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really quick, my friend is starting his first tank, which he picked neons as a setup fish. bad choise right. a few of his died. i told him that i wouldn't have gone with neons as set up guys.

is this info correct?

While neon tetras can be used to cycle a fish tank, they certainly aren't the best choice. For tetras, the hardier wide-bodied varieties work better. This group includes lemon tetras, serpaes, rosies, and some Hemigrammus species.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Hi,
You are right about not using Neons. They are generally
considered a rather "delicate" fish and rather easily
done in by the extremes of the water chemistries that
occur while cycling a tank.

There are better choices and more hardy fish. Personally,
depending upon the size of the tank, I use some feeder
guppies or some feeder goldfish. With the guppies, they
can stay in the tank and provide live food (the fry) for
the larger fish that come after cycling. And the goldfish
can always go back to the LFS after cycling.
Live bearers and goldfish generally will eat like heck
and eliminate the same way which will speed the cycling
process.

Frank


Last edited by FRANK at 09-Jun-2005 22:48

Last edited by FRANK at 09-Jun-2005 22:48

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Neons are a bit delicate to cycle tanks. Danios, Guppy's &amp; Goldfish are more hardy.


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I would try a bn there hardy enough and produce enough... ok well a hell of a lot of waste to get the cycle rolling

Alex

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''All the clown fish and yellow tangs in the world cant save you now!''

ive read that tetras in general..should be 2nd or 3rd choice of fish...stick with the so called "tradition" if the person like the danios..otherwise...there r other cyprinids u can choose from.

I cycled my tank with Zebra Danios and now I am regretting it (well, a little).

These little fish are so active that they give me the impression that they disturb the
peace in the tank. They chase each other like crazy, in particular in the morning
after the light comes on, and don't care if any other fish is in their way. Certainly,
I would never dispose of them just to create a more peaceful tank, but for my next
one I will try to find a more mellow kind of starter fish. Or, even better, cycle the tank
first with Bio-Spira (spl?) and then add any fish I like.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

my cycling fishes are usually bettas,platys,or gouramie. i recommended to him that he try danios,tiger barbs, or bottom fishes.

I used harlequin rasboras. did a great job, very hardy and easy on the eyes. Plus, they were my first pick on stock. after that came gouramis and dwarf pleco.

I cycled mine with three corydora paleatus, but I am not sure if it was a good idea. One of the fish books I recently checked out said they were a second fish. They didn't die though.