Is this from somewhere else or am i having major deja vu?

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Im a guy

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sorry to sound think, i'm very very new to this but is cycling quite a new thing? coz everything i've read before basically says fill your tank & leave it a week before adding your fish. but i've only ever kept coldwater fish before (& that was about 6 years ago) so is it different for tropical?

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steph & alex along with

parrots: senegal, african grey & blue headed pionus
mammels: 3 children, 1 exeedingley black cat, 1 yorkie, 1 border collie, 1 french lop.
herps: 2 common boas.

no its the same for cold water or tropical and its not such a recent thing no, its surprising how many people dont research before they buy fish and just plop them in. most manufacturers out there print ridiculous suggestions on their leaflets/boxes advising to fill the tank and add fish in 24hrs, all you will end up with is a tank of floating fish and an upset son.

you must do a fishless cycle to prevent un-neccesary suffering to the fish. it will take you about 4 weeks or so but is worth it in the long run.

i'm not saying i'm not gonna do it, i'm just saying that on the book i've got it doesn't mention it. just says leave the tank for a week. but like i said, that's about coldwater fish.

what about if you could get bacteria from an existing filter that's been up & running for about a year. my daughter has a single goldfish with a filter that's far too big for the tank. (no idea how we ended up with a filter that's so big). could we use that in anyway to help with the cycling?

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steph & alex along with

parrots: senegal, african grey & blue headed pionus
mammels: 3 children, 1 exeedingley black cat, 1 yorkie, 1 border collie, 1 french lop.
herps: 2 common boas.

yup, you could.

just put some of the sponges/other media from that filter into the new tank, and then do what this thread says, but it'll happen ALOT quicker. Like a few days.

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cool. will be out tomorrow to buy all the bits i need.

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steph & alex along with

parrots: senegal, african grey & blue headed pionus
mammels: 3 children, 1 exeedingley black cat, 1 yorkie, 1 border collie, 1 french lop.
herps: 2 common boas.

A few fish flakes will not hurt during the cycle, but neither will some mulm from an old established internal filter, or indeed half-a-cupful of fresh wee wee [not in the same tea cup used for your early morning cup of tea...]

Hi. Just registered so new to the forum. Have read all the info stated above re fishless cycling. I have had my 3 foot present tank for 19 years so the water is quite well established after constant maintenance and the fish are very happy. Had many fish over the years and now down to a few. I have 4 Corydora, I packistani loach (aquired from a friend who was getting rid of her tank and was last one left!) and one bristlenose pleccy ( the only one in the tank with a name - Valentine, as it was bought for me on Valentines day!). I now want to downsize my tank for easier maintenance as I dont have all the spare time I once used to have for cleaning etc. Obviously my filtration system will not be compatable with the new tank so it will be a complete new filtration with no bacteria. It will be one of the stingray type that goes into the tank. I am going to use the established water from my present tank into the new one. Does this mean that the filter will build up bacteria quick from the esatablished water ? And how long should I wait before adding my fish from the old tank to the new tank? I'd hate to loose them at this stage as some of them are quite old! Any advise would be helpful. Thanks.

Just transfer some of your old filter material. Sorry to answer an old post, but it might still be of help! You will still get a possible spike, but only a small one hopefully.

We would never fish cycle NOW, but we did in our first forey into fish keeping. We found we did cycle a *bit* anyway. We also found like some one else says, that adding plants sped up the nitrogen cycle SPECTACULARLY.

Fish should be used for cycling mattikins, its the whole reason neon tetras exist.