Using Fish to cycle??

Joiningsession · Jun 19, 2013

Hi all, I've been reading for months that you HAVE to do a fishless cycle, well after being curious and searching google... It seems people do use fish to cycle. I understand why to do fishless as it can cause harm or even be fatal to the fish. But I was wondering if anyone here still does a fish cycle?? I'm considering it now.

I have had my tank up and running for 7 days now and my ammonia, if its there is very low. Hard to read on chart... I started my aquarium with 60 pounds of dry rock and 40 pounds of bagged "live" sand. Also seeded aquarium with about 3 pounds of live rock from an established tank to try and help, I know not much. Aquarium is 65 gallon with 20 sump.

Was wondering if I did go the route of a fish cycle what are some I may use? I don't like damsels, and chromis.. Ehh they are my favorite but can deal with one for now, unless I could catch him later lol

Could a clownfish work? Or anything else?

Thanks for reading!
Any thoughts are welcome!

glb · Jun 19, 2013

I think people are preferring fishless cycles because now we have the option to create a biofilter without stressing fish. You can cycle a tank with fish, but why if you don't need to? Just my 0.02.

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12g Nanoreef. Zooanthids, Ricordia, Star Polyps, Acans and two clownfish. CF Lighting, 75% actinic blue, 25% 10,000k white.

RiverRat · Jun 19, 2013

Hi..+1 on going fishless (there is just no need)....I just ran a fishless cycle on two different tanks. It was very easy. I place a shrimp (like one you buy a the grocery store) in a container that I cut holes in. I put the container in the aquarium with dry sand, dry rock, and just a little bit of live rock to seed. Now, you just watch the shrimp rot. The rotting shrimp will release ammonia to feed the bacteria, this then becomes nitrite, which then becomes nitrate (I'm sure you already know that process though, just wanted to mention it to be thorough). Then when the tank is cycled remove the shrimp. Water change and skim, then you are ready to go.

ohio reefer · Jun 19, 2013

I find most people who use fish to cycle use fish like damsels and other cheap fish. They later regret it and try to remove them. I'm speaking from experience. I've never done another cycle with fish, I find it cruel to make the fish go through ammonia and other spikes.

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KoleTang · Jun 19, 2013

What I do is use "Dr. Tim's one and only bacteria" (Watch the Mr. Saltwater Tank video on it) and one green chromis. I have tried the Dr. Tim's with ammonia for a fishless cycle and it took 3 weeks. On another build, I used a green chromis with the Dr. Tim's and my tank was "cycled" over the weekend. After this I would not add more than one fish every two weeks for a month or two.

People don't seem to understand what cycling is. All you are doing is growing a bacteria population to match the amount of waste that is present.

This is how I think about it (Balancing bacteria with waste):

Dr. Tim's Bacteria = Waste for a chromis or two
A piece of seed liverock < the amount of waste in a table shrimp
Large amount of live rock from a previous build put straight in a new tank = a good amount of fish (cycled)

If you overload the amount of bacteria present, you will have a spike, which will delay everything. (In other words, You only get a spike when the bacteria are overwhelmed.)

So start your population small (with a chromis) and slowly build it up by adding a new fish every 2 weeks or so.