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Can some freshwater fish handle the process better
than others?

Yes, Danios are a popular fish to cycle an aquarium with.

Thanks!

Yes, there are several species that are very hardy and often used for cycling. Danios, for instance or harlequin rasboras, guppies etc. There are also some that should never be used to cycle as they are very susceptible to water borne maladies, such as neon tetras, ottos, angels and others.

They are so tough mine started breeding during the cycling process in my Betta tank. Also they are very cheap.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

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Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

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Thanks Everyone. Okay, I have already made a mistake. Last
Sunday I started the cycling process with 3 glow lite
tetras. Now I only have two. Besides kicking myself
in the well u know where. What should I do?

Is ammonia registering yet on a testkit? I wonder if 3 glowlight tetras is enough bioload to create any spikes that would be harmful. What are your other water paremeters... pH, nitrite and your water temp?

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Before you criticize someone walk a mile in their shoes. That way you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

Ah, cycling.

I've just covered that issue here in another thread.

Incidentally, back in 1994, before I became aware of fishless cycling, I cycled the Panda Fun Palace with Otocinclus. but, because I knew in advance I wanted these fishes, I set up the aquarium accordingly, and let it run for 7 days before introducing the fishes. During that time I cultivated algae for them in the aquarium (yes, sounds strange, but I actually cultivated algae - which makes sense if you're introducing algae eating fishes to a new aquarium!). Because I made sure the aquarium was planted and equipped with furnishings that the Otocinclus wanted before bringing the fishes home, and put nothing else in there for 6 weeks, the otocinclus settled in nicely. Proof of the pudding in this case was the longevity of my Otocinclus - which lived for a minimum of 6 years, and one of them lasted over nine years, which is quite an age for such a small fish.

If you know what you are doing, and you have experience to back up the project, you CAN cycle an aquarium with fishes that would not normally be considered suitable candidates. I'd gained around 20 years' experience under my belt before setting up the Panda Fun Palace, so I knew what to do! However, having discovered fishless cycling, I now advise people to choose that route, so that the new arrivals suffer a minimum of stress. Takes time, but then, in the fishkeeping game, patience is a BIG virtue (and if you hang around long enough on this Board you'll become thoroughly sick and tired of me repeating this ).


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002