You Don't Need To Use Damsels To Cycle Your Tank!!!!!

[dugan]

I get really frustrated by this because it seems that the first piece of advice given to newbies is to buy a few damsels to cycle.
The fish (as unloveable as they may be) go through a lot of stress during the cycle, and then just when the tank is humming along nicely, they get netted and returned to the LFS only to go through the same thing again.
That is, if they survive the cycle in the first place.
It would save a lot of headaches for the aquarist, and unnecessary suffering for the damsels, if more people knew that you can cycle a tank with live rock only.
Heck, you can even cycle a tank with a piece of jumbo shrimp. As it decays it will release ammonia. I've never tried that one but I know it can work.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[blueberryboomer]

We are using 8 jumbo shrimp to cycle our new 200 gal. We are into day 8, are amonia has spiked. Only another 4 weeks or so left. Can't wait.... The only bad thing I can see about using the shrimp is the smell...When I lifted the led to get water to check everything I almost died. We used damsels with the first tank, and we we're told the shrimp will make your cycle faster and it will cycle harder. We're still planning on 4-6 weeks for the process. Later Lisa
p.s I'll let everyone know how it works...

 

[tangs_in_pacifica]

OK, I'm going to get a lot of flames for this...
I've cycled quite a few tanks on my day. I've used damsels, shrimp, etc. Recently, I've beed taking advantage of Live Sand and some of the better bacterias of the market. I've noticed with the last 4 tanks I've cycled that my Ammonia and Nirtrite levels have stayed relatively low. Aside from the live sand, I've made sure to use rock that has been sitting at the LFS for a few weeks. IMOHO, it's a good sign when your Nitrates start rising early.
So, I cycled the tanks with clownfish. I used damsels for one of my recent systems... what was I thinking??? I'm gunna pull those guys out this weekend... mean little M****r F*****s
So, it's been my experience that good cured live rock and live sand make all the difference in the world. Just gthe observation of a lazy reefer.

 

[fat_ed]

This time around, my tank cycled in about 12 days using a DSB, plenty of live rock and a couple of green chromis. Amazing what plenty of rock and sand can do if you start your tank out with it. The last 2 tanks I had cycled w/ crushed coral took well over a month.
The tank's been up a month and a half now, nitrates are less than 2 ppm, and all its inhabitants look great (I added a purple firefish, cleanup crew and a cleaner shrimp.) I attribute most of the tank's early success to the wealth of info I learned from this board (and the rest to me). Thanks.

 

[fishgirl]

Beware, this is a touchy subject with me!

Damsels deserve just as much respect as any other saltwater fish!!!! Why are they always singled out as "just damsels"??
If you're gonna have a reef tank, be kind and cycle with just LR, or with fish-only another good alternative are freshwater mollies, or the shrimp thing. I
cycled my QT with jumbo shrimp. Damsels are colorful, hardy, and actually studies show they are some of the more intelligent marine fish. Since they tend to be mean, I think it's only fair to keep them in aggressive tanks only. (big ones that won't get eaten of course!) Add them AFTER the tank as cycled. When I first started the hobby I cycled with damsels cuz that's what everyone said and to this day I feel bad about how many beautiful, smart fish I took from the ocean and killed. I you care about life and humane treatment for any animal, please care about your damsels, too.

 

[jacrmill]

im not trying to be rude but what is the difference between you using damsels or mollies? if you feel that damsels shouldnt have to go through the cycle what makes you think mollies should? when i first cycled my tank i didnt even know damsels got aggressive. so when i used them i planned on keeping them for life. however i soon found the error of my ways. i too regret using damsels but would feel the same way about freshwater mollies. i would recommend raw shrimp to anyone. though you might not get to see something swim you can see something that is dead get really fat, start to stink and then start floating. i know it was really nasty but im glad i used shrimp. i believe that my yellow tail damsel was a very beautiful, and yes intelligent fish too bad he was an @$$ hole cause i wanted to keep him. well hopefully this will help to save a few damsels.

 

[fishgirl]

Whooooops! I phrased that message incorrectly - what I meant to say was:
DON'T use mollies or damsels! - Use LR, shrimp, or bottled bacteria culture, or a combo.
I still have my yellow tailed blue damsel in my display tank - I named her Perky and she has been the sweetest non-aggressive fish for years. My little clown is actually the more aggressive one.
I also still have my three-stripe damsel who is really mean, but he stays by himself in my QT to keep up the biology so he can't bother anyone there - plus he likes having the whole thing to himself.
Check out the pics and info about my two damsels at my website, along with my other fish.

 

[dugan]

I'm glad to see all the support for alternative methods of cycling a tank. It would be nice if someday using damsels to cycle was considered archaic.

Katie

 

[blueberryboomer]

Hey Fishgirl, how long did it take to cycle your tank with shrimp? How long did you leave them in? We put 8 jumbos in our new 200 gal and they are starting to smell up our family room. Did you get a good hard cycle with them? Any info would be great! Thanks Lisa

 

[fishgirl]

Blueberry, I did have a hard time cycling with shrimp at first, but I left them in and added A.C.T. bottled bacteria culture. It took about the same amount of time as if I had used damsels. The smell can be rotten , but I can live with that for a while. I can't live with knowing I put innocent fishies in pain.
[ June 13, 2001: Message edited by: Fishgirl ]

 

[blueberryboomer]

Fishgirl, Thanks for the info, We used damsels to cycle our 72 gal bow front, they are still living in our QT. We didn't want to endanger them, we lost a couple with the cycle on the first tank, and we didn't want to try to catch the little buggers after the cycle is complete. Thanks again, Later Lisa...

