Is it really nessescary?

[Fishoutofwater]

Hi all,

I have owned fish of all sorts for years now and to be honest after doing some googling today I'm at a bit of a loss.

Currently I have 20+ tropical fish (guppies, angelfish, plecos, beta, cichlids) plus in the same tank I have freshwater shrimp and snails and two cold water fish that I don't know the names of ?they seemed to adapt quite well to a temperature rise after moving from cold water(see below for reason I have cold water and tropical)
Anyway today is the first time I have heard of cycling tanks ? My general care is a hoover of the gravel once a week or sometimes 2 weeks if I forget and a 20‰ water change and once a month I remove one of the two filter sponges from the filter and replace it(I use the pond spongy stuff that I cut to size instead of buying the expensive replacement cartridges)
I have yet to lose a fish using these methods, and to be honest when I buy new fish I just let them float about on top of the tank for a while then throw them in(minus the water they came in) I have never tested water nor have I added any of the things I'm reading about online today.
I don't know how it's working out now after all my googling so I'm wondering is all that is being done to other tanks really that nessescary!?

Reason I came across cycling is because I was looking to buy a bigger tank and one I was interested in said it was cycled and ready for fish currently using a 20gal tank and current fish are in it for just over 6 months, they went straight in with the other cold water fish and had no heater for about 4 days as to be honest I didn't know they were tropical when I bought them I just thought they looked pretty?? the guy in the shop should have known I was running a cold tank as I pointed out the fish I already had, also he shouldn't have sold me the guppies and angelfish together according to my research after I purchased them but they aren't big enough to eat them just yet!

So now I'm like should I do this, should I be adding all sorts into my water or should I carry on the way I'm going as it seems to work?

 

[Autumnsky]

The answer in my mind is it is better.

Many, many years ago while I was a child growing up in the earlier part of 1970's my relatives had a big fish tank which inspired my family to get a fish tank, then 2.

We had underground filters and used the old fashioned method of fish keeping add a couple fish do a few water changes and then add a few more. Repeat.

Fast forward to many years and keeping mostly Bettas and commonly kept community fish to 2012 when I really was interested in learning more about keeping fish better due to a confounding Bacterial bloom. After a month of issues with pearly, milky white water I learned some things which were life changing for the positive.

There is a thing called beneficial bacteria.

Later learned the process name - this magical bacteria processes aquarium waste in a process called nitrification cycle. Cycling was part of keeping fish better.

A great resource, would be to read up here is one nice article about starting a fish tank, which you already seem to be good at.
Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium - Aquarium Advice

You can check it out and think about how it might make your fish healthier and happier.

Think of why you keep them.

Most people here find them to be special creatures which are kept in ideal conditions to ensure their best life possible.

Fish store workers can be amazing but a huge number of them do not know what they are doing, lacking experience and training.

Reason you were sold tropical fish, preferring warmer water to go with your cold water fish (which I use the term "cool" water fish most often). And Angelfish to eat smaller fish.

Being that your tank seems to work is okay, but are you happy with okay or try using best practices to get a better experience for the fish.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Firstly, one of the MOST important things I learned was DO NOT throw away the filter pad (basically ever, till it is falling apart).

You will discover the BB (beneficial bacteria) grows there in the greatest amounts and processes the tank waste. Throwing it away removes the BB system in place to keep a smooth running tank biologically speaking.

It causes hardship and injury to fish internally if the tank doesn't have this system keeping their water conditions safe and out of the danger zones.

 

[BBradbury]

Hello Fish...

I've recently followed an easier means of cycling fish tanks using fish. If you've been in the tank hobby long enough, you've probably heard of it. You set up the tank and add some floating plants and allow the tank to run for a few days. Then, you add 3 to 4 small fish for every 10 gallons of water. You feed the fish a little every day or two and remove and replace one-third of the water every three days for a couple of weeks. After that, you simply change half the water weekly for as long as you have the tank running. If you want to add fish, add a few and start the process from the beginning. No water testing is needed. This is a cycling method that goes back a while.

B