Cycle Fish

[Denorios]

What are some good fish to use to get the cycle going? I used tiger barbs before, and they worked great, but they were a pain once I added more fish. I had read that Zebra Danios work well?

[andy27]

id go with zebra danios they are realy hardy fish and should do well untill your tank matures id get a nice school of 6-8

[Incredulous_Ed]

Zebra danios are great community fish and are very hardy, so they make good cyclers. An even better thing to do is do a fish-less cycle.

[Denorios]

We had zebras before, and my wife loves them so that's probably what I will do. How do you cycle without fish?

[jeffs99dime]

yeah. zebras. it would be more human to fishless cycle though

[andy27]

a fishless cycle is when you add ammonia instead of fish to build up bacteria this speeds up the cycle because the amount of ammonia used is far more than what a few hardy fish would produce this compleats the cycle alot quicker say 1-2 weeks instead of 4-6

[Denorios]

I've had sooo many problems do to amonia in my tap water, I'm just not sure I want to mess with that.

[andy27]

then id say zebras all the way mate!

[Nautilus29]

trust me its a heck of alot easier to do a fishless cycle than a cycle with fish. all you have to do is go to walmart(unless you dont have one) and buy a jug of ammonia(with out additives). Then put in about 5 drops per 20g of water a day. At least thats what worked for me, in my 55g i put in 20 drops a day and my ammonia was at .5. Then do that untill your nitrites jump and your ammonia goes to 0. Cut the number of drops per day in half. and do that untill your nitrites go to 0. then do a big water change and your ready to add fish.

[Denorios]

then do a big water change and your ready to add fish.

are we talking 50 percent or more?

[Nautilus29]

50% is good.

[blue fin]

Just make sure you use dechlorinated water or you'll set back your cycle

[Nautilus29]

bluefin has a good point you never want to use chlorinated water in a fish tank. you can buy products that take chlorine out.

[jeffs99dime]

bluefin has a good point you never want to use chlorinated water in a fish tank. you can buy products that take chlorine out.

such as Prime, Amquel+, Aquasafe, etc. (these are all chlorine removers. most or all remove heavy metals and condition the water as well)

[Denorios]

Yeah, I have a filter I attatch to my tap to purify the water.

[jeffs99dime]

Yeah, I have a filter I attatch to my tap to purify the water.

i run my tank on r.o. water

[Nautilus29]

i run my tank on r.o. water

when you say ro do you mean the thing that sits down in the basement and you have to put salt in it?

[blue fin]

That's a water softener, by ro he means reverse osmosis unit, takes all the bad stuff out, leaves sterile water, not good if you don't mix with some " normal " water, but if you add the right stuff it is great in that there is no chlorine or metals of any kind.... I'm sure Jeff can provide you with additional info on the system that I do not even know, I get by using the dechlorinator additive and adding aquarium salt to my water while performing water changes...

[jeffs99dime]

when you say ro do you mean the thing that sits down in the basement and you have to put salt in it?

bluefin is right. no. i built my r.o. into my shower. this way if it ever overflows it'll just go down the drain. to date, r.o./d.i. water is the most pure water you can generate. you do have to add essential minerals back to the water that the filters remove during the process.

[Lady Hobbs]

Fishless cycling is the only way to go anymore. You get your ammonia NOW instead of waiting days and days to get it using the fish method. You need about 5 drops per 10 gallons but this is where the test kits come in as necessary. You want your ammonia readings to be at 5. with more drops added every single day to keep it there. As the ammonia eating bacteria is produced and you see nitrites, drop the ammonia readings to 3. everyday. Soon you will have 0 ammonia=0 nitrates but high nitrates. Do a large water change and the tank is ready for fish!

No daily water changes to keep those fish alive, no worry and fuss and most of all..........NO dying fish.

As mentioned before............ammonia only without any additives. The Dollar Stores carry the really cheap stuff and the cheap stuff is what you want.

[Faith_at_Large]

What are some good fish to use to get the cycle going? I used tiger barbs before, and they worked great, but they were a pain once I added more fish. I had read that Zebra Danios work well?
I am cycling with Zebra danios, I have two females and two males, in a ten gallon tank with power filter and 50w heater. But, there does not seem to be anything changing. I put water in my tank for the first time on December 29, 2006. I put my fish in the next day once my water was settled and the temperature was decent (I had some old [not aged] water prepared in advance to help clear out the chlorine and bring it to room temperature). I tested my tank on January 4, and had a temperature of 24 degrees C; pH level of 8 (typical for my area and hard water ~240); Ammonia level of 0.6; Nitrite level of 0.3 (I don't have a test kit for Nitrate yet). I tested again on January 15 (with a partial water change and rinsed my filter), and again on January 20. The readings each time have been identical except for a slight variation in the temperature (likely due to time of day issues). My fish seem happy enough, and I am going to do a 20% water change today and clean up the gravel. Zebras are a hardy breed, but is my tank being cycled? Does it really take this long before anything shows up, and when the ammonia spikes before falling, how high can I expect it to go (not how high will it go if I do nothing) in the normal course of cycling?

[KneeKickLou]

I am cycling with Zebra danios, I have two females and two males, in a ten gallon tank with power filter and 50w heater. But, there does not seem to be anything changing. I put water in my tank for the first time on December 29, 2006. I put my fish in the next day once my water was settled and the temperature was decent (I had some old [not aged] water prepared in advance to help clear out the chlorine and bring it to room temperature). I tested my tank on January 4, and had a temperature of 24 degrees C; pH level of 8 (typical for my area and hard water ~240); Ammonia level of 0.6; Nitrite level of 0.3 (I don't have a test kit for Nitrate yet). I tested again on January 15 (with a partial water change and rinsed my filter), and again on January 20. The readings each time have been identical except for a slight variation in the temperature (likely due to time of day issues). My fish seem happy enough, and I am going to do a 20% water change today and clean up the gravel. Zebras are a hardy breed, but is my tank being cycled? Does it really take this long before anything shows up, and when the ammonia spikes before falling, how high can I expect it to go (not how high will it go if I do nothing) in the normal course of cycling?

When you are cycling your tank DO NOT clean the gravel your are just taking out all of the good batcteria in it. Also dont rinse your filter media until your tank is cycled and you have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites. I would only do water changes if the ammonia gets out of control but keep it up it should be coming along soon. Good luck