Fish in cycling for wife's tank

[Tyler777]

My wife set up a 75 gallons tank n wants to add fish right away with the tank not being cycled.
I don't like doing fish in cycling bcause fish can die n is not their fault. But wife wants fish in the tank right away . What kind of popular fish do you think I can get to do a fish I cycling a fish that will be strong n deal with all the problems the cycling goes through ? A very strong fish. Any idea what kind can I get ?

Wife doesn't want to listen bcause it's her tank n says she can do whatever she wants with it so instead of her getting any fish n kill em during the cycle I decided to ask you guys what kind of fish would b strong throughout a cycling.

Thanks in advance gor your future responses

Tyler

 

[Naughts]

I can't recommend any species of fish.

Why don't you add established filter media from your tanks?

 

[Magnum Man]

I agree with @Naughts … but really any fish can be used for fish in cycling, as long as you are willing to test daily, and do enough water change as needed ( actually water changes need to be done, before it’s “needed” and that will vary by the stocking density ), but I’ve done several tanks ( especially the size of your wife’s tank ) with fish in cycling… but my preferred method is to buy a filter long before the tank is set up, and run it for a month or so, in an existing tank… I personally run 2 hang on tank filters, on each tank, so I can cheat, by putting a completely cycled filter from another tank, on the new one, and put the new filter, on an already cycled tank, to replace the one I moved… doing this works great on a lightly stocked tank, but you may still need to do extra water changes, if too many fish are added to a new tank…

 

[Tyler777]

I agree with @Naughts … but really any fish can be used for fish in cycling, as long as you are willing to test daily, and do enough water change as needed ( actually water changes need to be done, before it’s “needed” and that will vary by the stocking density ), but I’ve done several tanks ( especially the size of your wife’s tank ) with fish in cycling… but my preferred method is to buy a filter long before the tank is set up, and run it for a month or so, in an existing tank… I personally run 2 hang on tank filters, on each tank, so I can cheat, by putting a completely cycled filter from another tank, on the new one, and put the new filter, on an already cycled tank, to replace the one I moved… doing this works great on a lightly stocked tank, but you may still need to do extra water changes, if too many fish are added to a new tank…

Ok, thanks

 

[Colin_T]

Just take some filter media/ material from an established aquarium filter and use it in the new tank. Instant cycled tank and she can add fish straight away. By straight away, I mean a couple of days after the water has been added and it's all dechlorinated, temperature is correct and tank doesn't leak.

 

[Tyler777]

Just take some filter media/ material from an established aquarium filter and use it in the new tank. Instant cycled tank and she can add fish straight away. By straight away, I mean a couple of days after the water has been added and it's all dechlorinated, temperature is correct and tank doesn't leak.

Ok. Thanks

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I would not do what a lot of what has been suggested in this thread for several reasons.

But this is the main one. When somebody tells you to add another filter for a few weeks to an established tank and then to move it to the new one and it is instantly cycled, this is almost never the case. The way it would be true is if the new tank is way smaller than the established one.

The amount of nitrifying bacteria in an established tank is what is needed to process the ammonia that is created in that tank. Most of the ammonia comes from the fish and uneaten food. If one has live plants which have dead leaves they make ammonia. Organic matter breaking down is the primary source of ammonia in a tank.

Once you have a tank fully stocked and cycled, the bacterial load will only change if ammonia levels are increased or decreased. The bacteria can be living in a tank anywhere several conditions are met: Ammonia etc., dissolved oxygen, iron and other minerals etc. needed in small amounts. Circulation is important here. The bacteria dislike light so they tend to colonize out of it. What we cannot know about any tank is exactly where the bacteria are and in what numbers. Only the total matters. Most will be in the substrate and in one's filter media, but they can be on any hard surface out of the light where what they need is supplied.

This means that we can have two identical filters running on a tank with the same media in them but there is no reason to believe that they contain equal amounts of bacteria. Nor can we even assume that the majority of the bacteria is in those two filters as opposed to elsewhere in the tank.

When we decide to give a new tank a jump start as described above in terms of bacteria, we cannot know how much bacteria we are removing from the established tank and putting into the new one. As long as we do not remove too much bacteria from the established tank, what remains there should be able to reproduce to replace what was removed fairly quickly. But it makes sense to test the established tank after removing bacteria from it to make sure we did not remove too much, The established the tank should not have an ammonia spike of any serious level. A reading of .25 to .50- ppm should not last very long. A rare spike to 1 or 2 ppm would be a problem.

The bigger issue is that we have no idea how much bacteria we are putting into the new tank. Since this tank has no bacteria at all, any bacteria will only be found where we put it. Not knowing how much bacteria we have just put into the new tank. we cannot know how many fish it is safe to add. Both too few or too many can be an issue.

Too many will mean cycling issues which may harm or kill the new fish. But too few will mean that the excess bacteria in the new tank will downsize in number to equalize with the ammonia load. Two things are needed, regular testing and a plan for keeping the new fish alive if it turns out there is way too little bacteria in the new tank. What will you do if you add the fish expecting a cycled tank and suddenly you have 2 ppm of ammonia?

Things would be different if you were much more experienced in terms of cycling. So, if your Mrs. is determined to have fish right away and she understands how she may be harming or killing fish doing a fish in cycle I can suggest two alternatives.

First, get a bottle of Dr. Tim's One and Only and follow his directions. I am happy to help you with this if you need it. You can do things two ways if you go this route. One is to add the bacteria and then soon after add some fish follwing the directions on Dr. Tim's site. Or you could do a mini-fisless cylce. Here you add 2-3 ppm of ammonia and the bacteria and then test in 24 sour. If you can see 0s for ammonia and nitrite within 24 hours of adding the ammonia amd bacteria, you can fully stock he tank in one go.

If you have a reading for ammonoia and or nitrite, use those numbers and have a quick read of the fishless cycling article here to know when to dose the ammonia again. The goal is still to get all 0s within 24 hours of adding ammonia. This should happen fairly quickly allowing a full stocking. It is entirely possible you will be able to stock fully in a few days after adding the bacteria

The other alternative would be to set up the new tank and get it to temp etc. Then rinse out the media from the filters in your established tank into the new tank. At the same time add 2 ppm of ammonia and then. using the fishless cycling article as a loose guide, add more ammonia to get the bacteria to reproduce. If you are willing to add fish gradually, then use 1 ppm as the dose and if you want to add close to a full load, use 2 ppm. If you want to fully stock all in one go, then use 3 ppm. The more ammonia you decide to use, the longer it will take to zero out the readings.

One last note that may influence how you guys do things. This is a new tank, so if you are able to put in a whole fish load in one go, the tank is a Quarantine tank for those fish as well as being their final home. As long as the fish all go in at the same time and, even better, if they all come from the same source you are ahead of the game in terms of the reasons for and the need to quarantine new fish.

One of the major set-backs of a fish-in cycle is that one cannot fully stock in one go but must add fish gradually over time. How unhappy would you or the Mrs. be if the last fish you added to her new tank turned out to have something nasty and you did not Q and it wiped out the entire tank?

No matter how many mistakes one makes doing a fishless cyle, you will not hurt or kill any fish. If you have to ask about how to do a fish-in cycle, the odds are pretty good that you should not do one.