nickcmanning
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
I have read on multiple websites that the dwarf gouramis and the honey gourami are very hardy fish. Can they be used as "starter fish" for a new tank, or should it cycle first with other fish? 
Gourami Starter Fish?
- Thread starter nickcmanning
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Coursair
Aquarium Advice Addict
nickcmanning said:I have read on multiple websites that the dwarf gouramis and the honey gourami are very hardy fish. Can they be used as "starter fish" for a new tank, or should it cycle first with other fish?
Gouramis are sensitive IMHO. I would cycle with Harlequin Rasboras or something else. Once they are established they can do well.
You can always fish less cycle.
JokerWx13
Aquarium Advice Freak
i would start with neon tetras as mine are very hardy (bought 10 to cycle with and they're all healthy today) and they're a dollar each.
Mumma.of.two
Aquarium Advice Obsessed
IMO/E dwarf gouramis, neons and harlequins are all sensitive. That being said if you plan on doing humane fish-in cycling (daily testing and water changes to keep toxins low) you can use just about any fish to cycle.
Chronos313
Aquarium Advice Addict
I did my fish in cycle with zebra danios and all of mine are still alive today. But pay attention to your water parameters and do water changes frequently
nickcmanning
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Are there any "good starter fish" out there besides tetras? I cycled my 20g with tetras and had a bad experience so for the time being, I'm trying to stay on a Tetra-hiatus. lol
Mumma.of.two
Aquarium Advice Obsessed
How exactly are you planning on cycling?
nickcmanning
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Well when I cycled my 20 gallon, I bought 5 black skirt tetras and let it cycle for a month before adding in any other fish. And I monitored the water levels and everything for the month as well. I planned on doing it the same way with the 10g. I am just trying to put together some sort of short list of fish to add in for the first cycle and trying to avoid tetras if possible.
Mumma.of.two
Aquarium Advice Obsessed
Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium
I suggest you give this a read. It contains articles on safely fish in cycling tanks. Because you have an established tank you can add some seeded media from the 20g to the 10g. By doing that you are greatly jump starting the cycle on the new tank. If you add enough media (don't take a huge amount from your established tank or it could start to cycle again) and very few fish in the beginning you might not even see any spikes in ammonia or nitrite essentially instantly cycling the tank. Follow the 'fish in cycling - step over to the dark side' article.
Because the tank is only 10g it greatly cuts your choices in stocking. The mollies and danios for example are too large or active for a 10g. Use the search function on the site to track down some other 10g stocking thread so you have more of an idea where to start looking.
I suggest you give this a read. It contains articles on safely fish in cycling tanks. Because you have an established tank you can add some seeded media from the 20g to the 10g. By doing that you are greatly jump starting the cycle on the new tank. If you add enough media (don't take a huge amount from your established tank or it could start to cycle again) and very few fish in the beginning you might not even see any spikes in ammonia or nitrite essentially instantly cycling the tank. Follow the 'fish in cycling - step over to the dark side' article.
Because the tank is only 10g it greatly cuts your choices in stocking. The mollies and danios for example are too large or active for a 10g. Use the search function on the site to track down some other 10g stocking thread so you have more of an idea where to start looking.
