Fish Or Fish Less Cycle ?

[SteveH]

What would be easier for a novice? Fish or fish less ?

[DevonCichlid]

I personally always use fish like danios to cycle. Rarely lose one and goes really smooth. Feed em and be patient.

[ckmullin]

I like a fish cycle best.

grab some feeder fish from store or even from someone here

at times people cull guppies etc...throw and ad up asking for cull fish

[Ron]

Fishless.

Bottle of ammonia, your test kit and your ready to rock. Depending on what concentration you use, you could be able to fully stock once you're done.

[Kirinashi]

I also like fishless. At 3ppm ammonia processed per 24hrs, your bio filtration is close to "bullet proof". Though fishless seems like it might be complicated, it really isn't. It is scientific and measurable. The variables can all be controlled.

A fish-in cycle, though it works if done right, has more variables and in general only builds up enough bio filtration for the current fish load which can be an issue when stocking.

[FISHLIPS]

I introduced 4 large blood parrots,pleco and 2 rainbow sharks into a 100gal with CYCLE added and prime ,no problems.That was 4 yrs ago and everything is good.

The CYCLE introduces bacteria and the PRIME kills amonia,I just added some of each daily and didn't feed them much for the first week to keep down on terds.

I have done this twice without any issues.

Edited May 29, 2014 by FISHLIPS

[flyfisher]

Fishless

Ammonia & a test kit easy, one tablespoon of ammonia took my 75g to 4ppm.I squeezed some dirty sponges from a friends tank then stuffed them into a canister filter.Was cycled in less than two weeks.

[JayWho]

All the tanks I've kept over 20 years I've done with fish. (I didn't even learn about the fishless cycle until recently, on these boards)

I tend to use giant danios for larger tanks - a small pleco for small tanks. I use fish that are hardy and can tolerate some stress.

Used filter media is the best way to go if possible.

[uwish]

I use a nitrifying bacteria like this one: http://www.drtimsaquatics.com/freshwater-aquarium-products#one

he did his PHD on nitrifying bacteria and you can download his paper...I used it in my tank for an instant cycle.