I do not disagree with Neale at all. He makes some very good points and, like him, I always clone my filters. My own cloning method is a bit different but I am sure the end result is the same. The hardest part for me would be to try to tell a newcomer, feed about enough for about 6 mollies for a tank your size ...So how can I describe that amount? I know that if you told me to add enough food every day for about 6 mollies, I could hit it fairly close, but that is based on years of feeding mollies. How do I get the newcomer to add the right amount? I think that aspect of it is the most serious limitation for guiding a new person trying to cycle their first tank with no clone to draw on. I think what I am saying is that for an experienced fish keeper, the one who will do it his own way no matter what we say, he could follow those instructions and get things right. Not so the new person I am afraid.
