Telescope Goldfish Cycle?

[MightyT]

Will a telescope goldfish survive the cycling process? I want to keep it after the tank is cycled.

 

[EbiAqua]

If you already have an aquarium, you can just use media from the filter to jump-start the cycle. Getting a fish just to cycle a tank isn't fair to the fish.

If you don't have an established aquarium, you can use fish food or straight ammonia to cycle.

How big is the tank you want to cycle?

 

[MightyT]

I don't have an established aquarium. The tank is 36 gallons.

If you already have an aquarium, you can just use media from the filter to jump-start the cycle. Getting a fish just to cycle a tank isn't fair to the fish.

If you don't have an established aquarium, you can use fish food or straight ammonia to cycle.

How big is the tank you want to cycle?

I'm not getting the fish just to cycle a tank. I plan to keep it.

 

[EbiAqua]

I don't have an established aquarium. The tank is 36 gallons.

You could use the goldfish yes but it's still better to cycle without fish so you don't needlessly stress the fish out.

 

[MightyT]

Oh, OK then. Thanks.

 

[Rtessy]

Telescopes are much more sensitive than commons, I wouldn't risk it

 

[MightyT]

What if the tank has been cycling for a week already?

With rocks from other tanks and rotting food and shrimp inside.

 

[Rtessy]

What are the exact ammonia nitrite and nitrate readings?
You know the goldfish eat shrimp, right?
IF the cycle is going as normal, you're in the dangerous nitrite + ammonia phase, so no.

 

[MightyT]

I don't know the readings and I can only go to the LFS on weekends. I know goldfish eat shrimp. How long does it take for the phase to pass?

Will it help if I put TSS or Quikstart?

 

[Rtessy]

Do you have TSS+?
What kind of shrimp? If you cycle the tank to process the amount of ammonia that goldfish produce, the shrimp will all die in the process...

 

[MightyT]

The shrimp are expendable, I only have a few (in the tank) and I breed them. I have ghost shrimp. I do have TSS+.

 

[Rtessy]

What are you planning to use as your ammonia source? I've personally done fish food, it really doesn't work that well, it gets all sorts of fungus, won't get enough ammonia to replicate goldfish, and it smells

 

[MightyT]

The goldfish (don't judge me I'm kind of a noob on this).

Any other suggestions?

 

[Rtessy]

Any chance you can get your own test kit and a bottle of pure ammonia?
Or just your own test kit?
If you can do daily water changes and keep ammonia and nitrite at or below 0.25ppm at all times, you can do a fish in cycle with goldfish, but it's literally daily water changes for over a month.

 

[MightyT]

How much water change? (percentage)

 

[Rtessy]

How much water change? (percentage)

It'll depend, hence the test kit. For mine, a single 2" goldfish in a 10 gallon, I had to do at least 30% daily, sometimes 2 30's or a 50. Depended on how much the test read. If it was between 0.25 and 0.5, a 30 took care of it. If it was at 0.5, that means you need to reduce it by half, so a 50%