# Suggestions on cycle (with fish)



## vmanisme (Mar 12, 2015)

Hello,

I just got a marineland 60gal tank that has been running for about 5 days without fish and planning on adding 2-3 fish in a day or two. My ammonia levels are at about .25-.5 but will do a big water change before introducing fish. My pH is on the high end, it's about 7.6-7.7. I am testing with the API liquid kit. My city water tested at 7.0 pH (let it sit for 2 days before testing).

I have read about fishless and with fish cycles, as I work from home and can do water changes daily if needed, I am ready to give it a try. I am thinking about adding a little bit of plants to help with chemicals. My local fish store has some top fin "semi-aquatic" plants that are guaranteed to be snail less. The ones that are already in the water by the tanks have a huge snail problem so don't want to deal with those. 

My questions:

What is the best semi-aquatic plant(s) to get.

I want to get 1 male and 2 female swordtails to do my cycle, will they be ok with my pH assuming I introduce them using the drip method. Will change their water when ammonia gets to .5...
Thank you ahead of time.


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## dhoch (Jul 14, 2014)

Why don't you do a complete fishless cycle. If you do a fish in cycle, while the fish may seem ok after cycling it certainly reduces their life expectancy (any levels of ammonia). We have done 3 fishless cycles now on 3 different tanks and it is well worth it. You are able to put in a full bio load in the tank right away after the cycle is complete. The sticky in this forum is outstanding, and if you follow it to the letter your BB will be huge and strong.


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## chenowethpm (Jan 8, 2014)

+1 on dhoch's suggestion. Since there's no fish already a fish less cycle is best. I'm also wondering why you have an ammonia reading with no fish in the tank? What test kit are you using?


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## kalyke (Nov 19, 2014)

Yes. I was wondering why your aquarium has an ammonia reading too. 

Why add fish? Get some plants growing! From other posts I've seen on this subject you will end up dosing with ammonia detoxifiers until one day your nitrites go bright purple. The detoxifiers don't hasten the cycling, the benificial bacteria eat ammonia, and then a second group of them eat nitrites, so you starve them, and prolong the suffering of the fish who was unlucky enough to be chosen for your experiment. 

Do you bake? Your nitrosomonas and nitrobacters are like sourdough yeast in a way. You need to feed them in order to get a strong colony in your tank. Well, yeast eats sugar, but these bacteria eat ammonia, which becomes nitrites, then they eat the nitrites which become something nearly non toxic which can be taken care of by water changes. Aka nitrates.

The only way to speed this up is to use doner bacteria. Either get filter medium from a well cycled tank, or use some bacteria seeded pond or aquarium preparations. People use them all the time to start the bacteria in ponds in the spring. Microbe lift, or other brands. This does not mean you can just throw fish in either. You still need to feed it, and get the colony going. One of thse fish tank blogs described it as an unseen fish. Your tank is a living organism in a way. 

Also, make sure you have plenty of surface for your bacteria to cling to: wood, rocks, plants, gravel...this is where the bactera is. It is not in the water persay. The more surfaces to cling to, the bigger coloney you can establish.


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## SueD (Aug 4, 2012)

To answer your question about the plants, you do not want "semi-aquatic" plants. These will eventually die off and rot in your tank. You want fully aquatic plants and these are also available in those tubes you mentioned. Some examples are java fern, different species of anubias and certain sword plants - check the packaging carefully. Java fern and anubias should be tied or glued to driftwood or rocks; their rhizomes must stay above the substrate.


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