Failed to cycle- now doing fish in

[Essjay]

Well, the simple solution is to toss in some growing floating plants, and they will take up any and all ammonia and that's the end of "cycling" I've never cycled a tank in my 30 years, and my fish go in on day 1.

I can't believe you said that... I've never bothered with a fishless cycle either, but I have danced around on a lot of threads, thinking that stating that would be like heresy in the black and white world of beginner fishkeeping.

We do allow members to do plant cycles

It's just that when someone has never grown plants before, there is the risk that they'll all die just after fish have been put in the tank, and if a fishless cycle was done first there will be enough micro-organisms to deal with the ammonia & nitrite.
And we do have members who think a couple of moss balls and a java fern in a 50 gallon tank is well planted.

 

[GaryE]

Well, moss balls don't count, but I do have tanks with some java fern and moss, and fish do just fine from the get go. Understocking, moving slowly and feeding carefully work as well as buying ammonia. Quick growing plants are even better though.

I suspect, strongly, that unhealthy fish coming though the supply chain cause most of the losses we blame on the cycle. But there's no data either way.

 

[Byron]

I agree that we have to be careful here, to ensure that especially beginners understand the issues involved. The plants need to be actually growing, which means you have had them for enough time to determine they are growing; and they need to be relatively fast growing plant species, and floating plants do this the best. Anyone can learn this, and there is no question but that it is the much easier and safer method.

Second ppoint, the fish here is a betta. One betta in a 5g or larger aquarium will never have issues from ammonia. The betta partly breathes air, and the ammonia produced will easily establish the cycle without harm.

Third comment, as moss balls were mentioned...these are not moss, they are a species of algae. I would not deliberately add algae to an aquarium unless I needed it to feed herbivorous fish.

 

[sharkweek178]

Well unfortunately I can't afford any right now.

I was in the same situation where I made a mistake and ended up doing a fish in cycle.
Anacharis is what got me out of it. It's very inexpensive. I got a bunch for 3 or 4 dollars at a Petco. It's pretty hardy and you can plant it in the substrate or float it. The fish love it too.

 

[CarissaT]

I was in the same situation where I made a mistake and ended up doing a fish in cycle.
Anacharis is what got me out of it. It's very inexpensive. I got a bunch for 3 or 4 dollars at a Petco. It's pretty hardy and you can plant it in the substrate or float it. The fish love it too.

It depends where you live. Where I live it costs me $50 to very sparsely plant a 20g tank. And that‘s if I can get plants at all that aren’t half dead.

Just to throw it out there and it may or may not help the op, but using zeolite as the last stage in the filter has gotten me out of some bad jams with cycling. It absorbs the ammonia and at the same time allows good bacteria to grow on it so ultimately turns into biomedia. However once it fills up, there will be an ammonia spike but maybe not nearly as bad as the alternative. So after a couple weeks you really have to start testing daily.

 

[sharkweek178]

It depends where you live. Where I live it costs me $50 to very sparsely plant a 20g tank. And that‘s if I can get plants at all that aren’t half dead.

Just to throw it out there and it may or may not help the op, but using zeolite as the last stage in the filter has gotten me out of some bad jams with cycling. It absorbs the ammonia and at the same time allows good bacteria to grow on it so ultimately turns into biomedia. However once it fills up, there will be an ammonia spike but maybe not nearly as bad as the alternative. So after a couple weeks you really have to start testing daily.

Sure. And Anacharis is illegal in some states too (because it's an invasive species). But surely there's an easy low cost fast growing plant that can help.