How do you introduce new fish into an aquarium?

[Woof]

I just bought 6 new fish for my aquarium (2 tiger barbs, 4 neon tetras), which consists of about 15-20 fish. The new fish are little. Not quite babies, but more like adolescents. The thing is, they're smaller than I expected. The smallest fish in my aquarium (zebra danios) are, like, nearly twice as big. I know the new fish will get bigger, but how can I introduce them into the new tank without them being eaten, or being the underdogs and getting nipped and bullied?

Would it be safe to feed the fish as I empty the new fish in to distract them, or would they think the new fish are just appetizers with their meal? Most of the fish in my aquarium are community fish. I don't think there are any that were given a yellow sticker, maybe one.

 

[max lieggi]

The way I did it was just floating the fish in the bag for about 15 20 min and then letting it go into the tank the other fish probably won't do anything to it but make sure you don't pour the bag water into your aquariam

 

[Rebecca]

Actually, I think you'll have a bigger problem with the tiger barbs nipping. Tiger barbs prefer to be in schools (at least 6 fish) - they are semi-aggressive, and in too small groups, they will feel threatened and nip other fish. Same thing with zebras, but as long as they're in schools of at least 6, they are usually very peaceful. Your tetras are schooling fish too, though I'm not too sure whether they will nip or be nipped, since there's four. You might be able to get away with it.

Also, I wouldn't feed them for the first day or two. They'll probably be too nervous to be eating anyway, but just keep an eye on them during your next feeding. Generally, your fish won't be eaten if they can't fit into another fish's mouth.

 

[Claire]

what i have done is keep them in the bag that you bought them in and put that entire bag into the tank. just let it float there for about 30 mins so they can get used to its new atmosphere. the water the fish, everything. when you do let them free of the bad observe them to make sure they arent harming the other fish. you can feed them as well to distract them.

 

[Keri]

It's always a guessing game introducing new fish into a tank. When the others have said should work well, thought you only want to leave the new fish in the bag for no more then an hour total. You only need about 20 minutes of soak time to get the fish acclimated to the water temperature.
Feeding them should help, as well as making sure that there are places in the tank for the new fish to hide from the others.