fish in cycling

[Darylb]

What are your thoughts on fish in cycling im looking to put my fish into my new 55gal bow front it will be my clown and my yellow belly damsel only because i am using mainly base rock and not putting shrimp in my tank because its in my room and dont want a bad smell

 

[Fatdaddy82]

Don't use live its not right if you were to go with the shrimp it will not smell you dont use a bunch a half a piece of 1 shrimp will do the trick

 

[baron1282]

Get some clean panty hose to wrap the shrimp in! Otherwise you will have a nasty time fishing out the remaining shrimp parts when the tank is ready for fish.

I didn't use the hose and I almost threw up! It was that bad! Not the smell, just the way it came apart in my hand, very disgusting. It took me three weeks to cycle my 29 in this fashion. Also I used the shrimp in my living room and had guest over and there was no smell.

I am against live fish cycling, but I know a lot of people that have used the Bottled Bactria with GREAT success without any ammonia spike. So it's really up to you! The only thing I can say with the bottled Bactria it takes longer to establish a very strong colony, and it takes a lot of work to make sure the water quality stays in the green.
So the bottled stuff can work, but it takes work. It's just not pour and your done! Also you can not have a TON of fish in while you use the product. It's really for use so you can just add a fish our two, not your whole stock!

When I transferred my 29 gallon to my 55 gallon it essentially became a fish in cycle. So I used: Bio-Spira® Saltwater Aquarium Bacteria Set Up Care | Instant Ocean

It really helped to keep the water stable, but I did have a lot of live sand and live rock. Plus all my filter media had Bactria colonies already on them. So I was almost instantly cycled.

The other thing you can do is get live rock and sand from someone's established tank, plus some used filter media and that can really speed up your cycling process. So good luck with any method you choose!

 

[Tkey3425]

If you're worried about smell just dose with pure ammonia and let the tank convert it. There are a bunch of write ups out there about how to cycle with ammonia. Don't do a fish in cycle when there are better methods that don't stress the fish out.

 

[aquandrew]

+1 to ammonia, i got a bottle for 1.49 for my 20 gallon and barely put a dent in it. saltwater is completely different than freshwater, you can't just do a quick and cheap water change from the faucet to keep the levels in check.

 

[baron1282]

The Ammonia method may not be THAT difficult but compared to just throwing a shrimp into the tank or having to measure out your ammonia and make sure you add just the right amount and all that good stuff, I would say the Shrimp method is a lot easier! Plus it does not stink like everyone thinks!

If you want to do the Ammonia method an easy way to tell if your doing it right is to get a "Ammonia Alert" device. Put the 100% pure ammonia into your tank (Find it in hardware stores) until the device reads black (or however it reads high ammonia). Than just watch the device and when it it's "0" add some more to turn the device black again, and if it goes back to "0" in around 8 hours your good to go!

There is a little more too it, but that's the jest. Here is the article and the device to use.

Using Household Ammonia for Humane Cycling of a Tank

Seachem Ammonia Alert Aquarium Saltwater Test Kits

 

[Tkey3425]

The Ammonia method may not be THAT difficult but compared to just throwing a shrimp into the tank or having to measure out your ammonia and make sure you add just the right amount and all that good stuff, I would say the Shrimp method is a lot easier! Plus it does not stink like everyone thinks! If you want to do the Ammonia method an easy way to tell if your doing it right is to get a "Ammonia Alert" device. Put the 100% pure ammonia into your tank (Find it in hardware stores) until the device reads black (or however it reads high ammonia). Than just watch the device and when it it's "0" add some more to turn the device black again, and if it goes back to "0" in around 8 hours your good to go! There is a little more too it, but that's the jest.

You're right. I just don't want to stick a piece if shrimp in a tank I just spent hundreds (thousands in my case) on and let it rot. Not that it will hurt anything, I just personally prefer the clean way. I just do like you said and get the cheap suction ammonia meter thing from the pet-store and dose ammonia until it reads high and then let it do it thing. Your bacteria colony will be built like a freight train and you'll have no issues with spikes when you add fish. I added 10 or so to my 210 after I cycled it with ammonia and never saw it rise. Skimmer went to working overtime for a little bit until I upgraded it though lol.

 

[baron1282]

You're right. I just don't want to stick a piece if shrimp in a tank I just spent hundreds (thousands in my case) on and let it rot.

That's why you use the panty hose method, it will rot in the hose and not all over your tank.

Plus it's the natural way to build up ammonia, when I did it my colony was strong as well. I put three fish in right away in my 29 without any issues.

To each their own! Each method works so there is really no issue!

 

[jose7878]

Here's a link http://www.csupomona.edu/~jskoga/Aquariums/Ammonia.html

Just remember to get 100% ammonia without fragrances. Also shake the bottle to make sure their is no bubbles. If you you see any bubbles skip buying that brand. If you shake the bottle it should mix like water thats the ammonia you want.

 

[Ingy]

+1 on ammonia. Basically the same as a rotting shrimp without the disgustingness and with more control. Ammonia comes in bottles with a much lower strength than 100%, because pure ammonia is a gas at room temperature. They dilute it in water to around 8-10% ammonia. I tell you this because if you go to the hardware store looking for 100% ammonia, you won't find it. But the shaking part is still true. No bubbles should form or that indicates its a mixed cleaner with some soap added.

55 gal = 210L minus rocks and sand, say 170L

4ppm of 170L is .68mL

Divide that by the solution strength gets the amount needed to dose to 4ppm. So;
10% solution needs about 6.8mL or 1 1/4tsp
8% solution needs about 8.5mL or 1 3/4 tsp