My Fish-In Cycle

[Ape-man]

Here goes... Tomorrow I am planning on starting a fish-in cycle. My fishless cycle failed, see the link below for all my efforts!
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/316403-my-fishless-cycle/page__st__40__gopid__2677948&#entry2677948

My tap water: Ammonia: 0ppm, Nitrite: 0ppm, Nitrate: 30ppm, pH: 7.6

Tank: Fluval Roma 90- 90ltr (23 US Gal), Fluval-U2 Filter, couple of fake plants & rocks, black & white granule-type substrate.

Once I have my fresh conditioned water in and tank upto temp, is it best to let it settle for a week or get the fish straight in?

Also, as my signature suggests, I am panning on having a Bolivian Rams, Cardinal or Nean Tetras and Sterbai Cory's, which would be the best to put and start the cycle... I.E which are most hardy??

 

[three-fingers]

Emm...none of those fish are really suitable for fish-in cycles IMO.

If for some odd reason the fishless cycle didnt work...I doubt a fish-in cycle would go better, and those fish arent exactly ammonia-tolerant (compared to say, zebra danios or goldfish).

I would skip the cycle altogether and get dome plants growing well in there for a week or so, then start stocking different fish every week.

Mature media always helps too...

Plants are the answer IMO (and are very easy as long as you choose the right species suited to your setup and plant them right). Read here: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/299827-why-we-should-not-fishless-cycle-planted-tanks/

Though for the sake of ease, my advice is to just get some Java fern, Anubias and floating plants in the tank, give it a 8-12 hour a day light cycle and add fish a week later.

I've never done a fishless cycle except for the sake of experimentation myself, I just use mature media and/or plants.

 

[FISH-FRY]

I'm at 2 weeks and started with six plants and then added three Neon Tetra after a couple of days. Nitrite levels went up slightly as expected for a couple of days and then dropped. I waited about five days before adding another three Tetra and the same minor nitrite level elevation occurred. After the levels went down on their own on the second day I did small water changes (~13% and 19% respectively).

I added two Panda Cory yesterday and starting to see a nitrite level rise today as expected. The levels recorded have not been "dangerous" and part of introducing new stock to the tank. So far so good and I'll be taking it easy and monitoring my changes.

This is my current plan and will adjust as needed. The height is actually 18" and had to adjust due to the calculator giving me more than 16G with that height.

 

[FISH-FRY]

Here goes... Tomorrow I am planning on starting a fish-in cycle. My fishless cycle failed, see the link below for all my efforts!
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/316403-my-fishless-cycle/page__st__40__gopid__2677948&#entry2677948

My tap water: Ammonia: 0ppm, Nitrite: 0ppm, Nitrate: 30ppm, pH: 7.6

Tank: Fluval Roma 90- 90ltr (23 US Gal), Fluval-U2 Filter, couple of fake plants & rocks, black & white granule-type substrate.

Once I have my fresh conditioned water in and tank upto temp, is it best to let it settle for a week or get the fish straight in?

Also, as my signature suggests, I am panning on having a Bolivian Rams, Cardinal or Nean Tetras and Sterbai Cory's, which would be the best to put and start the cycle... I.E which are most hardy??

Any progress?

 

[Ape-man]

For the interest of anyone concerned... My fish-in-cycle is going brilliantly.

I currently have 6 Sterbai Cory & 7 Cardinal Tetra, all who are very happy and loving their new home!

I opted for the semi-planted approach, it seems to have worked a treat. I did get slightly high Ammonia readings at one point and struggled to get them down, but a friend of mine recommended Microbe-Lift ammonia remover and it works a treat... Amazingly it has no affect on the cycling of the tank... Not sure how it does it but it works.

I will get some pictures up soon of how it is all looking...

I will also recommend Microbe-lift filter inoculant gel, I know a lot of people on here don't believe that "bacteria in a bottle" works... But believe me, this stuff really does!! Check out the web site: www.microbelift.com

Anyway up to press... 13 very happy looking fish, and a very happy me, not having to stare at an empty tank waiting for a fishless cycle that never happened!!!!

I will try and update more regularly... If I get chance!!