Cycle With Fish [halp]

[Luceh7]

I recently got a new tropical aquarium, all set up, everythings working and looking fine...but i want to start a cycle with fish.

I was told to get some Molly's to start off, i was thinking maybe 3, daily testing + 20% water change if needed. I have a tetra 60L tank with live plants in it currently. I'm planning on having a tank with Molly's, Tetra, Guppies and maybe Gourami in the future but this all depends on how much space i have.

Anyone have any tips on cycling with fish? I noticed there's tons of info on fishless cycles but none with fish. Are there any supplements i can buy to help? so far I've just been using aqua safe and easy balance. I already have a test kit and food.

Any advice appreciated

 

[Jeff Lange]

I recently got a new tropical aquarium, all set up, everythings working and looking fine...but i want to start a cycle with fish.

I was told to get some Molly's to start off, i was thinking maybe 3, daily testing + 20% water change if needed. I have a tetra 60L tank with live plants in it currently. I'm planning on having a tank with Molly's, Tetra, Guppies and maybe Gourami in the future but this all depends on how much space i have.

Anyone have any tips on cycling with fish? I noticed there's tons of info on fishless cycles but none with fish. Are there any supplements i can buy to help? so far I've just been using aqua safe and easy balance. I already have a test kit and food.

Any advice appreciated

I tried it in january when I first started in this hobby with a 29 Gallon tank. I was told I could cycle with fish and Bio-spira.
Long story Short. I lost 90% of my fish. Had nothing but problems with ICH and stuff
Then I set up a new 65 gallon tank in March while I still had my 29 gallon up and running.
I did the fishless cycle on my 65 Gallon. Best move I ever made. After the cycle was complete I moved all my fish from my 29 gallon right into my 65 gallon. Fish were happy as could be. Never had to worry about any water quality issues at all after I was cycled and to this day my water quality is great with no problems. I will never use a fish for cycling again.
You just have to have patience with the fishless cycle, but after it is completed you will be more than happy with the results. I know its hard looking at a empty tank but it is well worth it. Just my 2 Cents of course

 

[kim03333]

hey. i cycled with fish, but i was kind of pushed into it as a clueless newbie who didn't know any better. the guys on here reccommend fishless cycling for a reason. if i started again i think fishless cycling would be the way to go as it's obviously less stressful to the fish.

having said that, my tank is cycled and all fish are doing ok (2 kribs, 5 serpae tetra, 1 b.n plec and 5 lamp eye killi). i had no problems but as soon as the ammonia and nitrite start to creep up you have to do a big water change. and then 12 hours later you may have to repeat the process. it will go on like this for several days and as you stock you have to be sure to go steady as big increases in biological load could set you back.

even though i was fine with my fish in cycle, i probably wouldn't reccommend it. as i said the fish appear to be fine, but i dont know about the consequences long term. oh yeah, steer clear of the biological supplements, general consensus is that they don't help. waste of money

 

[Corleone]

Anyone have any tips on cycling with fish? I noticed there's tons of info on fishless cycles but none with fish. Are there any supplements i can buy to help? so far I've just been using aqua safe and easy balance. I already have a test kit and food.

My first tip, depending on how long you've had the fish, try and return them to the store or find somebody to take them and get into a fishless cycle. Fish-in cycles aren't entirely taboo, as pet store advice usually dumps new owners into them. They can be done in a relatively safe manner. It's better for the fish, but IMO the more important reason for fishless cycling is the first experience of the owner. A real disaster can put you off the hobby.


As for cycling itself: Test twice a day, and don't limit to 20% water changes. Your goal is to change however much and often to ensure that ammonia and nitrIte never remain above 0.25 for long.

Feed lightly through the cycle. Less food in, less ammonia out. Fish don't need very much to survive, and well kept can go weeks without. Do a light feeding (a pinch at a time as they finish it for 1-2 minutes) every other day.

After the cycle, wait about a week and then increase feeding slowly, as the increase in waste production can cause a "mini-cycle". That's also the time you can begin gradually adding new fish, but these can also cause mini-cycles. After any increase in feeding or new arrival, test after 12 hours, and daily for a few days to ensure everything stays put.

If you do get a mini-cycle at any point, it's handled just like a regular cycle, but usually clears up in a day or two.


