Feeder Goldfish

[Mr.September15]

How many feeder goldfish per gallon do you put when the tank is cycling?? This is for my cousins tank and being his weirdoself I cannot talk him out of fish cycling. . So how many feeder goldfish do you put when the tank cycling in a 29gallon?

 

[MegTheFish]

He shouldn't be using feeder goldfish, they are often diseased and very weak because of the conditions they are kept in, they are not bred to live long (as they will just be fed to other fish) so I doubt they would live through a cycle. I would reccommend zebra danios, you can get them for fairly cheap (often under $1) and they are extremely hardy. I group of a minimum of 6 is what I would reccommend. Another bonus with the danios is that you can keep them with practicly everything so if he didn't want to he wouldn't have to rehome them (with the goldfish, you would as they would get way to big for that size of tank).

 

[Mr.September15]

Hmm I never heard of danios being a cycling fish

 

[black angel]

Goldfish arent a cycling fish either. In fact no fish should be used to cycle a tank.
But, if he insists then 1 fish will cycle the tank in a month or so.
Try and get him to do it fishless.

 

[Iron Man]

You've never heard of danios as cycling fish?

Danios are probably the best freshwater cycle fish there are next to neons and discus.

Goldfish are not the best fish to cycle a tank with simply because they are the most messy fish there are next to Oscars and they will fill the tank with too much ammonia every day. He might could get away with just using one small one though...but he will still have to take it out later because a common goldfish will grow to be too large for that tank in a matter of no time.

And I was kidding about the neons and discus. I got some people didn't I. LOL

 

[demonmagus]

I did a cycle with fish and I used danios, none died or showed any signs off odd behaviour

 

[tnhowery]

I also cycled (before i knew better) with danios and never lost one, not that i am saying that it is ok to do.

 

[Mr.September15]

Weird! I always heard that feeder goldfish were the best cycling fish . Well it's too late now unless the goldfish want to go belly up

 

[Tommo]

Danios work well if you have to use a cycling fish, but fishless cycling is safer and more efficient.

 

[jayjay]

'Fish cycling' is fine if done correctly. Ideally you should start with a few, small fish, then watch the water parameters and do water changes everyday, if you can.

My first tropical tank was cycled by using 4 swordtail fry, the fry didn't produce much waste and it took time to build up to unsuitable levels in a 15g. After that first cycle all my tanks have been cloned.

He shouldn't be using feeder goldfish, they are often diseased and very weak because of the conditions they are kept in, they are not bred to live long (as they will just be fed to other fish) so I doubt they would live through a cycle. I would reccommend zebra danios, you can get them for fairly cheap (often under $1) and they are extremely hardy. I group of a minimum of 6 is what I would reccommend. Another bonus with the danios is that you can keep them with practicly everything so if he didn't want to he wouldn't have to rehome them (with the goldfish, you would as they would get way to big for that size of tank).

How do you breed a fish for a short life? How would the breeder breed a fish that will die early, if he doesn't know when it's going to die? The fact, that to know how the long the fish will live it has to die, you couldn't breed it when it's dead, unless you go through the complicated removal of eggs and sperm from dead specimens, which I'm not even sure would work, let alone be worth the effort. I wouldn't start of with a group of fish straight away either, slowly up the numbers. Also Danios are not compatible with practically everything, many things won't get on with them.

 

[Iron Man]

I agree. A few danios in a 29 gallon isn't going to hurt anything. There MIGHT be SOME damage to gills resulting from traces of ammonia, but I don't see how that will make them all out suffer for the rest of their lives. How many of us have damage from pollution in the world these days and the majority of people get along just fine despite the fact that we eventually die of this pollution via cancer, etc, etc.