 

[fish&chips]

I used Damsels on my first FO tank (soon to become a Q tank) at the recommendation of a LFS...wish I knew about the Shrimp thing so I could have spared the two Damsels.
But I have a new tank on it's way...so...the new tank will be a LS/LR set-up - would the LR/LS be a sufficent bioload for cycling purposes? If not, what kind of shrimp we talking about? (deep fried? kidding) from the frozen food section of your grocery store or from the fresh meat counter or...?

 

[whitebird]

hello
we are new to saltwater tanks we have had one now for 7 months (52gal) and our fish store is 70 miles away and when we decided to go saltwater they did say after we had it up it would be about 2 weeks to puting in saltwater fish and told use to cycle with guppies or mollies we went with the guppies they cost less any way the one that did make it came up missing about 3 days ago and was 2 days after we got a small yellow tang so i don't know how long it would of lived
after about 3 weeks we got 5 damsels and still have them plus 2 clowns and the yellow tang and after reading a lot of the posting i feel we were lucky on the start
we will be seting up a 75 gal tank in a few days and ask our fish shop about a skimmer
they said we realy didn't need one but reading on this form i kinda think we do right?
any sugestions on what kind to get?
and when we do the change from the 52 to the 75 we will use the water from the 52 is there any problems with doing this?

 

[whitey]

First off your fish store is terrible if they are telling you to cycle with guppies and mollies.
And also for saying that you don't really need a Skimmer.
How long has your tank been set up?
A Yellow Tang should not be kept in a 52 gallon tank. If you do upgrade to a 75, that is the bare minimum a Yellow tang should be in. You should actually go bigger.
The best advice I can give you is do not believe your fish store.
They want to sell you anything they can.
Check this website before you buy ANYTHING
Ask questions and research before you buy, otherwise you will likely fail, and kill fish.

 

[whitebird]

our tank has been set up for 7 months now
our fish have been doing good we not lost any
about the only thing we loose is snails they don't seem to do good and they die off after a few weeks
and yes i have come to learn our tank is way to small
and the 75 is all the room we have for a larger tank or i would of got at least 125
thanks for the advice

 

[mr_bill]

Originally Posted by Whitey
Check this website before you buy ANYTHING
Agreed, and I believe everyone should have a skimmer. When I see that stuff in the collection cup on the skimmer it is almost unbelievable. Besides a skimmer also does wonders for oxygenation and PH levels for your water.

 

[iameeeyore]

We actually intended to cycle with damsels, but the fish store told us to skip the damsels and use a clownfish, so that's what we did (i know, i know I'm a horrible, horrible person). We've since added 2 damsels, and all the fish seemed to survive the cycle beautifully. I don't understand why damsels are so controversial. I personally think they're very diverse, colorful fish. Our clownfish does have a bit more personality, and the yellow tail can be somewhat tempermental, but overall I'm quite pleased with my happy lil fishy family.

 

[semaj]

When I started I bought damsels because if they died I would only be out a couple bucks as opposed to a heftier price tag. Economics is all.

 

[stanlalee]

I cycled with the same damsel and clownfish I still have now. A) I dont do the 1 damsel per X amount of gallons. I only used one or two 1" fish for a 30 gallon with no live rock. B) if they suffered it sure wasn't evident or very long and ammonia never that high. I thought about getting rid of my damsel for something more exotic but I cant just return fish all nilly willy, especially the first ones in my tank. To be honest I'll cycle the same way next time. Why, because I've been doing it that way for 10yrs and never lost or returned a fish due to it. If you dont mind having fish shipped two day mail cross country in half quart full of water and plastic bag I dont see why other trivial treatment like cycling tanks with damsels gets people so mad. There is nothing nice about the ornamental fish trade up into the point they get a permanent long term appropriate home with good conditions. That probably doesn't happen 50% of the time. Do we care so much when we go to the petstore and 5 yellow tanks are in a 30 gallon or anenome is under regular flourescent lighting? Lets not get all free willy over just one aspect of trivial treatment.
You make a good point about damsels being returned to the pet store just to be put thru a cycle again but I think thats much a result of them being so hardy and mostly surviving cycling conditions that other fish dont. Kind of messed up still when you think about it.

 

[chipmaker]

Well IMNSHO, there is nothing like having a nice tank setup, with a good live sand bed, and some good live rock, water added to specific SG, heated to desired range, filtration and such all setup and running, without leaks and then throw in a dead raw shrimp and start more polution than a cycle, when all along there is more than sufficiient bacteria in that live rock and sand to start a cycle without adding any other polutants to it. Ammonia will spike as will nitrites, with or without the shrimp, and odds are the cycle will be a ot longer with raw shrimp than without, and then yu stil have to put up with nasty water when all along it could have been relatively clean and good. A lot of times ammonia and nitrites will spike so high it can wipe out lots of good hitch hikers along the way, so to me good lr and sand is all thats needed to start any cycle. On wetweb media info site they also get into cycling methods and a method used with nothing but LR/LS may take a bit longer to get to a higher bio load capacity, but its also a much more stable environment than one induced with shrimp and additives etc.