going to cycle with guppies

uberlink

uberlink

Active Member
Originally Posted by cain420
so basically just leave it in there and let it dissipate??
There may come a point after a day or two when you decide to take it out. In my case it was when my wife suddenly turned on the whole idea of a saltwater tank because the house smelled like a salmon river at the end of spawning season. Not pleasant.
Oh...almost forgot to criticize ecoman and his insane idea of cycling with guppies in this post! Let me think...got it:
You might as well cycle your tank with a live cat as cycle it with guppies. {EDIT}
There we go. Now I can sleep.
 
atlfish

atlfish

Member
Originally Posted by 1journeyman
Leave the shrimp in the tank as it decays, or else start "feeding" your tank a little bit every few days.
You want a constant source of "decay" in your tank until you add fish. Otherwise your ammonia fixing bacteria will starve and die off.
Wow! That makes sense! Will do!
 
coachklm

coachklm

Active Member
Originally Posted by uberlink
Oh...almost forgot to criticize ecoman and his insane idea of cycling with guppies in this post! Let me think...got it:
You might as well cycle your tank with a live cat as cycle it with guppies. {EDIT}
:hilarious
:hilarious
:hilarious
 
mystic7

mystic7

Member
This is what you do. Take the guppies, put them in your freezer for 5 minutes. Then immediately dump them into the tank. It will feel so much more comfortable compared to the freezer that they'll acclimate immediately and will eat within 2 hours. This works every time.
There, now you've got the answer you've been demanding; doing it YOUR way. Enjoy!
 
hagfish

hagfish

Active Member
Originally Posted by seahorse11
Ecoman, I got the same reaction and answers when I asked about cycling with damsels. I want live fish in my tank, not a piece of cocktail shrimp. My LFS told me for a 90 gallon I will need about 10 damsels so thats what I am going with. If your going to use guppies, I would acclimate them maybe for a couple of hours and thats it. Let me know if guppies work, they will be cheaper and easier to get rid of once the cycle is done.
This is short sighted. If all 10 damsels make it through the cycle, you will be pretty much maxed out on your bio-load already. I doubt you only want 10 damsels in your tank. If you do add something to the tank, it better be tough because damsels are freakin mean and it's going to be 10 against 1. In a 90 gallon tank, you may never catch those damsels if you are wanting to remove them after the cycle.
 
hagfish

hagfish

Active Member
It's both amusing and sad (mostly sad) that regular people who know relatively little about science decide to do "experiments" on live animals. I also find it sad that the only valid reason to use any live animal to cycle is so that you will have something to look at in the tank for 3-4 weeks. If you didn't have a tank at all before, 3-4 weeks of an empty tank or a tank with live rock isn't going to hurt anyone. But ammonia in gills hurts. I completely agree with ophiura that if one is that impatient, long term success in this hobby will be difficult.
For those who say they don't want to stare at a dead shrimp, hide the shrimp under a rock. Or cycle with some flake food, it works just fine and you might be surprised to find a few critters come out of the live rock to eat it even.
 
spanish dancer

spanish dancer

Member
And to think people start riots against testing make-up on animals...
I would hate to know what those people would do if they knew what people on this site were doing to poor innocent fish, just for sheer pleasure of watching something swim around in their toxic aquarium
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member

OK folks, I have to step in and remind everyone that people can do what they want. If they come and ask for opinions, they will get them, but the exchange should not revert to name calling, etc.
Cycling with fish - though I am firmly against it in most cases - is still a tried and true way to cycle a tank. Many people swear by this method as it is tradition. And it works. It just happens to harm fish, IMO.
You are all welcome to agree or disagree with the idea, and even be vocal in your support or opposition, but lets not sink any lower.
 
morales67

morales67

Member
Originally Posted by morales67
any one truly think it would be a bad idea to put a plecostomus in a saltwater tank can i REALY do that???? :thinking:

i only ask to be sure, im not even thinking of expiramenting; if it will die in saltwater then i have no problem keeping it in fresh water ... as them being ugly , i have a mango plecostomus :happyfish that i think is very nice and colorful (if u see one then u know what im talking about)
 
tscuda

tscuda

Member
Originally Posted by hagfish
This is short sighted. If all 10 damsels make it through the cycle, you will be pretty much maxed out on your bio-load already. I doubt you only want 10 damsels in your tank. If you do add something to the tank, it better be tough because damsels are freakin mean and it's going to be 10 against 1. In a 90 gallon tank, you may never catch those damsels if you are wanting to remove them after the cycle.

I was thinking the same thing. Also Damsels cost about 3.99 each. take your pick 39 bucks in fish or a bucks worth of shrimp. The LFS near me sez they wont take back fish they belive was used for cycling.
 
2eyepatchs

2eyepatchs

Member
Okay, how about a good, non-contriversial question on this thread. When cycling with cocktail shrimp, do you leave the shrimp in the tank for good, or do you take it out when you add fish, or what.
 
hagfish

hagfish

Active Member
Originally Posted by 2eyepatchs
Okay, how about a good, non-contriversial question on this thread. When cycling with cocktail shrimp, do you leave the shrimp in the tank for good, or do you take it out when you add fish, or what.
Just leave it in 3-4 days or until you see a significant ammonia spike.
 
alyssia

alyssia

Active Member
yep, I took mine out when I saw a signifigant ammonia spike and the shrimp started to look like it was covered in cotton.
 
cain420

cain420

Active Member
mine have been covered in "cotton".. i even knocked the cotton type skin off it and its jsut comion back and some bugs are on it now.. but no ammonia increase AT ALL!!
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
If it is already cured, then I would imagine you might not see an ammonia spike...you may want to try more shrimp...or do you see any nitrates?
 
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