Fishless or Fish In Cycling

[Caliban07]

Nigel - that website is wrong.

At higher temperature and ph the toxicity increases. That website has it backwards. With that in mind, we can't take anything stated there seriously.


http://www2.ca.uky.edu/wkrec/pH-Ammonia.htm

As for which one is best, whichever one will be done properly. Taking me for example, I'm a ridiculously busy college student that doesn't have time for daily water changes. Fish in cycling is a bad idea for me.

For someone that's impatient and has the time then a fish in cycle is a great idea.

+1 that website is wrong

Mebbid, I understand where you are coming from but for me I choose to fish in cycle because I believe it makes for a much more stable and efficient cycle.

OP. If you stock and feed the tank sensibly there is absolutely no reason any fish will come to harm during a fish in cycle. The bacteria will grow steadily and proportionally to the nitrogen that is made available without erratic spikes during each phase of the cycle.

You do not have to change water everyday IF you start the cycle with a sensible bio-load for the size of tank you are cycling. All you have to do is monitor the levels everyday. In my experience I didn't see ammonia record anything above 0.25ppm throughout the whole cycle and didn't even catch the nitrite phase.

In theory a fish in cycle will take as long as it takes to add your last fish but the beauty is that you can stock the tank slowly and not really have to worry about when the cycle finishes just monitor the parameters. You can if you want change water at your leisure, you don't have to worry about removing food for the bacteria because the cycle is moving along steadily and WILL inevitably cycle. It is so easy to do if it is done properly.

Even more reason to go fish in if you are using seeded media.

A seachem ammonia alert is also a good investment if you go fish in. Mine never once left the safe zone.

Good luck




Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Mebbid]

Theres also a huge benefit to stocking slowly with a fish in cycle that is being ignored. With the slow addition of fish it will be easier to monitor for any diseases. Rather than having a single illness present in your tank b6 introducing fish singly, you could potentially have multiple fish sick with different things if stocking the entire tank in one go.

 

[Caliban07]

Theres also a huge benefit to stocking slowly with a fish in cycle that is being ignored. With the slow addition of fish it will be easier to monitor for any diseases. Rather than having a single illness present in your tank b6 introducing fish singly, you could potentially have multiple fish sick with different things if stocking the entire tank in one go.

True enough however, as already stated by jetajockey most people don't do this, I for one wouldn't stock all My fish in one go even if I'd done a fishless cycle.

The main reason people do fishless cycle is because they believe it is the right thing to do and have little knowledge on how to successfully carry out a fish in cycle without harming the livestock. As Dela says it's down to experience and understanding.

The fishless cycling guide is a little ropey in my opinion and does not cater for varying water chemistry's or focus enough on the nitrite phase. It makes for incoherent and radical production of BB and can cause a number of problems the hobbyist is neither aware or prepared for. Hence the gargantuan amount of fishless cycling help threads in the getting started section.




Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Mebbid]

True enough however, as already stated by jetajockey most people don't do this, I for one wouldn't stock all My fish in one go even if I'd done a fishless cycle.

The main reason people do fishless cycle is because they believe it is the right thing to do and have little knowledge on how to successfully carry out a fish in cycle without harming the livestock. As Dela says it's down to experience and understanding.

The fishless cycling guide is a little ropey in my opinion and does not cater for varying water chemistry's or focus enough on the nitrite phase. It makes for incoherent and radical production of BB and can cause a number of problems the hobbyist is neither aware or prepared for. Hence the gargantuan amount of fishless cycling help threads in the getting started section.




Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

The overwhelming number of help threads boils down to impatience more than anything. Theres very few that have an actual problem. But yes, there are some things I would personally change in it.

You've done more research on it than anyone here, have you thought about writing a new guide for fishless cycling?

 

[Delapool]

The overwhelming number of help threads boils down to impatience more than anything. Theres very few that have an actual problem. But yes, there are some things I would personally change in it.

You've done more research on it than anyone here, have you thought about writing a new guide for fishless cycling?

I was wondering what people do for SW to cycle tanks? I've read about curing live rock but never quite understood it all.

 

[Mebbid]

I was wondering what people do for SW to cycle tanks? I've read about curing live rock but never quite understood it all.

Salt water has moved entirely to fishless cycling. The salty fish are super sensitive and expensive. It would be like cycling with discus. Even the water changes would get really expensive. A 50% change on my 90g would cost around $10. Some people rarely use damsels to cycle but that's frowned on.

 

[Caliban07]

The overwhelming number of help threads boils down to impatience more than anything. Theres very few that have an actual problem. But yes, there are some things I would personally change in it.

