Hi Willowstwin
Welcome to our forums. Sorry if it appears some members are giving you (or that LFS chap) a hard time. I'm sure it's only because they are passionate about fishkeeping with the best interests of the fish at heart.
The chap who has been advising you at the fish store sounds to be a fairly helpful person IMO. Ok, so he's not outwardly advocating the total fishless cycling process...but, to be honest, I have yet to come across ANY aquatic centre/fish store/pet store that tells you to go away and fishless cycle for umpteen weeks...they just don't do it - they need to make a living, they need to sell the fish in their stores pronto because they know the fish are not always kept in ideal situations in-house, so the sooner they are sold and settled into a nice new home with much more room and lovely decor/plants, the better for the fish. Plus it gives the store owners and staff a weekly income, of course LOL - that's what it is, after all, a business!
So, bearing that in mind, I think you're quite lucky to find someone like you have, who is obviously caught between the devil and the deep blue sea (he probably does know that ammonia cycling is the better way BUT he can't exactly say that otherwise you'll go away for weeks/months and maybe when the time comes to buy fish, there's no guarantee you'll buy from him, so he's lost sales). On the other hand, he may be so experienced and successful with fish-in cycling that he doesn't see the need to change his method.
Besides, we all know there are ways of cycling a tank without going through the fishless cycling with ammonia - tons of aquarists cycle their tanks successfully (with no fish loss) using mature media to seed their filter, add a couple of small fish - the mature media will cope with any fish waste they produce and in the meantime the bacteria will multiply - and no harm done to the fish. It's not the same as doing a fish-in cycle from scratch, where in that case there is no mature media to break down the toxins whilst the filter bacteria start colonising. Even then, fish-in-cycling can be a success if done diligently with regular water changes and stringent water testing.
Once you have your first matured filter, any further tanks purchased can be seeded and grown in this way - it's how I do mine and will continue to do so. So, if someone else who already has mature media can let you have some to seed your filter with, why not?
We hear of so many newbies who set up their new tanks/new filters leave them running for a week or two (no fish in them, no filter media), test the water and see there is no ammonia/nitrite so they go and buy a bunch of fish...then all hell breaks loose because suddenly the tank water has a high volume of ammonia with a filter that has no bacteria to convert it into nitrite/nitrate...and fish suffer for it. And then they say "but my water tested fine before I added the fish"...
Thankfully, that isn't something you've done LOL!
So, to cap on all of that I would say that if you're definitely not going down the route of a fishless cycle with ammonia, and as you've already seeded your filter with donated media, then ask your LFS chap to test your water with a liquid test kit if possible to make sure there isn't a high level of ammonia present (from the mulm you added) before you buy any fish. He sounds decent enough not to let you put fish in a tank of high ammonia, though.
It might all seem very complicated but once you understand the whole process of the filter and what it does, it's quite simple really. Don't give up and don't be downhearted if others seem to be a bit harsh with their points of view - ultimately you are your own person and can make decisions for yourself based on all the info you have gathered. So long as you are fully dedicated in whatever method of cycling you choose, and do your utmost to prevent any fish from suffering, then that is fine.
As for your friendly LFS, he sounds better than a lot of them out there I've come across and it's great if you can build up a rapport with them as you know you can rely on them to give you a bit of guidance with anything in the future.
I would recommend saving up for a liquid testing kit, though. Especially as your LFS isn't just round the corner LOL - it will come in very handy for any emergency situations that may arise where you need to know what your water stats are pronto.
Hope everything goes smoothly. Keep us updated when you get time.
Regards, Athena
Welcome to our forums. Sorry if it appears some members are giving you (or that LFS chap) a hard time. I'm sure it's only because they are passionate about fishkeeping with the best interests of the fish at heart.
The chap who has been advising you at the fish store sounds to be a fairly helpful person IMO. Ok, so he's not outwardly advocating the total fishless cycling process...but, to be honest, I have yet to come across ANY aquatic centre/fish store/pet store that tells you to go away and fishless cycle for umpteen weeks...they just don't do it - they need to make a living, they need to sell the fish in their stores pronto because they know the fish are not always kept in ideal situations in-house, so the sooner they are sold and settled into a nice new home with much more room and lovely decor/plants, the better for the fish. Plus it gives the store owners and staff a weekly income, of course LOL - that's what it is, after all, a business!
So, bearing that in mind, I think you're quite lucky to find someone like you have, who is obviously caught between the devil and the deep blue sea (he probably does know that ammonia cycling is the better way BUT he can't exactly say that otherwise you'll go away for weeks/months and maybe when the time comes to buy fish, there's no guarantee you'll buy from him, so he's lost sales). On the other hand, he may be so experienced and successful with fish-in cycling that he doesn't see the need to change his method.
Besides, we all know there are ways of cycling a tank without going through the fishless cycling with ammonia - tons of aquarists cycle their tanks successfully (with no fish loss) using mature media to seed their filter, add a couple of small fish - the mature media will cope with any fish waste they produce and in the meantime the bacteria will multiply - and no harm done to the fish. It's not the same as doing a fish-in cycle from scratch, where in that case there is no mature media to break down the toxins whilst the filter bacteria start colonising. Even then, fish-in-cycling can be a success if done diligently with regular water changes and stringent water testing.
Once you have your first matured filter, any further tanks purchased can be seeded and grown in this way - it's how I do mine and will continue to do so. So, if someone else who already has mature media can let you have some to seed your filter with, why not?
We hear of so many newbies who set up their new tanks/new filters leave them running for a week or two (no fish in them, no filter media), test the water and see there is no ammonia/nitrite so they go and buy a bunch of fish...then all hell breaks loose because suddenly the tank water has a high volume of ammonia with a filter that has no bacteria to convert it into nitrite/nitrate...and fish suffer for it. And then they say "but my water tested fine before I added the fish"...
Thankfully, that isn't something you've done LOL!
So, to cap on all of that I would say that if you're definitely not going down the route of a fishless cycle with ammonia, and as you've already seeded your filter with donated media, then ask your LFS chap to test your water with a liquid test kit if possible to make sure there isn't a high level of ammonia present (from the mulm you added) before you buy any fish. He sounds decent enough not to let you put fish in a tank of high ammonia, though.
It might all seem very complicated but once you understand the whole process of the filter and what it does, it's quite simple really. Don't give up and don't be downhearted if others seem to be a bit harsh with their points of view - ultimately you are your own person and can make decisions for yourself based on all the info you have gathered. So long as you are fully dedicated in whatever method of cycling you choose, and do your utmost to prevent any fish from suffering, then that is fine.
As for your friendly LFS, he sounds better than a lot of them out there I've come across and it's great if you can build up a rapport with them as you know you can rely on them to give you a bit of guidance with anything in the future.
I would recommend saving up for a liquid testing kit, though. Especially as your LFS isn't just round the corner LOL - it will come in very handy for any emergency situations that may arise where you need to know what your water stats are pronto.
Hope everything goes smoothly. Keep us updated when you get time.
Regards, Athena
