Can I introduce multiple fish into an aquarium at the same time?

[onesocrkid]

Tomorrow I plan to purchase 3 glofish and 2 otocinclus. The guy at petsmart says I can introduce them at the same time. They also sold me a terrarium plant to put in my aquarium (which I am returning tomorrow). So needless to say, I don't trust them and would like some professional advice. Thanks for your help.
I placed my 3 year old goldfish in the new aquarium before it was cycled, and unfortunately he isnt with us anymore. The tank has had 2 otos in it previously but died due to ignorance of me reducing the high ph levels. Other than that they led very happy lives.

 

[Parachromis]

If the tank is fully mature (meaning been running for more than 3 months with good water quality and 0 ammonia/nitrite) then,since all the fish are low bio-load, you could do so.
You would still have to monitor for an ammonia "spike" and water change accordingly to control it .... but you should be doing the same any time you add a single fish.
If freshly cycled,I'd do no more than two at a time every week ... still watching that ammonia.
If un-cycled .... cycle it first with your prefered method,not with the GloFish or Otos though. Although GloFish are Zebra Danios,they are engineered for "water quality testing" purposes so cycling with them will throw their color off .... Otos are EXTREMELY sensitive to ammonia/nitrites,so they wouldn't make it

 

[Cameron]

You can do that if it is an established tank. Meaning it has been running for about a month with gold fish to get the water balanced. You do that to get the proper p.h. , amonia, levels. If your just putting water in the tank for the first time then its not a good idea, you always wanna start with about one gold fish per two or three gallons. If you have already done that then theres no problem putting all of them in at the same time. You can always take a sample of the water in a ziploc to petco and they will test it for you to see if your tank is ready to go. Hope that helps.

 

[noselessman]

you can add different species of fish at once, but 5 fish is an awefull lot to add at once. and ottos are very sensative to water change. i would never try to keep them in less then 10 gallons. what size tank do you have? both ottos and glofish are schooling fish, there color and behavior will be much better if you keep them in proper schools, 5 should be the minimun for zebras, and 4 is a bare minimum for ottos. lonely schooling fish will die prematurely from stress. your better off choosing one species or the other, but it sounds like you need a bigger tank, the bigger the tank, the easier to care for.

 

[heidi]

u can introduce fish into the tank at the same time. in fact its better to do them all at once because they wont become territorial as the days go on if u try to introduce more fish into the tank.
hope this helps

 

[Ghapy]

Otos are not so sensitive to ph and such, but they are sensitive to toxins, and starting off a new tank with otos is a very bad idea. These are the type that you add when the tank is several months old and established.

Starting with the glofish would not be a problem, how many depends on the size of your tank.

When cycling with fish in small amounts you can do it safely, but if you are smart you will test for ammonia just to make sure, and do a partial water changes before they creep up to harmful levels, not after. And regardless of your readings you should be doing regular weekly water changes on the tank..

 

[wannamcfranzwiththat]

what size tank?