There aren't as many resources on the site for fish-in cycling, but there are some. This is one of the better ones:
http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...eady-have-fish/

 

[kadkins20]

best advice would be to use some of your filter sponge/floss in your new filter (just cut off a chunk and shove it into the new filter next to the sponge/floss - i did this with my new 15 gallon and ive never had a readable amount of ammonia or nitrite, and my main tank didnt suffer even a mincycle)

it'll be enough bacteria immediately if you only get a few fish, and as long as you add fish slowly you shouldnt have any major problems

i did a pseudo fish-in cycle on my main tank (i got some gravel, and later a bit of floss from my brother) but i sitll had to do two 25% water changes a day for about a week to keep the ammonia down, for some reason though my nitrites never went very high (guess thats what made it a pseudo)

you can do the same, by getting some of the gravel from your old tank and putting it into a stocking and putting that in your filter - but it doesn't work as well as the sponge/floss

 

[Luceh7]

I seem to be getting alot of conflicting advice at the moment. I've read a lot on cycling tanks, on both with fish and fishless cycles. Today i spoke to a few people at work with tropical fish tanks, some had never even heard of this cycle and told me 24+ hours would be fine to put the first few fish in. One woman has had a tank for 20 years and when i mentioned even a 2 week wait to her she replied with "where did you hear that, its a load of rubbish". I'm assuming the fishless cycle is a new thing?

(thanks for all the advice so far btw)

 

[@ombomb]

short of impatience and laziness, what reasons are there to cycle with fish...?

 

[Jeff Lange]

I seem to be getting alot of conflicting advice at the moment. I've read a lot on cycling tanks, on both with fish and fishless cycles. Today i spoke to a few people at work with tropical fish tanks, some had never even heard of this cycle and told me 24+ hours would be fine to put the first few fish in. One woman has had a tank for 20 years and when i mentioned even a 2 week wait to her she replied with "where did you hear that, its a load of rubbish". I'm assuming the fishless cycle is a new thing?

(thanks for all the advice so far btw)

By all means you can give the add fish cycling process a try, I hope you have better luck than I did. I am sure if you could get filter media from someone with an established tank that would help greatly. The fish stores will tell you that you will probably loose a few fish which is why they recommend a certain type of fish when doing the add fish to cycle method. Many will also tell you they never heard of fishless cycling as both my LFS's said that. There is a good possibility that they have not heard of it. It's funny how my local Petsmart employee knew all about fishless cycling but none of the high end LFS did. I too knew nothing about fishless cycling until it was too late. When I started loosing my fish and I dreded every morning I would wake up and possibly find another dead one or sick one . Anyway, I leaned the hard way and found out about fishless cycling too late. I will tell you that fishless cycling was the best thing I ever did and it does take a lot of patience as I wanted to add fish every day during the cycle
Thank God for the internet and forums like this one.

 

[Don Trinko]

Cycling with fish is the old school way but many beginers do not know any other way. If you are going to cycle with fish you start with a few small hardy fish, wait 6 weeks and add a few more.
The hardy fish can take a little ammomia and with just a few small fish the ammonia will not get very high. many still due it this way. The key is small hardy fish and VERY FEW compared to the ultimate capacity of the tank. Mollies would not be my choice. I would use guppies,tiger barbs, danios, or catfish.
You can also do a fishless cycle. It requires abought 6 weeks before you add fish and you need an ammonia and nitrite test kit. Seach for" fishless cycle" and you will find detailed information. Don T.

 

[@ombomb]

this one obviously knows about it, so there's no excuse.

 

[Nick16]

i did a fishless cycle when i fiirst started (not to long ago) and i didnt lose a fish in the first week. this was becuase i did my research before undertaking the hobby.

 

[@ombomb]

so you researched it and still went with the process most likely to harm the fish

 

[Luceh7]

short of impatience and laziness, what reasons are there to cycle with fish...?

a cycle with fish can be faster and if done right maybe a little easier, i bought a tank to put fish in, and waiting 6 weeks now seems a little much for me, so i guess you could say im impatient. I don't understand where lazyness comes from though.

this one obviously knows about it, so there's no excuse.

thanks for you advice

At the moment i think im going to wait a bit (till friday) and go into my local aquarium store and ask in there, hes been trading a long time and looks after seashorses etc so im pretty sure he knows what hes doing.

 

[Nick16]

but i dint lose a fish!!!! so it was fine. i left the tank for around a week and a bit and had live plants in there. i then stuck WCMM in as they are hardy and till this day have not lost one of them.

 

[@ombomb]

a cycle with fish can be faster and if done right maybe a little easier, i bought a tank to put fish in, and waiting 6 weeks now seems a little much for me, so i guess you could say im impatient. I don't understand where lazyness comes from though.

with a fishless cycle you actually have to get the tank ready rather than just chucking fish in it...

At the moment i think im going to wait a bit (till friday) and go into my local aquarium store and ask in there, hes been trading a long time and looks after seashorses etc so im pretty sure he knows what hes doing.

hah

but i dint lose a fish!!!! so it was fine. i left the tank for around a week and a bit and had live plants in there. i then stuck WCMM in as they are hardy and till this day have not lost one of them.

Great work!

By that standard you could say it's fine to mow down a pedestrian in your car as long as they walk away from it...