Not Cycling

[chickennuggets123]

Found in the cycling help section-
"In the past this was always countered by putting in some very hardy fish at first and hoping that they would survive the toxic levels, then when the bacteria had built up after a few weeks you could add more sensitive fish. However this really wasn't very fair on the poor fish who had to start the tank off, I dread to think how many will have died"

Is this what happened to the people who didnt do the cycling?
If you left the ammonia, nitrate ect. levels as they are, without trying to get them lower, would they eventually drop after the bacteria has grown and the filtre gets used to it?

 

[Louiseness]

That's not called 'not cycling', it's a fish-in cycle. And yep, it used to be the most common method of 'setting up' a tank.

And yes, they would eventually drop, but your fish would have died way before that.

 

[chickennuggets123]

And yes, they would eventually drop, but your fish would have died way before that.

When you say 'way before' you mean a few weeks or years?

 

[Louiseness]

When you say 'way before' you mean a few weeks or years?

Weeks. But the problem is, the fish waste produces the ammonia that feeds the growing bacteria. So if your fish die, no fish waste = no food for bacteria, and all the bacteria you've worked so hard to grow will die anyway, unless you add ammonia yourself. And if you end up adding ammonia yourself (fishless cycle) you may as well just start that way anyway

 

[ZoddyZod]

And yes, they would eventually drop, but your fish would have died way before that.

When you say 'way before' you mean a few weeks or years?

if you do the 'fish-in' method (which I do NOT advise) you will find yourself doing large water changes (50%+) each and every day until the cycle has finished. I found myself in this situation (did not know any better) and it took THREE MONTHS of these daily water changes before the tank cycled fully. It's much easier (although daunting at first) to try the fish-LESS method of adding bottled ammonia.

 

[Clarousel]

I think Louiseness meant your fish would die in a few days after putting them in if they're not strong enough or they would get ill from the toxic ammonia and nitrites and then die.

 

[Rickzayne]

3 weeks in to a fish in cycle,

Heavily planted water changes every day.

No deaths.

 

[Louiseness]

I think Louiseness meant your fish would die in a few days after putting them in if they're not strong enough or they would get ill from the toxic ammonia and nitrites and then die.

yep, I meant if you literally left the ammonia and nitrite levels to go as high as they want without doing anything, yes, they would come back down but the fish would die from it too.

 

[KittyKat]

There are a few points to consider with fish-in cycling:
* even unreadable amounts of ammonia can cause death in some species and it has long since been proven that even small amounts of ammonia will harm most species fish in the long term (they will have health problems later in life, weakened immune systems, reduced life span)
* if you do not do large water changes to keep ammonia and nitrite at 0 ppm or close to 0 ppm at all times (which is still not enough for the fish to not be harmed), you can expect to see fish die on a day-to-day basis
* is there any point to harming the health of a fish? Why would you harm a fish like than and not a mammal? If you do not plan to treat fish as animals and give them the same respect you would to any other pet, then maybe they're not the right pet for you

For example, Rickzayne is doing a fish-in cycle right now, but what ammonia induced problems will he see in his fish in 6 months? In 1 year? In 5 years? Many tropical fish have a lifespan of 10+ years, but this is often not a reality if the fish has been through a fish-in cycle. There are a lot of people on here who have seen all of their fish which were used for fish-in cycling die within a few weeks of each other at a point 3-9 months down the line, while all the fish they bought after the cycle was over survive for years, even if they are of the same species.