Good Hardy Fish

FishForums.net Pet of the Month
🐶 POTM Poll is Open! 🦎 Click here to Vote! 🐰

blackers92

Fish Crazy
Joined
Dec 25, 2009
Messages
301
Reaction score
0
I begun doing a fishless prawn cycle but unfortunatly the smell was too bad and my family demanded i remove it :no:

I wanted to stock my tank like this

pair of keyhole of cuckatoo cichlids,
2 bristlenose catfish
8 neon tetras
3-4 yoyo loaches

now i dont want to simply put a few fish in there to cycle the tank and then die or be removed, are there any attractive fish that i could add that would be capable of surviving in the harsh conditions, there is about .25 ppm of ammonia, but it will die soon i presume as it will be used by nitrites and then the nitrites will die.

Will i have to remove a type of fish so i can put in the hardier fish?
 
You can use fish flakes I just suggested shrimp because its less messy. Fish flakes shouldnt smell! But if you really want to do a fishin then White Clouds or Zebra Danios.
 
I agree, especially about the danios. I used Giant Danios to cycle my last fish tank, they've been fine through all spikes :)
 
Aah, sorry to hear about this latest setback blackers92! There oughta' be some national solution to allow legit users of something like ammonia to be obtained and used!

I actually believe erk might be correct that fishfood smells considerably less than shrimp/prawns when decomposing in an aquarium. I used some fishfood in a QTank that was cycling while I was away for a bit and the smell never changed from the "slight outdoor soil" smell which all cycling tanks have. That prawn you had might have been too much organic material.

Hate to see you getting closer to considering a fish-in because large water changes on that 140L are going to be a pretty big effort but if it reaches that point I guess there may be nothing else left. Agree that danios, whether regular zebras or the larger giant (they do get quite large at maturity though, so not sure if they are advised for a 140L) are a fish that traditionally gets subjected to cycling. The goal will be to not exceed 0.25 levels of course.

~~waterdrop~~
 
Try fish food.

If you want to do a fish-in cycle, you can do it fairly harmlessly but it takes affort and patience.

If you stock very, very lightly (I'm talking 4 danios in a 140L tank) and plant very, very heavily, you could start the cycle very softly. Test your water daily but you shouldn't see the levels get too high at all. If you don't see *any* ammonia after testing for a couple of weeks, add 4 more danios. You want to get to the point where the plants are using most of the ammonia but there is a tiny, tiny amount (under 0.25ppm) left over that the bacteria in the filter can use. You could also try it with say, 1 danio and no plants, but a) the plants buffer the tank so something is using up the excess ammonia before the bacteria develop and b) 1 danio would hate being on his own.

This process could take much longer than your traditional cycle but could save you the need to do a fishless.

I'm sure some of the other members will give their input, so let them respond before making any decisions.
 
i would suggest a few danios, or platy fry works well, as the fry grow they produce more ammonia and the filter is maturing all the time. di
 
as mentioned danios work well, also, white cloud mountain minnows. Just a pinch of food a day works. What ive just done with my tank is put a pinch of flake food in for 3 weeks(no inhabitants) then added 4 white cloud mountain minnows for the remainder 3 weeks, doing water changes of 50% every week.
 
Agree that using fish food to continue your fish less cycle should work without the smell, but if that won't work for you Zebra Danio are really hardy and traditionally used for fish-in cycling. But just out of curiosity why can't you use ammonia?
 
Agree that using fish food to continue your fish less cycle should work without the smell, but if that won't work for you Zebra Danio are really hardy and traditionally used for fish-in cycling. But just out of curiosity why can't you use ammonia?
Its the Australia problem. Only a few there have ever found ammonia and those were chance circumstances...
 
Oh I did not realize there was a problem getting ammonia in Australia.
 
Hi I don't know if this will help you but I found this website that will sell/ship pure ammonia to Australia. This is the link for Australia, New Zeland and other international orders:

http://www.fishlesscycle.com/clear_ammonia_order_online.html

It looks kind of pricy though. 100g = $28 AUD plus shipping (doesn't say how much shipping is), but at least it is an option.

Good Luck
 
thanks for the link rebrn but I think i may just do the fish food/ fishin that AdAndrews suggested "What ive just done with my tank is put a pinch of flake food in for 3 weeks(no inhabitants) then added 4 white cloud mountain minnows for the remainder 3 weeks, doing water changes of 50% every week." I might just add zebra danios as they are easier to find. Im dreading the 50% water changes but it shouldnt be to hard.

So if i exceed .25ppm with fish in does that mean i need to do a 50% water change?

and will any fishfood do? because i have an abundance of goldfish food.

I already have plants in my tank (wasnt a good idea) so I cant do the 1 Danio no plants method.

I think im just going to have to be very patiant and test the water religiously it will be worth it in the end
 
No problem I figured I would share the link in case anyone else in Australia is looking.

I would think any food would work, I mean food is food, it is all going to "rot" the same way and produce ammonia. So I think the goldfish flakes would be fine. As for the plants you can remove them (if you want) and place them in a clear plastic container with some tank water, and then put the container in a window so they get light. I don't have live plants my self, so not sure how well it works, but I have seen that advice given here several times in the past.
 

Most reactions

trending

Staff online

Back
Top