cycling a tank with fry...

[jack-rythm]

ok I have ANOTHER question.. I figure the best place for a variety of answers to depict a decent outcome is to write it on here and start a small FRIENDLY debate...

I am about 3 weeks into my fishless cycle and have plants snails and soils in etc.. my question of thought is:

Im aware that I cant throw in a load of adult fish... but what if I got hold of some fry I can get off one of my mates? they are smaller so would subsequently be less of an impact on the cycle.. as the fish grew the cycle would be preparing itself as the process went on.. does this make sense to anyone? almost in a way that as the fish grew larger then the cycle would be becoming more and more balanced.

or

am i just wrong in thinking this, any fish added, fry or adult would chip away at my cycle causing a bacterial bloom?

Jack

 

[hinch]

if you're 3 weeks into a fishless cycle and the tank is full of plants already then i'd say it is probably 99% cycled already. add your fish fry or adults either works. start doing your weekly water changes and you're good to go.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

if you're 3 weeks into a fishless cycle and the tank is full of plants already then i'd say it is probably 99% cycled already. add your fish fry or adults either works. start doing your weekly water changes and you're good to go.

I agree with Hinch, it should be all right as long as you have a reasonable plant mass, with some quick growing stems or floaters.

When you say "cycle", do you mean you have been adding ammonia? If you have, you need to wait at least a week after the last addition of ammonia to add the fish, if you've just planted and waited? it should be fine.

they are smaller so would subsequently be less of an impact on the cycle.. as the fish grew the cycle would be preparing itself as the process went on.

The only slight reservation I would have is that fry are often more sensitive to declining water quality than adults, so it might be worth steering away from anything too delicate.

cheers Darrel

 

[REDSTEVEO]

Sounds to me like you are good to go also. A friend of mine used to add fry from either Black mollies or guppies right from the start and had no problem at all. These were fed minimally. The filter needs some waste to feed the bacteria - Nitrobacters or Nitrosomas one is aerobic and the other is anaerobic, can't remember which is which. You should be fine, just don't bung 200 adults in straight away 🙂

Good luck!