Please Help With Cycling, I'm really confused

New2Betas

I set up a 20 and a 10 gallon tank this afternoon and turned on the filters and heaters. I've done lots of reading on cycling, some say do it with fish, some day dont, some say use chemicals, some say dont. I'm really confused on what really works. These are fresh water aquariums that are going to hold bettas, guppies, a few glass shrimp, albino coy, maybe a few dwarf frogs, and danios. Not 100% sure on whats going in them though. Please tell me everything you know!

Angel079

Well everybody has their own opinions and what works well for them, so even with asking, you'll wind up with different answers now
IMO what works best for me is set up the tank, feed it 1-2 flakes of flake foods each day. This will then cause a nitrate & ammonia peak till all necessary bacteria are established. I usually do this for about 2 weeks (pending the water tests) and then SLOWLY start adding fish. In your case with the fish you want, I'd personally "feed" the tanks for 2 weeks, test your waters, then if it comes back with 0 Ammonia and low Nitrates, start stocking with a FEW Danios.

The problem I see with cycling a tank WITH fish: If your Ammonia goes up if only for a few hrs while you're not home and don't test it, that short duration can indeed be enough to kill the fish, therefore I prefer my method, as I find it safer for this fish & me not running testing my tank 24/7

On a side note from my experience having had frogs & shrimps...Are you wanting to house these 2 in one tank together?