waltmillham

I'm still learning & have a lot to learn, but it wasn't long ago at all that I had no clue about the importance of water chemistry or that new tanks need to cycle & how long that can take. I know Zebra Danios are considered to be fish that can make it through the cycle & survive, but my first aquarium was a Mini Bows 5 gallon & it had a betta in there right from the get go. The first time I tested the water, it was nasty! Everything was high........especially nitrite & nitrate & the Betta was just fine. That fish could probably live in a septic tank. The Betta is stilll in there & doing just fine. Ofcourse, even that tank has good water now, but it sure didn't before....So correct me if I'm wrong, but I would suggest a Betta for a cycling tank.

Neville

i think people prefer zebra danios because u can keep several of them in a tank but u can keep only one betta in a tank or else they will fight to death. think about a huge tank 75, 150 or 300 gallon....i think one betta is not enough to cycle these tanks.

sbrown64

I remember from my first tank that i purchased 5 glowlight tetras the day after filling up the tank with water. THey thrived and are still very happy in my tank 6 months later. When i setup a 2nd tank i used a pair of convict cichlids, the levels wereso high but these fish are real little beasties and as tough as nails.

Regards

Stephen

JMatt1983

first off, it is definately not suggested that you cycle your tank with fish, there are faster and better ways to cycle your tank, usiing filter media from a cycled tank is one of the best, I cycled my 20G tank in 10days with that method, with fish, your tankwill take months to cycle, due to the daily water changes required, I made that mistake with my 10G, it took 3 and half months to cycle with fish, if you're looking for the instant cycle, use bio-spira, using ammonia also works well, same with filter media, or gravel from a cycled tank

Tazmiche

i'd definately say don't cycle with fish, it is cruel, just be patient as i was with first tank, just used fish food. Second tank was easy as used filter material from first tank. So nasty watching a stressed fish die no matter how small!

Neville

yeah, i agree, as i'm cycling my new 75 gallon tank now without any fish. i dunno, may be it will take a month or more to complete the cycle....