acclimate the fish.

1. Let The Sealed Bag Float

Allow the unopened plastic bag containing the fish to float for 10-15 minutes on the aquarium’s surface. This process helps to equalize the water temperature of the bag to the aquarium temperature. Remember to do this after you’ve completed a task.

2. Switch The Light Off

Switch the lights off in the aquarium to reduce new fish stress. This creates an environment for fishless stress.  On the other hand, make sure that your tank has lots of hiding places with the presents of plants and rocks, and the fish will get less stressed when they get used to their new home.

3. Add Water To The Sealed Bag

Open the bag and fill it with a cup of aquarium water. Remember you need to fill 50% of the water and leave 50% of pet store water. Re-seal the bag and float it for another ten minutes; repeat the process until the bag is full.

4. Net Them To Release And Feed a Small Amount Of Food

Release them after 15-20 minutes by netting them in the bag and gently placing them into the aquarium’s water. It’s also good to put some food in the aquarium to distract the current fish from the new fish.

Final Words

Adding a new fish to an unknown place is stressful for them. Since they are accustomed to being in the water kept in the store and put suddenly in the water of the new aquarium, the sudden distribution puts a lot of pressure on them. 

So you have to follow some procedures so that new fish can adapt to new aquariums. In this guide, we have put some tips that you need to do slowly for a good result. Don’t if you follow our advice, you can figure out your new fish. Good Luck.

Aquatic expert Tom Sarac explores one of the most overlooked and important aspects of fishkeeping; acclimating new fish to your tank. Without following these simple and time-tested steps, you are potentially placing your new (and existing) fish in harm’s way.