Start up cycling.

[yonkerj3]

I am setting up a tropical freshwater.

This is my childhood tank and I have been away from it for a few years. I have checked it for leaks and it is good.

Now that I am an adult and a little more patient I think that I would like to try to make the tank hospitable for my fish before dumping them into new water; as I did in my youth. I have done some reading on initial cycling for new tanks and feel pretty confident to approach it in this fashion.

However, I have seen some blog posts and comments that say that just starting out with fish is just as good.

Thoughts?

Some more info:

46 gallon tank.
Penguin 350B filter.
Live plants.
Marineland powerhead.

Thank you all in advance.

 

[Mebbid]

Choosing your type of cycle basically depends on how patient you are. A fishless cycle can be done in as little as 2 weeks, so that's 2 weeks without any fish in it at all which drives people crazy. On the other hand a fish in cycle is a super lightly stocked tank with a bit more maintenance than a fishless cycle, the downside is it can take up to 2 months to finish.

 

[LoneStarVet]

I cycled my 15 column with 5 danios and had no issues at all.. Took them back to the LFS when I was done... IMO danios would be the fish to use IF you decided to do a fish in cycle. I'm currently doing a fishless cycle and it it is awesome...

 

[yonkerj3]

Thanks a lot. Starting a fishless cycle with plants tomorrow.