Cycling With Fish

[Betta5]

Well im doing a school type thing and i have decided to do it on fish. (what a suprise huh?!)well I need peoples takes on cycling with fish. Personaly i let the tank run for 2 weeks then add fish slowly (i just use used sponges now). I know people dont agree but the fish never get ill and seem to take it very well. I have no problem writing about that.I need opinions on WHY and HOW people fishless cycle. If you can help please do (DO NOT MAKE THIS AN ARGUMENT THREAD PLEASE!!!!!, its not here to cause arguments) If it does get closed could a few people PM me. Thanks and your opinions would really help me out, (I have tried googleing it with no results, so please dont tell me to google it) Thanks

Posted in the wrong section, could a mod move it for me pleaseThanks

 

[CruX]

Personally I don't have a huge problem with people cycling with fish as long as it is done correctly. By that I mean lots of water changes, based on the levels of ammonia and nitrite. The problem is the majority of people who cycle from scratch are new to the hobby and as such are under the impression that the equation tank+water+fish=fishkeeping and the huge shock to the system changing a shed load of water twice a day or more can actually make them give up, I have seen it happen. That then leaves the fish to make it on their own and ultimately even if they do survive they can suffer the effects. Also those in the know will introduce fish very slowly after they are confident the filter has enough bacteria whereas this is another put off for newbies who want a tank full of fish like yesterday. The number of newbies who end up buying a tank full of fish on day one as they are advised and then when they start to die off are horrified at the work needed to rectify the problem. I know this to be true, I was a newbie too. I bought fish after fish under the advice of the muppet at the pet shop and ultimately gave up until the bug bit me again and then I learned to do it right.
So the best I can offer for help is pros and cons for each method and anyone can add or remove as the like.

Fish in

Pro

Get to have fish from the start
Learn the rudaments of waterchanges from the start

Con

Can affect the fish
Few fish in the tank
Lots of hard work doing water changes
Can only add a few fish at a time


Fishless

Pro

Little work at the start
Can add nearly full stock once cycle complete
No fish are harmed during the making of this aquarium setup
Gives you time to research the stock you want and read plenty of fishkeeping books while cycling

Con

No fish from start
Can take a while



I am sure there are many more but my mind is blank, I hope this helps you with your project.

 

[orange shark]

look at my Nooooooooooooooooooooo! thread and there should be some reasons on there about fishless cycling

 

[Betta5]

Personally I don't have a huge problem with people cycling with fish as long as it is done correctly. By that I mean lots of water changes, based on the levels of ammonia and nitrite. The problem is the majority of people who cycle from scratch are new to the hobby and as such are under the impression that the equation tank+water+fish=fishkeeping and the huge shock to the system changing a shed load of water twice a day or more can actually make them give up, I have seen it happen. That then leaves the fish to make it on their own and ultimately even if they do survive they can suffer the effects. Also those in the know will introduce fish very slowly after they are confident the filter has enough bacteria whereas this is another put off for newbies who want a tank full of fish like yesterday. The number of newbies who end up buying a tank full of fish on day one as they are advised and then when they start to die off are horrified at the work needed to rectify the problem. I know this to be true, I was a newbie too. I bought fish after fish under the advice of the muppet at the pet shop and ultimately gave up until the bug bit me again and then I learned to do it right.
So the best I can offer for help is pros and cons for each method and anyone can add or remove as the like.

Fish in

Pro

Get to have fish from the start
Learn the rudaments of waterchanges from the start

Con

Can affect the fish
Few fish in the tank
Lots of hard work doing water changes
Can only add a few fish at a time


Fishless

Pro

Little work at the start
Can add nearly full stock once cycle complete
No fish are harmed during the making of this aquarium setup
Gives you time to research the stock you want and read plenty of fishkeeping books while cycling

Con

No fish from start
Can take a while



I am sure there are many more but my mind is blank, I hope this helps you with your project.

Thanks for going into so much detail, lots of info for me to add, you really have helped me out given me tons for me to think about

 

[OohFeeshy]

I really don't see the point in cycling with fish. Adding to the pros and cons above, fishless doesn't take any longer than with fish, in fact, much shorter- while with fish you can only add a couple of fish every few weeks, with fishless it takes a couple of weeks max to cycle, and then you can add most of your final stock at once. It's cheaper, arguably easier (as you still have to do all the testing when you have fish in there, and it's more important to test frequently). You don't have to resrict yourself to 'hardy' fish.

If you're that impatient to have fish straight away, then fishkeeping isn't the right game for you.

 

[CruX]

I really don't see the point in cycling with fish. Adding to the pros and cons above, fishless doesn't take any longer than with fish, in fact, much shorter- while with fish you can only add a couple of fish every few weeks, with fishless it takes a couple of weeks max to cycle, and then you can add most of your final stock at once. It's cheaper, arguably easier (as you still have to do all the testing when you have fish in there, and it's more important to test frequently). You don't have to resrict yourself to 'hardy' fish.

If you're that impatient to have fish straight away, then fishkeeping isn't the right game for you.

I was measuring until fish were introduced.

 

[OohFeeshy]

I wasn't nessecarily aiming that at what you said, it seems many people are under the impression that 'it takes longer to do a fishless cycle' when that isn't really the case.

 

[CruX]

The down side to fish in cycling I didn't mention was you struggle to really know where in the cycle you are as you are constantly doing water changes.