Again a fresh start

[nitin1986]

Hi, after going through the 'getting started' & nitrogen cycle I got to know that the best fishes to get through the cycle is zebra danios. I get 4 pairs of those. I understand that the cycle did not complete. I tried the fish less cycle also.. I could not hold on a day by seeing the empty aquarium. the best way to know the cycle is with the kit.. I don't have and the retailers also doesn't have.. they brutally say that they don't know about the cycle and say let them go,. But again... The kit in here at Amazon is 2k INR. I can't afford at right away.
Hope they stay along through out the cycle... To compensate the cycle, I will change 50% of the water every 5 days and although I have 2 live plants, I will grow pothos in the aquarium...
Suggest me further...

 

[altidude]

You have a 6 gallon tank? Is that correct?

 

[nitin1986]

Yes, it's 6 gallon tank and the danios are of quarter inch in length

 

[altidude]

Just as a comparison, I cycled a 20 gallon tank starting with 3 juvenile cherry barbs. I have the API Master Test kit and I was doing a partial water change about every 3-4 days based on ammonia or nitrite level, it just depended on where it was in the cycle. There were a few days when levels starting peaking that I was doing a partial water changes daily but that was only over a period of 3 days or so.

After two weeks and the ammonia/nitrite spikes had stopped I added two more juvenile cherry barbs for the duration. I was still doing water changes every 4 days or so until the cycle completed, again based on API test kit results.

I can just speak from my one experience. Somebody with more experience will offer a better opinion, I'm sure. My opinion is that if you just plan to do a routine water change every 5 days without testing with that many fish in that small of a tank I don't think your fish will survive the cycle. Again, my opinion. If I had gone 5 days at a couple of points during the cycle of my 20 gallon I would have lost fish or, at the very least, seriously stressed them out.

I just finished cycling a 10 gallon tank at my wife's office using the fishless method. It took just over 3 weeks to cycle but that was with adding seeding material from my tank at home. Yes it's hard to be patient but since you don't have a test kit and you're kind of going by the seat of your pants I think fishless cycle is the way to go for you. A good long fishless cycle at that. Or do far more frequent water changes and keep your fingers crossed.

At least the API kit isn't a WHOLE lot more expensive for you in India as it is for me in the USA. Save up and get one as soon as you can. It's invaluable, especially for you now as you set up the new tank.

 

[nitin1986]

Thank you for the valuable information.. if those are not going to survive this cycle I will definitely follow it instructions to go for a fish less cycle.. in the mean time I will try to get one of those kits.. Thanks a lot @ altidude