Fish in or fishless cycling?

[Mrs.h2012]

I've had my tank set up and just running for almost a week now, I thought I would a fishless cycle but now I'm beginning to wonder if I should do a fish in cycle. Opinions or advice?

 

[paytertot]

I prefer fishless. You get a biofilter like a beast. And there's no potential for harming the fish. That being said, fish-in cycles are not cruel or harmful if its done correctly.

 

[Annakhil]

Me too! Same thing up for a a lil over a week cycling and thinking of getting some neons to help it, but I have deco from a already cycled tank

 

[Mrs.h2012]

I haven't added any ammonia to my tank to kick start the cycling yet, haven't gotten a master kit yet. I don't wanna add the ammonia then not be able to test water. I'm getting so impatient!

 

[hpiguy]

What size tank?

I thought about fishless when I got back into fish keeping and read all about it, but decided on fish-in since I stock so low anyway. It's working out great for me. No issues at all *knocks on driftwood*.

 

[paytertot]

It kinda depends on what stock you want too, cuz some fish are better stocked all at once

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Well I went to petsmart today and scoped out fish, I know for sure I want a dwarf gourami (debating on sunset honey dwarf or a red fire dwarf), as far as other fish I'm still debating, the ones I saw I likes the most at petsmart were Von rio flame tetras and peppered cory catfish, possibly some rasbora heteromorpha. My only issue is since I only have a 10g I don't want to over stock.

 

[tamtam]

Well I went to petsmart today and scoped out fish, I know for sure I want a dwarf gourami (debating on sunset honey dwarf or a red fire dwarf), as far as other fish I'm still debating, the ones I saw I likes the most at petsmart were Von rio flame tetras and peppered cory catfish, possibly some rasbora heteromorpha. My only issue is since I only have a 10g I don't want to over stock.

If you are doing a dwarf gourami I would suggest fishless cycling. They aren't the most hardy fish and may not fair very well through a cycle. I will say I have a more recent addition of a Sunset gourami in my 20 gallon and it's a lovely fish.

I also wouldn't put much more than the gourami in a ten gallon, I wouldn't do rasbora and tetra in anything smaller than a 20. Perhaps a 15 long. They are very active fish and I don't think 10 gallon really suites them..

I'm not sure about the corys. 10 gals may be too small for a proper shoal of them. Hopefully someone can chip in on that.

I like both methods of cycling. They both have pros and cons. Fish in gives you that more instant gratification of fish in the tank but the daily water changes can be a pain to a lot of people.

 

[LyndaB]

I haven't added any ammonia to my tank to kick start the cycling yet, haven't gotten a master kit yet. I don't wanna add the ammonia then not be able to test water. I'm getting so impatient!

Get the test kit, use the ammonia. Patience is a HUGE virtue in this hobby. You'll need bucketloads of it as you go through the learning curve. Trying to take shortcuts sometimes makes things worse.

Peppered corys are not a candidate for a 10 gallon. All corys require a school of at least 3, 5 is better.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

The closest petsmart I have near me is 30 minutes away and was able to go because of doctor appointment, but after getting back home I went in my LFS and saw some lyretail mollies I fell in love with, would it be to much of a stretch to have two or 3 of the lyretails in my 10g?

 

[LyndaB]

Mollies require 20 gallons due to their heavy bioload.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

What kind of a bottom cleaner fish would you guys recommend that would do well in a 10g? I'm hoping to upgrade soon to atleast a 29g.

 

[tamtam]

The closest petsmart I have near me is 30 minutes away and was able to go because of doctor appointment, but after getting back home I went in my LFS and saw some lyretail mollies I fell in love with, would it be to much of a stretch to have two or 3 of the lyretails in my 10g?

I don't have an hands on experience with them but I know they get pretty big. Like about 4 inches.. I believe its recommended they have about 30 gallons so I don't think they would be a fit..

 

[tamtam]

What kind of a bottom cleaner fish would you guys recommend that would do well in a 10g? I'm hoping to upgrade soon to atleast a 29g.

shrimp or snails.

I've heard of people keeping Otos in a 10 but they can be really tough fish to keep. They are more fragile than most bottom feeders but may be something you would like to look into

 

[LyndaB]

You shouldn't need a bottom feeder if you don't overfeed.

A 10 gallon tank is a very small tank. Thus, you need really small fish. I would suggest you go back to the lfs and ask them to see the nano fish. Then, make a list of what you like and come back to ask about it. Or better yet, google freshwater nano fish and look around.

Research is your friend and knowledge is power.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

I saw some endlers livebearers they had that I really liked. What would be the max size fish I could have? Two inches for full adult growth?

 

[tamtam]

I saw some endlers livebearers they had that I really liked. What would be the max size fish I could have? Two inches for full adult growth?

hmm. I think maybe 4 or 5 would be a good starting point especially if you are getting males and females as they breed pretty fast. I read they don't eat their young like other live-bearers so if you don't have a plan for them you are going to be massively over stocked fast.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

The only endlers livebearers had in stock were males, so unless a mistake was made then I don't think reproducing would be an issue.

 

[jetajockey]

I'd go fish-in, I do all of mine that way. Adding plants helps a lot, and just stock very lightly for the first few weeks and you probably won't have to do the constant water changes that people commonly associate with fish-in cycling. The articles on fish-in cycling will help you get going. Freshwater - Aquarium Advice

When I fish-in cycle a tank my goal is to plan stocking to where my WC routine is the same as with the other tanks (i.e. 1x a week), so I try to stock just enough fish to keep that routine without having the ammonia levels elevated enough to harm the fish.

I keep several endlers and they stay pretty small so you'd be fine with 4-5 in there, although if you go fish-in I'd just stock 2, maybe 3 for the first month or so.

 

[Quest84]

there are pro's and con's to both fish in or fishless cycling. The fishless cycle just takes a little patience..I know it stinks looking at an empty filled tank, but you will build a really strong bio filter and at the end you can almost fully stock while keeping an eye on water parameters.

Me personally I would go fishless cycling and get some used filter media from a healthy established tank. Your tank can cycle instantly if u get enough media.