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we cleaned the tank and filled it etc on sunday. It has live plants in, rocks, sand substrate. the water temp is at 24 degrees.the ph is good.how long do we need to wait before we put the first few fish in to start cycling?? it is a juwel vision 260 tank, so quite large
some books we have read say leave it 48hours, some say a week.we know we need to just put a few hardy fish to start, so we can get the nitrate cycle going. how long do u suggest?? what would you suggest? we were thinking guppies or danios

i am one not to follow the wait and let the tank cycle first before fish because i am inpatiant its usually a third done cycling before i ad anything and i have even added fish right away and they have done fine.

so ur saying maybe a couple more days then get a few danios or something similar?? i too am impatient just the info on websites and books are so different, from a day to a week before first

Well for one thing you cant cycle without fish to get the cycle going (amonia) so you need to add something or the cycle will never begin, but alot of people dont understand this. You can add amonia without fish, but the best way to do it is to add some hardy fish right away, or 24hrs after you get it up and running.

I have an established 45 gallon tank and just finished cycling a 55 g tank - set the tank up let it sit for a couple of days to make sure filter and heater are working and temperature is where you want it - the live plant will likely die - I cycled my tank with zebra danios (10) - the entire process and you can check it periodically with water tests - took 4 to 5 weeks - patience is not my strong point but everything I've read and everyone I've talked to says to be patient - I didn't add any chemicals to speed up the process - I even did periodic water changes so the danios weren't so stressed as the nitrite levels rose - if you are patient you won't lose fish - the real fish you want to keep in the tank after the cycling process is finished - plus you might actually stick with keeping tropical fish - it's a real bummer to keep netting dead fish and asking yourself what went wrong when the answer is just a little more patience and time - good luck -

Danios are your best bet for cycling. Guppies are often uses simply because they're cheap, but alot of the ones sold are now "show" guppies and arent as hardy as the common guppy. Zebra danios will be fine with cycling.
The reason to wait is as was said earlier to make sure all equiptment is functional. You don't want to be halfway thru cycling and end up noticing that your heater is faulty . If the filters and everything have been running 24 hours IMO you're fine to go ahead and add a few danios. How many gallons does the tank hold?

^_^

[hr width='40%']"I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe"

its a 260 litre tank, which i believe someone said was around 70 gallons. we have just been and bought some zebra danios and are currently acclimatising them. the girl in the shopw as really reluctant to sell them to us.she said a tank that size should be left for at least 3 weeks for fish to be added. we lied and said it had been a week. will give it our best

That employee was misinformed if she thought filling a 70 gallon tank with water and letting it sit would make it okay for fish. There needs to be a source of ammonia for the cycle to begin. Im not sure where you live but look for BioSpira or New and Improved Cycle. They will add the bacteria and the danios will provide the ammonia.

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If you sing to me in French.

Oh dear wendy, looks like you've got a LFS you wont' be able to entirely trust. Especially since zebra danios are known for being able to cycle tanks. It makes it almost, but not really funny.
katieb said it exactly, there needs to be a source of ammonia. If you'd followed your LFS's insistance and not added fish for three weeks...you' have a lovely tank full of water that you could look @for three weeks empty. Then you'd need to cycle it for another 3-4 weeks with a few zebra danios *sigh*. As much as I like to hope that LFS's, especially local ones that might have a clue as to what they're talking about, it seems that more often than not they don't take the time to listen to the customer and simply assume they know what they're talking about and the answer.
Just cant believe they refused to sell zebras. I wonder if they'd have let you have panda corys or discus since those are two that off the top of my head require good water quality.

Just let the zebras take care of the cycle for the next few weeks, then you can start stocking slowly . We're here to help, ammuse and confuse.

^_^
[hr width='40%']"I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe"

wendy_

I certainly agree with Babelfish on this occasion. You must have some fish to do a cycle. The actual time could vary a little from tank to tank and the fish/s used.

One other thing find another LFS or someone else at that LFS.

One thing to remember do tests regually. In my opinion after all is OK I would wait at least one more week then add the fish very slowly not all together at least a week appart. This is on the cautious side, but it will work out for the best this way. Test the water before adding any more fish just to be on the safe side.

Think twice act once.

In the mean time locate a good LFS in your area. You can do this by starting a new topic ask for good LFS in your area. Naturally you will have to give an exact location where you are. You might find there are several members in you area and this will certainly help.

Keith

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thanks all. dont worry its not the lfs we have been using, it was a chain store type pet shop. not specialist at all. it was the only one open late. we have a really usefull lfs that have really helped us getting the tank set up. they have a great reputation and stock.and have won lots of awards from pfk magazine.
all 6 danios have survived their first night
we added filter boost when we set the tank up.