Fish-less or Fish?
 

Here is a poll of would you rather do a fish-less cycle or a fish cycle?

I am 100% pro fish-less since i did a fish cycle with danios and they were all fine during the cycle but now, the ones i used to cycle are dying while the other danios are fine. The post trauma might be too much for the fish.

I started my cycle with 3 black neons, 2 died less then a week later, but they were not well to begin with. That day I didnt know what to do with them so I left them in their all day, so my ammonias were high, and my 1 survived through that. I got 3 others and they are all still healthy and great. 2 are very small, less than an inch, but im hoping they will grow.

I do have one question, I got another filter to add to my current cycled tank, should I add bioballs and carbon? I dont want to put my fish through another cycle :(

add bio balls and carbon and leave the old filter in there for 2-4 weeks until the new filter has established enough bacteria to maintain good water quality.

fish less, with fish is cruel, just because danios are hardy doesn't mean they will enjoy living in a fish equivalent of a septic tank

I say fishless if you don't have the time to really stay on top of it.

I say fish if you do have the time to dedicate to it.

I greatly understocked my tank with golden white cloud and danio, used biospira (which I am a huge fan of and have had nothing but success with, but I know you either love it or hate it) so there was never any ammonia issue and water tested/changed every day (sometimes I tested 2x a day) without fail. Never a septic tank. Not one fatality, and I still have those fish. It took a long time but it really got me into the hobby wanting to do it right.

i prefer the fish-less cycle as when i cycled mine the first time i used 4 danios and only one survived

I used 5 zebra danios to cycle my tank....but it is a 100g tank, and I use Prime to neutralize the chloramine, so they don't even notice the minute amount of ammonia that they produced. It all depends on the size of your tank and what you're doing with the water, versus the number of fish you have.

I agree 100%. If you stock a 20 gallon with 20 1" fish, you're going to lose some. If you stock a 20 gallon with a few danios and keep on it, the fish and the tank will be fine.

100 % agreed.

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If you don´t have enough patience to wait for the cycle your wrong in this hobby.