Lfs Say Fish-in Vs Forums Fishless Cycle

[Kariann]

Hi All

I just wanted to say a BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONEwho has helped me through the minefield of setting up a tank. I now have 2 it's addictive!! But cycling has been a long and sometimes sad journey.

I am baffled though by one thing in particular. When I went to the LFS before I discovered these forums and asked what I should do, I was sent home with 3 platys and told to do what I now know to be a fish in cycle, there was no mention of another way ie. fishless and I was just told to expect one or two of them to die along the way (almost like sacriicial fish ) which I thought was harsh but at the time I didn't know any better. As it turned out these poor little fishes died which is when I turned to the net, found these forums and invested in an APS Master Kit.

So next time I went to the LFS to look at fish (just window shopping for now), I mentioned to the guy that I was in the process of doing a fishless cycle (now complete...Whew), and he looked at me like I was an idiot and said "I've been keeping fish for more than 20 years and it's better and quicker to do it with fish-in". Similar story at another LFS. Not wanting to kill anymore fish I ignored him and waited anyway.

Fishless seems to be the preferred method on all these forums so:

WHY DO LFS's CHAMPION THE FISH-IN METHOD?

IS IT REALLY JUST THE MONEY THEY MAKE FROM PEOPLE REPLACING FISH?

There I feel better now I've had a rant. Any thoughts?

 

[GSD]

I think many of the people who sell fish just dont have a clue, for example i went to a local pets at home recently which refused to sell me a dying betta housed with 3 other male bettas and tetras because a) my tank had not been running 3 days which was the time needed for the chlorine to leave the water and b) because my tank was far too big for a betta and they needed small homes with dirty water.
Now anyone who didnt know anything about fish keeping would believe this woman and do what she said, and the principle is the same with cycling, many pet shop or indeed lfs owners know nothing about fishless cycling, or at least not enough to explain it in detail to potential customers.
They could also be said to be wanting money,as you buy the stock only to replace it after its death, therfore they make twice as much.

When i first got my tank i was instructed to do a fish in cycle too, and although it worked out fine in the end i believe it was because it was the easier method to use, rather than explaining fishless properly to someone who may not grasp the concept and also because many people are just impatient and want fish now, and many winge about waiting the week or so lfs recomend, nevermind waiting up to a month for fishless cycling.

Laura

 

[Kariann]

The local Tesco's said the same about Bettas and old water and theirs were in a shocking state. Very lethargic, ill looking but cheap at less than £4 each. Didn't buy my betta there in the end but wanted to save them all. When I did get Cherry (my betta) at another LFS the guy said just put him in, doesn't need plants special food etc etc "they keep 'em in vases you know" was his attitude. Although they did give a 1 week guarantee.

 

[Davo86]

Most of the time it most likely is down to a lack of knowledge from the employees, although sometimes it is not mentioned due to the ignorance of the customer,

a large percentage of people that employees have to deal want fish and aren't interested to hear that they have to wait 6 weeks before they can have any fish, Many a time I have sold a customer a tank and then have overheard them saying 'we can't get fish from here so we'll go to P@H' (which is just over the road)

In truth I'd say that only 10% of the customers I see in a day could be classed as true hobbyists that actually know the species they keep,
The rest see fish as ornaments, or a short term toy for their kids until they kill it or lose interest.

 

[backtotropical]

In truth I'd say that only 10% of the customers I see in a day could be classed as true hobbyists that actually know the species they keep,
The rest see fish as ornaments, or a short term toy for their kids until they kill it or lose interest.

Sad, but true!

The reason fishless cycling is promoted so vigorously on here is that 99% of our members are 'true hobbyists' (to quote Davo). Some of our members do still prefer fish-in cycling, and it is often a hotly debated topic on the boards.

The guys who 'see fish as ornaments or a toy for the kids' aren't interested enough to register and post on internet forums about fish, so they generally aren't represented here.

That is the main reason for the vast difference in advice between the internet forums and the real world of the LFS.

I don't see why anyone would willingly expose their fish to harmful toxins when there are other ways to achieve the same goal, but that's just my personal opinion.

The general feeling amongst the general public seems to be that fish are maybe not so important as other animals, after all its widely accepted the world over to sacrafice a few fish in order to prepare your tank (fish-in cycling), but would you get away with killing say a dog, in order to prepare its environment for the next one? Same thing, different animal.

That is an attitude I would really like to see turned around, but don't know if it will ever realistically happen. One thing I do know is that everyone who promotes fishless cycling is a step on the road towards it.

Cheers

BTT

 

[rdd1952]

Another thing that they don't mention is cloning. Once you have a tank cycled and running, it's pretty simple to clone the next one. Just take part of the filter media from the existing tank and put it in the new filter. You have bacteria from the start and a fishless cycle should only take a few days. In actuality, depending on how much media you are transfering, you could stock the tank right away with a small number of fish and not see any issues with ammonia or nitrite.