For All You Cycle People...

[chophousemusic]

First I want to say thanks for all your help when first starting my tank.

My tank has been up almost 2 months now...I have the API Master Test Kit and test my water almost every single day, sometimes twice a day. As far as all this talk about cycle goes. My tank has still never seen nitrite or nitrate. At most my tank has tested positive for small amounts of ammonia, never over .25ppm. I keep up with a weekly water change of about 15-20%. And my fish seem to be very happy, and have not lost one. Knock on wood.

Just another note...during this whole cycle process...my kribs cichilds feel so comfortable in their tank. they are now spawning for their second time...And i just picked up a 10 gallon...used some of the gravel and water from my 75g to fill it....threw 2 zebra danios in there to cycle the tank. and Now they started breeding.

So after all Ive read and all the advice Ive been given about fishless cycling, not doing water changes, etc. Ive come to the conclusion that my tank will eventually cycle on its own. Its OK to cycle WITH FISH. All you gotta do is keep your water clean, and I think your fish will be just fine. I mean hey....mine are breeding already....

 

[OldMan47]

I am glad to hear that you have had good success with your fish. Do you have a lot of plants removing the nitrogen from your tanks? I have some tanks that need added nitrates because I have so many plants in them. I have others that need a water change just to keep nitrates under control. It depends a lot on how you have set things up.

 

[snottycat]

First I want to say thanks for all your help when first starting my tank.

My tank has been up almost 2 months now...I have the API Master Test Kit and test my water almost every single day, sometimes twice a day. As far as all this talk about cycle goes. My tank has still never seen nitrite or nitrate. At most my tank has tested positive for small amounts of ammonia, never over .25ppm. I keep up with a weekly water change of about 15-20%. And my fish seem to be very happy, and have not lost one. Knock on wood.

Just another note...during this whole cycle process...my kribs cichilds feel so comfortable in their tank. they are now spawning for their second time...And i just picked up a 10 gallon...used some of the gravel and water from my 75g to fill it....threw 2 zebra danios in there to cycle the tank. and Now they started breeding.

So after all Ive read and all the advice Ive been given about fishless cycling, not doing water changes, etc. Ive come to the conclusion that my tank will eventually cycle on its own. Its OK to cycle WITH FISH. All you gotta do is keep your water clean, and I think your fish will be just fine. I mean hey....mine are breeding already....

I have to say I read up on both fishless and fish in cycles and chose to go the fish in route. My tank is now almost 3 months old and I have had no problems what so ever. I have tested my water daily and have done water changes as necessary to keep ammonia down. I am glad to hear I am not the only one that chose this route!

 

[keenonfish]

First I want to say thanks for all your help when first starting my tank.

My tank has been up almost 2 months now...I have the API Master Test Kit and test my water almost every single day, sometimes twice a day. As far as all this talk about cycle goes. My tank has still never seen nitrite or nitrate. At most my tank has tested positive for small amounts of ammonia, never over .25ppm. I keep up with a weekly water change of about 15-20%. And my fish seem to be very happy, and have not lost one. Knock on wood.

Just another note...during this whole cycle process...my kribs cichilds feel so comfortable in their tank. they are now spawning for their second time...And i just picked up a 10 gallon...used some of the gravel and water from my 75g to fill it....threw 2 zebra danios in there to cycle the tank. and Now they started breeding.

So after all Ive read and all the advice Ive been given about fishless cycling, not doing water changes, etc. Ive come to the conclusion that my tank will eventually cycle on its own. Its OK to cycle WITH FISH. All you gotta do is keep your water clean, and I think your fish will be just fine. I mean hey....mine are breeding already....

I think for any of the above to carry any weight in a debate or argument you need to supply a lot more information than this! I am afraid your statement is pretty meaningless as it is. I am sure others might have noticed that your Nitrates are 0 which suggests things may not be as rosy as you think?

 

[doresy]

keenonfish makes a valid point. Without any trace of nitrate it is highly unlikely that the tank has ever cycled unless heavily planted. Either that or questionable testing.

Fishless cycling is a science and that is what makes it exciting, IMO.
When a fishless cycle is completed it is an achievement and you should be proud. It also is a discipline in the fact of keeping a tank devoid of fish for so long then knowing that when you finally introduce fish you have the knowledge that you have provided the best possible captive enviroment.

Of course you can cycle with fish and providing you are just as disciplined little harm will come to the poor fish used but for the beginner we just know that 9 times out of 10, fish are gonna die

For beginner especially, fishless cycling should be encouraged (this is just my opinion, and hey, I'm free to have it! )

 

[OldMan47]

I don't disagree with you at all Doresy. On the other hand, there are those who can have success using methods that I would not encourage a new fishkeeper to try.

 

[JustKia]

I cycled "fish-in".
Do I think it's the best way? No, for it to be the best way it would have to work for everyone in all situations - which it doesn't.
Fishlesss is best and is guaranteed to work if you follow the "rules".

Although, I do class my fish in cycle to have been successful, it's only because I spent so much time checking on my stats and making observations about the fish and ensuring they weren't suffering in high amounts of ammonia. I also planted my tank up quite early on too, which I believe helped.
Then again I appear to be one of the lucky few who can read the theory, skip a few steps here and there and still make things work.
I also successfully added neon tetras to a newly cycled (ie not matured) tank.

Would I recommened anyone else to follow my method? Nope.
As long as I have at least 1 cycled tank I'll never cycle again, prefering to clone any future tanks instead.