# How many fish to cycle with?



## GeminiPrincess (Oct 1, 2010)

How many fish do you cycle a 26 gallon with? Thanks in advance!


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

If it were me...no more than 3-4. No goldfish and a Platy sized fish.


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## LPUIG73 (Jul 18, 2010)

Same here.. Three or four Zebra Danios. They are very hardy freshwater fish.


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## NursePlaty (Feb 5, 2010)

*X3*


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## GeminiPrincess (Oct 1, 2010)

NursePlaty said:


> *X3*


Would it take longer with just 2?


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## nevets_eural (Oct 1, 2010)

i cycled my 55g with 5 small comet gold fish in about 4 days, unfortunatly i only have 1 left and its has 2 tiger oscar roommates.....


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

nevets_eural said:


> i cycled my 55g with 5 small comet gold fish in about 4 days, unfortunatly i only have 1 left and its has 2 tiger oscar roommates.....


Well...I would say you never made it completely through the nitrogen cycle...not with a new tank anyway. Cycling most tanks with fish take 4-8 weeks.


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## nevets_eural (Oct 1, 2010)

well true, my ammonia and nitrite spiked way high almost overnight... but late in the 4th or maybe it was 5 days, everything was at practically zero, that was 2 weeks ago, i know that to fully cycle and get all the bacteria that is good will take a few weeks, was just saying how long it took me to make it suitable to put fish in... also the other 4 comets died by the 2nd or third day.. so dont get to attached the the sacrificial lambs so to speak


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

nevets_eural said:


> well true, my ammonia and nitrite spiked way high almost overnight... but late in the 4th or maybe it was 5 days, everything was at practically zero, that was 2 weeks ago, i know that to fully cycle and get all the bacteria that is good will take a few weeks, was just saying how long it took me to make it suitable to put fish in... also the other 4 comets died by the 2nd or third day.. so dont get to attached the the sacrificial lambs so to speak


No, what I was really saying is that is impossible. Nitrite and ammonia don't just show up at the same time. Read an article on the nitrogen cycle and you'll see what I mean. Maybe your testing was with strips?


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## nevets_eural (Oct 1, 2010)

im not trying to argue with u man im just saying thats what happend, set up my tank waited like 3 days put some comets in, the next afternoon tested with drops even took water sample to petco said that my levels were high just like my tests were, waited 4 or 5 days tested again took sample back to petco and they were almost all the way gone... badda boom badda bing, dropped in 2 oscars a pleco and a blue lobster along with my lone surviving comet and there u go


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Like I said, read an article on the nitrogen cycle and you'll see that although you may have been told some things about your water, you'll realize that it wasn't even possible. There lies the problem with not having the ability to test your own water and knowing what the results mean.


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## nevets_eural (Oct 1, 2010)

API fresh water master kit dont lie i dont think but thanks for the input


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## NursePlaty (Feb 5, 2010)

GeminiPrincess said:


> Would it take longer with just 2?


*I think it would be the same amount of time. Bacteria only grows at a certain speed and the toxins has to be at a certain level. If you add more fish, you just need to do more water changes. It is the same with less fish and less water changes. Time to cycle would almost be the same. If you want to speed it up, seed the tank with filter media from another well established healthy disease-free aquarium. 

Fastest I cycled a tank with fish is 1 month. Right now my new tank is cycling fishless on week 2 (still no signs of nitrite). Both were seeded with filter media and water's temeperature was 80F.

Patience is the key to grow bacteria. It takes a while for them to grow and expand. *


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## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

2 wont put a bioload on the tank get 6 zebra danios and wait 8 weeks, testing daily for the ffirst two weeks then twice a week after that. Keep up on PWC's or dont do any thats up to you, I dont touch the tanks for the first 2 months but thats me.

If you can get some gravel or filter media from the LFS your tank will cycle faster and healthier.


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