Cycling a tank using fish

[White Whale]

What types of fish have been used successfully in cycling a tank?

 

[thecichlidaddict]

Danios and White clouds are known for their hardy nature.

Just don't use anything that you will not want later on, if you do it right they will all live through the cycle.

 

[Adrinal]

Zebra Ds here.

 

[guppymonkey]

Just about any fish can be used but some are a lot more likely to live through the process than others. I used guppies when I setup my first tank and they did fine but if they are some of the more fancy varieties of guppies than they are more delicate. I always use the fishless cycle now, its easier because I don't have to worry about losing fish.

 

[dcraveiro]

I just used feeder goldfish for my old ten gallon. I had to give them back to the store though because goldfish are cold water fish. The reason I used goldfish was that they are incredibly hardy and they produce a lot of waste, helping increase the amount of bacteria quickly!

 

[Tempestuousfury]

I used too many fish for mine. )

I'd definitely go with the zebra danios. They're a wonderful addition to most tanks, and they are pretty hardy.

 

[Shizat]

I personally did zebra danios and black and white skirt tetras since they are all very hardy fish. The one comment about using feeder comet goldfish isnt really a good idea since a lot of these feeder fish have parasites and are already diseased causing a whole bunch of problems in the future for the fish that will inhabit the tank but its your choice. Fishless cycling is far the best because you dont stress any fish out doing it and it takes about 1/3 of the time.

 

[susangc]

Er, I cheated I bought a bioball innoculated with bacteria from my LFS, so I was able to cycle my tank in two weeks with the fish in it.

Susan

 

[BigSteve]

You didn't give a tank size. People often say Zebra Danios for cycling
because they're so hardy, and don't even need heat, but they are active fish and
should have at least a 20-30 gallon tank. If you have any interest in tetras,
bloodfins are pretty cool and tough enough for cycling. White cloud minnows are
also a good suggestion. They're quite pretty when kept in cool water, but I've heard
or read that they lose some color in warmer tropical temp water. Maybe someone
could shed some light on that.

 

[HeatherSweetness]

I always use guppies. The fancy ones are more delicate indeed,so I use the hardy plain jane looking ones.

 

[White Whale]

You didn't give a tank size.

20 gallon long

 

[c1tyfc]

I used tiger barbs to cycle my tank. They never changed there behaviour throughout and all of them are still large as life and growing like wild-fire. Saying this, this was my first tank and in future i will use the fishless cycle.

 

[Idolz]

I used scissor tails before, they worked fine.

 

[Fishy89]

use some nice and harty swordtails!
they survived through cycling a tank, and a c02 injector problem