Fish In Cycle

[coyemuse]

which fish would you recommend for attempting a fish-in cycle for my 10g? it was sitting for too long and probably needs to be cycled. but I dont have the patience for a fishless cycle

 

[ech0o]

Danios, cherry barbs, feeder guppies.  
 
Also, I know just about EVERYONE hates on it, and almost no one recognizes that it works, but pick yourself up some Seachem Stability and dose it accordingly to the bottle, except before each dosing SHAKE THE HECK out of it for about 30 seconds, what your pouring should not be water clear but almost milky.   I only suggest this because I have done both with and without and it was the difference of a couple weeks of time, a couple weeks that your fish aren't suffering in tanks of their own toxins,  
 
Also if you don't already have it, grab some Seachem Prime.  This goes an extra step from your regular de-chlorinator and will actually detoxify ammonia and nitrites while the tank is cycling, and I have seen it keep fish alive in harsh circumstances!  
 
I decided to finish instead of start with suggesting you do a fishless cycle. as the fish really do have to suffer through a cycle, but I am not here to preach and would rather give you good advice for what you are probably already going to do anyways 

 

[Shadders]

Personally I would not recommend any fish as its unfair and cruel to the fish, fish less cycling is the proper way to go, if other animals dogs, cats rabbits etc where put through the same ordeal to acclimatise them to their new homes people would be prosecuted for cruelty, so why is it different for fish, but that's just my opinion

 

[coyemuse]

normally I would agree with you guys about doing a fishless cycle. but knowing my lifestyle and suchn I would likely forget an empty tank. and all my attempts at cycling would be for nothing if its sporadic like every 5 day that I remember it exsists....

 

[wrightt3]

Not having the patience is no good reason to put your fish at risk. Whilst it is on the rare occasion possible to successfully do a fish in cycle without harming the fish, very few people on this forum will recommend it due to the risk. Ammonia poisoning is not a pleasant death for a fish!
 
I would highly recommend that you put the effort into a fishless cycle (usually only takes 4 weeks).
If you decide to ignore this recommendation then the fish that ech0o mentioned are good choices (not sure about barbs though)

 

[ech0o]

Also, a fish-in cycle ends up being just as much if not more work, as in order to keep the fish alive you almost have to do water changes daily.

I cycled my tank with cherry barbs, they seemed to be VERY hardy fish and I had no issues with their health the entire time.   I also kept the ammonia/nitrite readings VERY low with constant water changes, and started dosing Stability by day 10 of the cycle which brought my readings down to 0 by day 13.   Finished out the dosing and I never saw ammonia/nitrite levels again after discontinuing use, which is why I figured it was worth mentioning.

 

[wrightt3]

Also, a fish-in cycle ends up being just as much if not more work, as in order to keep the fish alive you almost have to do water changes daily.

Exactly.
Its ironic really that fish in cycles are usually associated with new comers to the hobby where in reality, only the most experienced of fish keepers should attempt it.

 

[coyemuse]

I know it will probably help in my efforts, so how do I use some of the filter media from my 75g to help cycle the 10?

 

[ech0o]

Oh if you have filter media you need not worry, take a couple decorations from the tank and put them in the new one, take a sock full of substrate from the old tank and stick it in the new one.  You can take some slime from the 75g filter and stick it in the new filter box to get caught on the filter pads.  Also you can trim a little bit of the media, maybe some edges or corners somewhere on it that won't affect it, and put it in the tank.  
 
You should be able to start this new tank without ever getting an ammonia/nitrite reading, just remember don't stick all the media in the new tank until you have some fish in there, as the bacteria will die without any ammonia to feed it, AND MAKE SURE TO FULLY DE-CHLORINATE THE WATER BEFORE YOU PUT ANYTHING IN AS WELL because you will kill the bacteria with the chlorine.

 

[wrightt3]

Another idea would be to run the filter for the 10 in your 75 for a few days to let good bacteria build up.

 

[ech0o]

Oh and don't add too many fish at once, it is a small tank anyways so make sure not to overstock, and while stocking, do a few fish at a time.

 

[coyemuse]

ill do all that. im thinking of just moving the corys over. but everyone seems to have mixed answers as to how they'll do. when I had 3 in it before, they kept laying eggs. had about 6 cory fry but they didn't last long

 

[barbeds]

I started a fish in cycle with a pair of mollies, after 3 weeks I added 6 harlequins, two more weeks then 4 corries, etc, etc, I now have a big problem !!!! The mollies have produced two lots of young and I dont know how I am going to rehouse them. But for the importance of this thread I hade no issues with the cycle.

 

[fluttermoth]

What you need to do to 'instantly cycle' your small tank is to take some of the filter media from your big tank, and put it in the smaller tank's filter.

You should feed sparingly and test often for the first week, but because your large tank is fairly well stocked, and all your putting in the 10g are the cories, you should be fine.

 

[Mamashack]

You may not have had an issue with it, but your fish may have, barbeds! Even tho it doesn't show now, their gills will have suffered ammonia burns and their lives will be shortened and could experience health issues in the not too distant future. Why choose a method that is labour intensive (daily water changes minimum!), that is also harmful to fish when the fishless way is much quicker and no fish are exposed to ammonia and nitrItes?
If you have mature filter media, coyemuse, in theory you can use up to a third of it to kick start the new tank without compromising the donor tank.
Good luck.