Is cycling really necessary?

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bubba rust

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
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67
Location
Tonopah, AZ
OK. I feel this might upset some people but I have kept 2 tanks for the last couple of years and I never cycled them. They have both done well and all the fish are happy and heathy. I am starting another one and was just curious if cycling is really necessary. When i first joined this group i had not idea what it even was but since then I hear about it all the time. And I don't know if it really matters but I use well water not city water. Sorry for my extreme ignorance.

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It doesn't matter what water you use, if you don't cycle your tank, it will eventually cycle with fish in it, but you are harming the fish that you have in there, when the tank isn't cycled, there is no bacteria in the filter, when there's no bacteria, all the ammonia from the fish eating builds up until toxic levels, some hardy fish can survive but most don't. Once the ammonia reaches like 4ppm I think it was, nitrite ( the good bacteria) starts to grow, which is also harmful to fish, when the nitrite eats all of the ammonia it will be in high levels( other people call it the nitrite spike) after that it goes down to 0ppm slowly, and then all the bacteria is in the filter and the gravel, walls, and ornaments.

Did you lose any fish from setting up those two tanks?
What type of fish did u have?
How big is your tank and what type of filters
 
It doesn't matter what water you use, if you don't cycle your tank, it will eventually cycle with fish in it, but you are harming the fish that you have in there, when the tank isn't cycled, there is no bacteria in the filter, when there's no bacteria, all the ammonia from the fish eating builds up until toxic levels, some hardy fish can survive but most don't. Once the ammonia reaches like 4ppm I think it was, nitrite ( the good bacteria) starts to grow, which is also harmful to fish, when the nitrite eats all of the ammonia it will be in high levels( other people call it the nitrite spike) after that it goes down to 0ppm slowly, and then all the bacteria is in the filter and the gravel, walls, and ornaments.

Did you lose any fish from setting up those two tanks?
What type of fish did u have?
How big is your tank and what type of filters


Partly true, partly untrue.

The nitrifying bacteria (the bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrite) wont wait it out until ammonia gets to 4ppm. They will begin to grow as soon as ammonia is present. It often doesnt take too long to get past this first stage of the cycling process. The nitrite-nitrate is the stage that takes a lot longer.

From what you said, if someone only dosed ammonia up to 3ppm, their tank would never ever cycle??

To origional Poster. I dont agree with this thread at all. The forum tries to encourage people who are new to fishkeeping to 'do things the correct way'
 
Well, my bad, I read somewhere that nitrite can only grow when the water is present with a heavy amount of ammonia, and since it doesn't naturally occur in water. Why When bettas have a bowl and just gravel no filter, nitrite doesn't occur therefore requiring large water changes or it's there in such small amounts and cannot clean the whole tank water.. It's just what I read somewhere else on the forum.
 
Thanks guys. I'll make sure I do right now on. And again sorry for ignorance

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Tank Cycling

OK. I feel this might upset some people but I have kept 2 tanks for the last couple of years and I never cycled them. They have both done well and all the fish are happy and heathy. I am starting another one and was just curious if cycling is really necessary. When i first joined this group i had not idea what it even was but since then I hear about it all the time. And I don't know if it really matters but I use well water not city water. Sorry for my extreme ignorance.

Sent from my XT907 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Hello bubba...

You must have had extremely hardy fish in those tanks. But, you do need to follow the steps of the nitrogen cycle to grow the bacteria needed to use the dissolved fish wastes.

You can cycle a tank by using hardy fish like Rasboras, Danios, any of the livebearing fish with the exception of Mollies. With this method, you have the advantage of fish in the tank from the start. Just add 3 to 4 small fish for every 10 gallons of tank volume. Add some stems of Hornwort or Anacharis to help filter the water.

Have a reliable water testing kit and test daily for traces of ammonia or nitrite. If these toxins show, you remove 25 percent of the tank water and replace it with pure, treated tap water.

Just test every day and remove the water when needed. When several tests show no traces of the above toxins, the tank is cycled. From that time on, you change half the water every week or two to maintain good water conditions for the fish and plants.

Pretty simple and pretty easy on the fish.

B
 
I'd like to add that weather you do a "fish in" or "fishless" cycle, you have a major advantage to help you along -

So you have two tanks that are stable? Great, you already have a bacteria colony at your fingertips :) If your tanks are free of disease, take your sponge filter from an established tank and run it in your new filter. You can also borrow a few handfuls of your substrate or ornaments. Note that this only works if you have something in your tank to feed the bacteria - either the ammonia you add in a fishless cycle, or the ammonia your fish will produce.

Just search for 'cycling' in the article section of this website - you'll find great information :)
 
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