Hmmmmmmm Who’s Right Me Or Lfs

[Xtech]

Remember though, if you have a tank up and running already you can steal gravel or filter media from it to give yourself an instant bacterial colony, which means you can stock with a couple of fish straight away.

Ben

Not true. Even if you seed a new tank it still takes time for the bacteria to colonize your new tank and finish its cycle.

 

[bunjiweb]

...? Sorry Xtech but it is true, i have used this method as have many others to speed up cycling of their tank. If you can safely move bacteria from one tank to another you have an instant colony which is ready to break down the ammonia of a couple of fish meaning it can then multiply within a couple of weeks to a capacity ready for more fish.

Ben

 

[Wit]

I've just set up my rio 180 and it cycled for about 3/4 days and then went aqua shop and we added 6 platies and no chemicals(apart from the aquasafe stuff). All is running fine and levels are heading in the right direction and platies seem very happy.
I was not sure about adding the platies but the guy in aqua store really knows his stuff and I trust him as he helped me with my first tank and all is ok in there (only lost 1 fish because he got stuck in rocks chasing platy fry).
People have very different views on this and I would tell you to go with what you feel most happy and safe with and that you feel in control of the cycling situation.

Good Luck with the tank.