first off, i wasnt a total noob ( i had aquariums before, but many years ago) so i felt it was good to read as much as i could before i began......im not the most patient person and i bought a house in mid august and i had a party in 2 weeks so i decided i would try fishy cycling despite the warnings so i would have some fish to show to my guests.......i started with 6 neon tetras and about a month later added 4 more and a 3 inch pleco...... now it is december 6th almost 4 months later and finally my ammonia is at 0, my nitrites at 0 and my nitrates at 30ppm....... my fish are doing great so i will probably add more neons a few at a time........ im so glad it finally cycled because for a long time, i did not think it would happen..... also i had zero success adding the api brand bacteria but otoh, great success using the tetra brand bacteria...... for anyone that wishes to try this method be prepared to do alot of water changes and prepare for skyrocketing ammonia levels, at one point i had ammonia readings at 80ppm and i used a ammonia detoxifier for awhile as i couldnt get the ammonia readings to go down much for awhile...... all my fish look and act very healthy so i can only guess the ammonia levels were detoxified enough(i hope) ---if i had a chance to do it all over, i would say i would go with fishless cycling, adding some filter media from an already established aquarium--that being said, i have no regrets i tried this because i met my goal of having fish in my tank to show my guests, and more importantly, all my fish are healthy and happy and my tank is finally cycled..... i would like to add that i had 3 plants at the start, and they are just growing tremendously, very lush and green and healthy--also, had just tons of snails for about a month but now theyre all gone except 1 or 2....... dont know how that happened but it worked out..........
fishy cycling--my recent experience
- Thread starter dondorward
- Start date
We've all been there at some point! From the sounds of your fish-in cycle, it was way more work and took a whole lot more time than a fishless cycle. Typical fishless time is 4-6 weeks. What size tank do you have?
Too bad you didn't have access to some healthy, established filtration media. Instant cycle and done.
Too bad you didn't have access to some healthy, established filtration media. Instant cycle and done.
i have a 55 gallon tank--actually i did get some biofilter media from a established aquarium, but i think i probably should have put it in the filter, rather than the gravel because it didnt do anything, so i learned a little lesson there........
Yep. If the bacteria in the used media was still viable and you placed it in your filter, you can start stocking right away. Gotta have that flow across the media. Still have to monitor things with your test kit of course and be prepared for water changes if needed.
