Some questions on fishless cycling

[Moe]

I read somewhere that even if a fish survives the cycle that it's live expectancy is greatly reduced. Did anyone else hear this? I decided to go fishless with my second tank because I killed so many fish while cycling my first tank. (had no idea what I was doing). I did a fishless cycle in a 10g using pure ammonia. It took 8 days start to finish then I added 8 fish at once. There was no ammonia or nitrite increase all levels 0. For me this was a great way to go and I wasn't stuck with a bunch of hearty fish that I didn't really want.

 

[platypus]

I read somewhere that even if a fish survives the cycle that it's live expectancy is greatly reduced. Did anyone else hear this?

Yes I have heard this too - and I believe something like this happened in my own tank. I started off with 10 neons and lost 4 of them when my tank cycled. Since my tank has cycled I lost another 2 of the original batch, just from general sickness. I think being exposed to high levels of ammonia and nitrite must have weakened their systems. I have since got 2 more to increase the numbers so they are happier shoaling together and I can notice a huge difference between the new neons and the veterans - the new ones are the same size and therefore presumably about the same age, but they are so much brighter in colour and in temperament. Their fins and eyes are also so much clearer.

I know this isn't exactly scientific proof but it makes sense to me!

 

[Kissifish]

I'll throw in my 2 cents and agree with Moe. I do not care for guppies, danios, or comets. So, why would I cycle with fish that I have no desire to keep later? Do I euthanize them? Not likely in my house.

Fishless is cheaper IMHO.