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Hi everyone. I've just got my first fish tank, a 20G tropical. I was advised by 2 LFS' to cycle the tank with some starter fish. As much reading as I did beforehand, I somehow missed the fact that this method of cycling is unpleasant for the fish and can cause permanent gill damage.

I currently have 2 orange flame (dwarf) gouramis, anubias, val, dwarf rush, and a pretty large clump of java moss. I have about 1.5wpg of lighting, and the temperature is at 25C. The tank has been set up for almost 3 days now, at about 7.5PH and 0.1-0.2ppm ammonia (stupid colour match tests). I was hoping the community here would be able to give me some better advice than the LFS, and help me make the cycling process as painless as possible for the fish. I added some 'Cycle', and am going to do a water change tomorrow. Also, not having fish before, I think I fed them a little too much. I was thinking of getting a small cory or 2 to help with the excess food on the bottom (before the water conditions got too poor), but would this make the toxin levels worse for everyone?

And I read on some random website that 24 hour lighting during cycling helps speed up the process. Is this a good idea?

I hope somebody can help. My fish have been exhibiting some weird behaviour just in the last 10 minutes. Your input is greatly appreciated!

When I started out (before I knew anything about cycling a tank) my gourami's were the first to go. I fishless cycled my 2nd tank, much easier & less costly. All my other tanks I've used my #2 suggestion with no problems. Some things you can do...
1. Since you bought the fish recently, take them back to the store & ask if they can credit you when your tank is cycled. Especially if they're already showing signs of stress. Then just drop a cocktail shrimp from the grocery store in the tank for a few days to rot & get the cycle going.
2. Do you know anyone that has an established tank already set up? If so, you could get some of their sponge drippings/filter media to put in your filter.
3. Keep the gouramis and monitor the water params, perform the water changes. This will prolong the cycle process though-& their stress.
I would hold off on the corys, they prefer to be in groups of 3+ anyway. As far as the lighting, don't know about that never heard that before. Good luck!

If I were you I would start over and do a fishless cycle.

Welcome to FP

Unfortunately, the others are right. Your best bet is to either fishless cycle or cycle with much hardier fish. Gouramis in particular are pretty sensitive to water conditions and would probably not survive. Most barbs and danios are good cyclers. However, these fish can be nippy at times, and might not bode well if you're thinking of longer finned fish once you get the tank straightened out.

I'm sure you've read all about the cycle already, but Here is another link anyway.

Whatever you decide to do, do not add cories or change your water. The cories won't make it and the changing of the water will only serve to prolong the cycle by either disrupting the bacterial colonies or diluting their food.

Last but not least, 24 hour lighting is bad for fish. They need a day/night cycle just like humans do.

Good luck!

The lower your ph, the less toxic the ammonia is to the fish. I wouldn't try adjusting ph while trying to cycle, just realize that ph increases will be hard on the cycling fish. Adding a little aquarium salt will help protect the fish from the nitrite when it shows up. A lot of aquarists use salt as a tonic in varying amounts but for this case only a small amount is necessary, a teaspoon would be more than enough.
I have never used cycle and can't attest to it's use but lots of people swear by it and I suppose it can't hurt at this stage.
When cycling with fish, hardy species are usually used and I wouldn't choose dwarf gouramies over, say, zebra danios so I don't know how your guys will do during the process.
Do not add any more fish until the tank is cycled. Do not overfeed, just enough food that they can eat in a couple of minutes once a day. They won't starve. You want to keep the bioload as small as possible. Water changes will prolong the time the tank needs to cycle but may be necessary to keep a lid on the ammonia and nitrite levels.
patience is the key

added paragraphs

[span class="edited"][Edited by kkens 2004-07-18 14:32][/span]

The "New Improved Cycle" is all you'll need to cycle your tank...

Follow product directions.

--garyroland.

New Improved Cycle (NIC) is great! Bio-spira is good also, but it's more expensive...