Choosing Cycle Fish

[Dubby]

You can start your cycling with Platys. They are quite hardy. Suggest you start with 2-3. You can also add plants before cycling.

 

[dwarfgourami]

I'd go fishless, definitely. What's two weeks of boredom, if it saves health problems later on? But if you insist on cycling with fish, out of the fish you mentioned, the platys are the obvious choice. Usually a lot hardier than guppies these days. In any case, don't cycle with a fish you are not going to want for the rest of its natural life (and in a school if a schooling fish); it's hardly fair on danios to be returned to the shop and then sold to cycle somebody else's tank.
As for the general comments given about tetras- did we specify which tetras? Some are hardy, others sensitive, some aggressive, some hardly at all.

 

[bogwood]

Go 'fishless'... it's quicker... less cruel... and the tank will cycle faster... I cycled with a tank full of real plants no probs... search for forum member 'rdd1952's article on 'fishless cycling'... will tell you all you need to know...

 

[karlp]

Plattys are the only ones on that list that look like obvious contenders, but be prepared that you could lose some during the cycle. Some of the bright coloured strains are not as resistant as others.

My personal preference though is to get hold of a dirty sponge or some mature filter media from a friend or fish dealers tank and stuff it in your filter and straight away add a couple of fish (only). The bit of mature media will have the bacteria you need on it and will short cut the cycling. Monitor the water daily. You may get a brief and small Ammonia/Nitrite spike, during which do daily partial water changes until the nitrite drops to zero.

Last time I did this it took less than a week to cycle the tank and the nitrite never went above 0.3ppm which is much less stressful for the fish than the normal fish method.

Once it's cycled you can add a few fish each week.

The other thing I tried recently is using Bio Spira from the U.S (bought online), which is live nitrifying bacteria. It did seem to work and is the only additive I know of that does contain the correct bacteria. It's sold refrigerated with an expiry date. The shop that shipped it, included cold packs to keep it at the right temperature. I had a brief spike of 0.3ppm nitrite that then went down to 0 in about 2 days.

Be aware though if Bio Spira has been allowed to warm too much at any time in it's storage, the bacteria could be dead.

 

[prankster705]

Go fishless it's just so much easier and better...

 

[metfan581]

I'd go fishless, definitely. What's two weeks of boredom, if it saves health problems later on? But if you insist on cycling with fish, out of the fish you mentioned, the platys are the obvious choice. Usually a lot hardier than guppies these days. In any case, don't cycle with a fish you are not going to want for the rest of its natural life (and in a school if a schooling fish); it's hardly fair on danios to be returned to the shop and then sold to cycle somebody else's tank.
As for the general comments given about tetras- did we specify which tetras? Some are hardy, others sensitive, some aggressive, some hardly at all.

im not insisting on cycle fish but i dont have conections to another tanks to use the filter or what ever





WHAT ABOUT BIO SPIRA?

 

[fishatlas1]

im not insisting on cycle fish but i dont have conections to another tanks to use the filter or what ever

You do have connections to other tanks... The same ones you are going to buy the fish from... If you ask your lfs they will probably give you some gravel out of one of their tanks which will do fine as a bacterial medium. They are usually willing to do it because they know you'll be back to buy fish from them. Just be nice and ask... Couldn't hurt to try.

As far as fish... If you decide to use fish then get what you want... There are no special fish bred to cycle tanks... That's why this question will get you a million different answers. If you wanna use guppies then it's up to you... If you wanna use Discus... Hey go for it... The right fish is whatever you want, but also consider "disposable" as they may or may not make it through the cycle. *Although I hope no one would ever use Discus to cycle a tank... A tremendous waste of good fish IMO*

 

[dwarfgourami]

im not insisting on cycle fish but i dont have conections to another tanks to use the filter or what ever

You do have connections to other tanks... The same ones you are going to buy the fish from... If you ask your lfs they will probably give you some gravel out of one of their tanks which will do fine as a bacterial medium. They are usually willing to do it because they know you'll be back to buy fish from them. Just be nice and ask... Couldn't hurt to try.

As far as fish... If you decide to use fish then get what you want... There are no special fish bred to cycle tanks... That's why this question will get you a million different answers. If you wanna use guppies then it's up to you... If you wanna use Discus... Hey go for it... The right fish is whatever you want, but also consider "disposable" as they may or may not make it through the cycle. *Although I hope no one would ever use Discus to cycle a tank... A tremendous waste of good fish IMO*

Personally I don't think it's quite right to consider fish "disposable" and put them through conditions their particular species cannot cope with just because you happen to fancy it. IMO lettting sensitive fish cycle a tank cannot be compared to e.g. feeding feeder fish to your predators as the former is a) a much slower and crueller death B) totally unnecessary. Research and choosing the most sensible option seems a better plan. 100years+ of aquarium studies have given us a reasonable idea of what the hardiest species are and the last 10 years or so have given us fishless cycling. Btw I would strongly like to suggest that most guppies are no longer suitable for cycling; they are on the whole not the hardy species they were.
This question will not get you a million answers IMO, usually more like 3: danios, platies and black widow tetras. If the poster was just going to do what they wanted without taking the knowledge of experienced fishkeepers into account, he/she would probably have done so without posting on this forum.

As for fishless cycling you do not need either Biospira (though good if you can get it and trust the supplier to have kept it properly) or the ability to clone a tank (though again this is a definite advantage, see previous post on this). All you need is a small supply of household ammonia, a pipette and a test kit. And the pinned topic on this forum. And the patience to wait a couple of weeks for the process to complete.