Originally posted by Fastlane13
Hey everybody....I just wanted to let you know that cycling with groupers are the best. Go to your lfs (local fish store) and ask if you can borrow a grouper to cycle.....and if it doesnt die than you can return it...i got that deal and you know that it does take a lot to kill a grouper..either that or buy a panther grouper off this site, and when your done cycling sell it to your fish store for more money.
I'll ignore the humane aspects of cycling with live animals. Just because they can survive doesn't mean it is good. But cycling with damsels is an alternate and equally effective means of cycling a tank, whether I agree with it or not. Let's look at the financial aspects though of this.
:notsure: Few fish stores "loan" fish especially if they might die. So you might have to buy the grouper. Then, if it does die, you are out the money, which would frankly be stupid...if you cycle with fish at least cycle with cheap fish. And since the odds of death are good anyway, you might as well cycle with something even cheaper and already dead (grocery store shrimp). There is no gain in using fish.
If it does survive, you are left with a big messy fish you may not want or be able to keep. At least if you can't catch damsels, they'll still work in a reef or with community fish. If the LFS takes it back, and many don't do high trade in groupers to take them back (perhaps an example is that your LFS could "loan" you one with probably little care on its survival), you definitely won't get your full $$ back...and panther groupers (if they are any larger than they are sold at) are often not desirable and may not be taken back at all. As for an LFS buying it back for more than they sell it at SWF - I would reckon that LFS and some online suppliers use similar wholesalers and get similar prices before mark up. Mark up at an LFS is higher because of the physical store and overhead, but their original price from the wholesaler may be the same (and way cheaper than we buy it at). So again, you've lost money on something totally unnecessary.