You've done more research on it than anyone here, have you thought about writing a new guide for fishless cycling?

Couldn't agree more. Impatience is the number one cause of the amount of help threads we see. But if the guide doesn't focus on the importance of impatience then the reader is already facing a tough battle.

I would love to teak it but I would need to test my research. You just can't get your hands on ammonia here. Another reason I fished in. And if I was to do anything like that I would have to back up my claims with provided articles and papers which are all stored on my dead iphone 4

Threnjen was always better at aging and dragging up links than I was.



Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Caliban07]

And the article would be plagued with predictive text errors....proof read Caliban always proof read!


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Delapool]

And the article would be plagued with predictive text errors....proof read Caliban always proof read!


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

Lol

Hoping this helps the OP - I never know if these threads are informative or useful. I really appreciate the discussions though, always learn a little more.

 

[ericwithac]

Gahhhh!!!!! This helped, but I still don't have a true answer.

Seems like one person advises Fish-In and another advises Fishless, back and forth, back and forth!!!

I guess i will just keep researching and reading posts on this thread. Thanks to everyone for the help!

 

[fort384]

I think what that tells you is you can be successful either way. As I stated early on I never fishless cycle a FW tank. But my SW tanks were all fishless cycles. My advice is pick one and jump in. Either way folks here will guide you through it.

 

[micaelaarnold]

I've been doing a fish in cycle for threeish weeks. I know it's not long, but it's gone great so far. I have an ammonia alert and it's never gotten out of the safe zone. I have had no casualties out of the two mystery snails, 7 danios, and 4 shrimp I have. I think it's just preference on how people start off. For me, I had no choice but I think I would have preferred fish in cycling either way.


•22 gal zebra danio, 75 gal red ear slider•

 

[Delapool]

Gahhhh!!!!! This helped, but I still don't have a true answer.

Seems like one person advises Fish-In and another advises Fishless, back and forth, back and forth!!!

I guess i will just keep researching and reading posts on this thread. Thanks to everyone for the help!

Lol - that's how these threads go yes.

It comes back to the fish keeper. How confident are you on getting it right. The science isn't that complex either way (er, I think).

 

[ericwithac]

Thanks guys! Everyone on here rocks!

 

[Caliban07]

Just reinforces the fact that this hobby is so diverse and there are so many and probably always will be differing opinions.

So what answer exactly were you hoping for and maybe you could share your thoughts and fears with us?


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[BBradbury]

Cycling a Fish Tank

So I have done a ton of research on both of these ways of cycling.

Even after all this research Im still wondering which is best and which takes the longest.

I know for the fish, fishless cycling is the best, but Ive read some places that fishless cycling can take months to complete. On the other hand, ive read that fish in cycling can take months to complete.

I guess im trying to figure out which will take less time. I would appreciate any advice!

THanks!

Hello Eric...

Good topic. Cycling a tank with fish isn't bad for the fish, provided you choose the right species and do a good job of taking care of their tank water. I wanted the benefit of having fish in the tank right away. So, I set up the right sized tank, the right way in the beginning and selected a hardy fish and put them in the tank. The tank cycled in a roughly a month and there were fry born during the process.

B

 

[Angela1108]

A lot of it really comes down to how much work you want/can put into it! Fish in takes a lot more time testing and doing water changes. Sometimes you get put into a situation where you have to do fish in. (Like if someone gives you a fish or if a tank malfunctions and you decide to upgrade then)


Like other people posted your best bet is to get seeded material from someone if you don't have your own. Chunks of filters, plants, rocks- it all helps


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Gillie]

Gahhhh!!!!! This helped, but I still don't have a true answer.

Seems like one person advises Fish-In and another advises Fishless, back and forth, back and forth!!!

I guess i will just keep researching and reading posts on this thread. Thanks to everyone for the help!

This is the way it is and always will be, there is no correct answer,it all boils down to preference.

I always fish in with one of the extra sponge filters from another tank, but it's good that you are doing more research to find the method you prefer.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[luigislife]

I always added a hardy fish to cycle. Some of my reef tanks didn't even cycle. I always used a ton of live rock


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Delapool]

I always added a hardy fish to cycle. Some of my reef tanks didn't even cycle. I always used a ton of live rock


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

Do you just add all the live rock and then start adding the rest slowly? How do you setup a SW tank to cycle it (or not?). Just curious on SW side compared to fresh. Unfortunately the guy opposite me with a SW tank lost his job so no-one to ask these silly questions.