hey guys

i was wondering what your opinions / experiences are of cycling you new tanks

is it best to do a fishless cycle or leave the tank to settle for a few days and add some fish??

my first concern is the health of the fish so i'm more inclined to do the fishless cycle, but i'm dead impatent lol

let me know your thoughts

mayvan xx

Obviously it's best for the fish to do it fishless

However if you are impatient you can do it with one fish that you intend to keep... and keep up on water changes etc.

Personally (and I am the most impatient girl in the world, so I understand you) I did the fishless cycle, then added fish after it was done.

Do the fishless cycle. All you need is some fish food. You can try to find pure ammonia but Ive heard its not that easy to find.

I will never do a cycle with fish in it again. It is too stressful. A cycle will take around 3 to 6 weeks.

I wouldnt consider using a feeder fish, because then there is the dilema of what to do with the fish when your done...and flushing just shouldnt be an option.

I know, I get impatient too. But letting the water "settle" for a few days does not mean its cycled. It will be just as harmful to your fish.

You will need a test kit if you dont already have one so that you can monitor your water's progress so that you know when it's cycled/ You will see a spike in ammonia first, from your fish food breaking down, then you will see a spike in Nitrites, as your first good bacteria grows, then you will see no more nitrites, but possibly some nitrates as your second good bacteria grow. Then you are all done! yay! lol.

I went through **** trying to cycle my tanks with my fish in it and I will never do that again. lol. Fish food is such a good way to do it.

Boy i felt the same way!! I had this big beautiful tank just sitting there fishless it was torture!!! AND waiting 6 weeks was not an option!! So what I did i waited a week and went to the fish store and I was going to buy angel fish, But the guy there was really informed about fish was like no way!!! U need to wait at least 3 weeks before u put any kind of fish in there, he was like if u want fish really bad we have these there called Domino fish there tiny little mino lookin things and he said put them in there and see if they live after 3 weeks u can get fish if they die well then NO!! So i got 4 of them for 1.00! I put them there and waited I was still impatient but i knew it was for the best becasue Y spend like 6+ for a fish just to have it die. SO i waited and waited and bam the time passed and they all lived!! and i am not mean so i just let my little ginnie pig fish be a part of my new tank so I bought my fishies..and added them Unfortunally for my lil ginnie pig fish they were eattin by the big mean angle fish while we were sleeping!!!!

Just remeber like u said its about the health of the fish and I lost about 5 fish to an uncycled tank (becasue i didn't kno!!!) and it hurt alot more then just waiting a few weeks!!!

good luck!!! and congrats on ur new tank!!! yahhh

I cycled with my Shubbie, but that was only because I didn't even know about cycling until a few days after I got her! But I am lucky she lived and won't cycle like that again. Stressful, also I had to move towards the end of the cycling process so was worried I'd mess it up. It took me about 6 weeks to fully cycle... I do know how it is to be impatient but sometimes it's worth it.

I agree with burned alive, most pet stores will recomend Danios, they can be very hardy fish. I did the cycle with 4 fish, 2 still alive today, I would not reccomend that, you should have great dedication, and be able to change the water like every day!!! I did it because I was a begginer and I just didnt know. What you decide is completely up to you, but remember if you DO choose to do the cycle with fish, there is no room for slacking.

Wow you are lucky you found someone who knew what he was talking about. The guy I talked to said wait 24 hours! then add your fish. My poor fantail. She survived, thank goodness, but not before suffering thru high ammonia and nitrite readings. My fault for not knowing about cycling. Now I know better.

If I had to do it over again, I'd go with a fishless cycle. And I'm all about "instant gratification", but now that I know about cycling it makes me too nervous to put a fish thru the cycling process.

Hi Mayvan~

Well I am super duper impatient myself!! But I would highly recommend going with the fishless cylce.

If you chose to cycle with the fish, Please make sure you intend to keep the fishy's that you cycled the tank with, All to often people get in a bind and don't want to keep the fishy's the used to cycle their tanks. More often than not I think people assume fish used for cycling are "Disposable" But they aren't really, They are Fish just the same and should be treated the same..

It's up to you though, I hear ya about the impatiant part!! I am soooooo Impatient it's NUTS!! Good Luck, Can't wait to see some pics of your tank when you get it all toghether etc etc.

i cycled my tank with fish w/ bio spira and it worked great!

I am kind of trying to figure out what to do in my situation too. I am getting four fish this weekend probably, from someone who is moving and can no longer keep them. They are currently in a ten gallon tank, but she is giving me a brand new 20 gallon tank to put them in, and I will probably put three in there, and keep one in the 10, until I can get something larger.

So what should I do? I am brand new to this and have never cycled a tank before, and i have no where else to keep the fish, so I don't think I have theoption to do a fishless cycle. What is the best way for me to go about this? The filter for the 10 gallon will be cycled I guess, but the one for the 20 is brand new. Let me know your thoughts, thanks!

I wish I tried a fishless cycle. I've been stressing with my fish in an uncycled tank despite two bags of Bio-Spira.

This description of a fishless cycles makes it sound so easy and stress free:

http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/FishlessCycle.html

Just out of curiosity, I'd like to perform an experiment with 6 small tanks, no fish, and all starting with the same level on ammonia.

Tank 1: No filter
Tank 2: Filter with no Bio-Wheel
Tank 3: Filter with Bio-Wheel
Tank 4: Filter with Bio-Wheel + Bio-Spira
Tank 5: Filter with no Bi-Wheel + Bio-Spira
Tank 6: No filter + Bio-Spira

I personally like using fish to cycle my tank..I ahve a lot of patience