I did a 'fish in' cycle, wasnt hard, 20% water change every 2nd day until cycled, had fish in my tank since day 2, so much better than staring at an empty tank.. .
I'm sure a fish less cycle is just as effective, I just dont see why a noob needs to be told its the prefered way cos its not to me
Because the people that choose to do a fishless cycle are far far more numerous than people that do a fish in cycle. Hence the preferred
Experienced aquarists are more apt to choose a fish in cycle, but even then it's easier because we have cycled aquariums to pull media from. I have 6 tanks and haven't had to cycle a single one since my first. I will always recommend fishless to a new aquarist over fish in, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with choosing either.
I would call fishless the preferred method because no matter what happens there are no fish on the line. For a first-time fishkeeper, that's a big deal because it's easy to end up with a whole bunch of dead fish (which is exactly what happened with my first fish tank). With fishless cycling you've got nothing to lose except some ammonia from a $1 bottle, or some cocktail shrimp.
Also, I think that fishless cycling teaches one of the most important lessons in fishkeeping (and in life), which is patience. Take the time to do things right and you'll be rewarded.
There's a lot more work and nuance to fish-in cycling and it just ends up being a lot more stressful. Plus, it takes a lot longer to fill up your tank with fish because you have to add them so gradually with a fish-in cycle. With fishless cycling you have an empty tank for a month but then you can stuff it to capacity as soon as it's done.
I will always recommend fishless to a new aquarist over fish in, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with choosing either.
Honestly, I did a fish in cycle and my fish are fine. My tank has been set up for a month now and has plenty of fish in it. If you use a bb additive before you add fish you should be good to go. Safe start worked great in my tank. I let it Cycle for 2 days fish less and then added 3 fish on the third day. All went well. Next week I added 4 more. Then next week 4 more. And so on and so forth until my tank was stocked. I still am going to be adding 1 more fish. My tank always tests great and I test it before each weekly water change. Within the first 2ish weeks I did water changes two times a week. There is nothing wrong with either method in my opinion. But I don't like staring at an empty fish tank that's for sure. So the fish in cycle worked great for me. Also make sure to research your fish before you buy them. And be prepared to take fish back if it does not workout.
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