Who Do I Listen To?

[Jakey02578]

Well, I went in a pet store before. Its Aquarian <-- the Fish food's own pet store and they said i don't need to cycle? I don't know what to do!

 

[Tolak]

They want to sell you things, and make money off of you being there. We don't, you have to cycle your tank in one way or another.

 

[Jakey02578]

They told me to get some stuff from Wilkinsons down the road.. <--- Its a cheap shop that sells everything.. But yeah, i said i've been told i have to cycle it they said no

 

[Tolak]

They wouldn't be the first shop to say that. In one way or another the tank will cycle, it's a matter of putting fish through the exposure to and possible death from ammonia & nitrite or not. We try to work with ways of cycling that minimize or eliminate that here, many shops don't.

 

[Jakey02578]

Thanks! That's helped quite a bit! It's just they say they're experts then you don't know who to listen to so it got me confused Thanks anyway!

 

[Juggler75]

You basically have two options, each have their pros and cons, its up to you which ones pros outweigh their cons.

Option 1 - Fish in cycle. Stock your tank really slowly and do many water changes and hope your fish survive the ammonia and nitrite spikes.
Pros - You have fish in your tank
Cons - You have to do loads of water changes to keep water parameters safe. You will likely expose your fish to toxic levels of ammonia and nitrite that even if they don't kill them will weaken their immunity for life.

Option 2 - Fishless cycle. Dose your tank with ammonia artificially to build up the colonies of good bacteria
Pros - No fish are exposed to toxins during the cycle, At the end you can fully stock your tank. No need to do waterchanges daily (theoretically just one large one at the end)
Cons - Can be a bit boring looking at water for 4-6 weeks, some people have experienced difficulty in cycling this way and ended up fish in cycling anyway.

AS stated above a store employee's job is to sell to you, most will recommend a fish in cycle as they can get a sale that day (I was lucky the owner of my lfs recommended fishless and gave me mature media to speed it up - means he gets my trust and custom).

Hope this helps

 

[Tolak]

1) Done properly, a fish in cycle exposes fish to a minimal of ammonia & nitrite. Problem being, most people are lax in doing it properly. This is due to it being a lot of work changing water on a very minimally stocked tank.

2) Fishless cycling is boring, and while ammonia is being used there are substances besides ammonia that fish produce. While I've never looked into it, and am far from having a lab or lab experience, this may be part of the reason some folks have trouble with fishless cycling.

3) There is also cloning; once you have a cycled & mature tank of reasonable size you should never have to cycle again. If you have access to someone with a mature tank & can get some media from them you can have what amounts to an instant cycle, depending on their tank size & stocking, as well as your tank size.

 

[Juggler75]

Fair point.... 3 options

 

[Neomeris]

I'd personally do a fish less cycle. And don't listen to pet store personell- reasearch, and with a little practice you can prove them wrong every time!
Neomeris

 

[baldeagle]

I went for option 3.

by using this site and the info from it i managed to get media sent to from a very helpful memeber from one of her mature tanks.

List Of Members Willing To Donate Mature Filter Media To Newbies. Go to this part of the forum and look for someone around your area and ask nicely, i'm sure someone will help you out, you will have to pay delivery charge of course.

 

[giants1249er]

1) Done properly, a fish in cycle exposes fish to a minimal of ammonia & nitrite. Problem being, most people are lax in doing it properly. This is due to it being a lot of work changing water on a very minimally stocked tank.

2) Fishless cycling is boring, and while ammonia is being used there are substances besides ammonia that fish produce. While I've never looked into it, and am far from having a lab or lab experience, this may be part of the reason some folks have trouble with fishless cycling.

3) There is also cloning; once you have a cycled & mature tank of reasonable size you should never have to cycle again. If you have access to someone with a mature tank & can get some media from them you can have what amounts to an instant cycle, depending on their tank size & stocking, as well as your tank size.

Personally I did 1 and 2. I had fish in both tanks but all the fish in tank 2 died, thus the fishless cycle. Fish-in cycle is harder...levels of ammonia and nitrite were too high, which lead to multiple pwc (lots of buckets of water) and testing of ph, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels and danger to your fishes. Luckily my 3 platies weathered the storm. The fishless cycle may be boring except the testing and adding of water but in the long run, safer for the welfare of your fishes. Make sure you have a good dechlorinator like Prime and API test kit.

Also, you're better off listening to the people at this site or other fish sites. They're more informative than some of the people in the lfs.

 

[mattyd1701]

The store is most likely trying to do what they did to me when i first started and tried to sell you crap like Stress Zyme "friendly bacteria in a bottle" and other products just to make them some money.

as Tolak said you have 3 options, 2 if you cant get a hold of any mature filter media

pet shops tell you, you dont have to cycle but at the end of the day thats what you end up doing anyways pet shops - Pets&Home tell you this anyways and when ever you buy a tank the instructions always say have the filter running for a few days then add 2-3 hardy fish to start your tank off the manufactures are basically telling you to start a fish-in cycle which will end up subjecting your fish to high levels of Ammonia, Nitrate and Nitrite if you dont keep up with changing the water which is not a good thing for your fish which is why people on the forums tell you its better to do a Fishless cycle so you don't subject the fish to high levels of subsistence's that could possibly kill your fish

ignore what the pet stores and manufactures tell you, you will come to learn they know jack **** about fish keeping listen to the people who actually know what they are doing and thats the people right here on this forum

but good luck setting up your tank

 

[phishyphil]

Pet Stores = Money Making Theiving Bar Stewards

Fishfourms = Honest, Friendly, impartial advice

I'' let you decide

 

[mattyd1701]

Pet Stores = Money Making Theiving Bar Stewards

Fishfourms = Honest, Friendly, impartial advice

I'' let you decide

+1

 

[Anna Robinson]

Well, I went in a pet store before. Its Aquarian <-- the Fish food's own pet store and they said i don't need to cycle? I don't know what to do!

The manufacturers of AQUARIAN® fish foods don't have their own stores; the name is a coincidence.