Cycle?

[direfishking27]

What do you guys think about the damsel idea when cycling a tank

 

[thenanoreef]

It would probably be fine, but damsel in my experience are bully's so it might dominate the tank and hurt new fish when you add them. I would probably go with a green chromic or 2 if you really wanted a fish in during the cycle. Your best bet though is to just let the tank cycle as is. I've learned the hard way the a lot of patients is needed in this hobby.

Good luck,
thenanoreef

 

[fishroomlady]

bad idea. It's cruel to the fish and cycling can be done with something that is already dead (like a table shrimp)

 

[thenanoreef]

*chromis*

 

[direfishking27]

Thank you

 

[evolved]

bad idea. It's cruel to the fish and cycling can be done with something that is already dead (like a table shrimp)

Agree, and it's a bit archaic. There are much better options today.

 

[ReeferRookie]

Honestly ? When i first started this hobby i wrnt to my lfs who was more then.happy to.help with all my questions. It sounded very odd but they gave me a dead starfish and told me to add it to the tank. I was thinking maybe they were playing a sick joke. So i had a dead (chunks of a star fish) no fish for the first 4 months and i have a healthy tank ready to be reefed up

 

[clownfitch]

The age old debate.. lol. I take the fish route. If you get a damsel that ends up being mean then the neighbors cat can always use a snack.

 

[ReeferRookie]

Ahahahaha. Awesome.

 

[WeLoveReefers]

For the most recent tank I used a blue crab my son caught in the ocean and microbe lift nite out. Cycled in 5 days.

 

[vic67]

Cycling with livestock is cruel. You can buy pure ammonia at the hardware store to start your cycle or use dead shrimp. Why make a damsel/chromis/whatever suffer?

 

[Mmsetta]

I had bad experience in that the damsel bullied two new clowns to death. Problem is removing the damsel if you have live rock set up. No way you'll catch him without totally removing your rocks.

 

[clownfitch]

Cycling with livestock is cruel. You can buy pure ammonia at the hardware store to start your cycle or use dead shrimp. Why make a damsel/chromis/whatever suffer?

Does a shrimp not have to lose its life in order to use the dead shrimp method?

 

[clownfitch]

I had bad experience in that the damsel bullied two new clowns to death. Problem is removing the damsel if you have live rock set up. No way you'll catch him without totally removing your rocks.

Damsels are aggressive enough eaters that a bottle trap always works on them.

 

[Longnose Hawkfish]

Always go fish less.

 

[tyler1503]

Does a shrimp not have to lose its life in order to use the dead shrimp method?

True, but that shrimp was dead anyway. If you don't buy it for the tank, someone will buy it for the grill. Either way, it's dead. A living fish would most likely be bought for an already cycled tank. A tank that would be giving the live fish a shot at a happy life. You can't give a dead shrimp a shot at a happy life lol.

 

[vic67]

Does a shrimp not have to lose its life in order to use the dead shrimp method?

I just use one that's not destined for dinner. lol Fish used in cycling will be swimming in ammonia until enough nitrifying bacteria can convert it to nitrites/nitrates.
Again, bottled ammonia is an option.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

True, but that shrimp was dead anyway. If you don't buy it for the tank, someone will buy it for the grill. Either way, it's dead. A living fish would most likely be bought for an already cycled tank. A tank that would be giving the live fish a shot at a happy life. You can't give a dead shrimp a shot at a happy life lol.

Agreed, and to add to this point, the shrimp was killed straight out rather than poisoned to die slowly. A fish used in cycle is living in toxic conditions...not something that should be compared at all with the death of the shrimp. It's still an unnecessary and cruel method that can easily be avoided. Comparing the shrimp method to the fish method is definitely an apples to oranges situation.

My preferred method is actually to just feed the tank with some frozen fish food...same basic principle as the shrimp method.

 

[juggalogentry]

feed the tank and use some bacteria supplements (do your research, not all are created equal). Live rock also contains dead and decaying things that will kick start the cycle. if you add fish you are hurting them even if you dont see it.

 

[beaslbob]

What I do and recommend is setup the tank with lotsa macro algae (in a refugium) right from the start.

then wait a week and start the tank with a male molly. And don't add food for a week. Then start feeding a single flake per day after that.

The macros will prevent the dangerous cycles so there will be no stress to the molly.

then, after everything is running, slowly add the marine only more expensive fish.


my .02