Fish to cycle with?

The Zigman

The Zigman

Here fishy fishy fishy!!!
Oct 5, 2007
5,249
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62
Near Chicago, Il.
www.uglymuggs.com
All,

Looking for suggestions on what fish to use to begin cycling my 125. This will eventually be housing some discus, and several live plants. I was thinking of cycling with a few clown loaches...I heard they were pretty tough, would they be a good choice? I know they are good tankmates for the discus. Maybe some cardinals? I'm open for suggestions.
 
um clown louches are not tuff from my experience. You will get alot of responses about the ethics of fish cycling but I use danios, they are tuff, just make sure you use a fish you want to keep afterwards.
 
I guess I shouldn't say "cycle" ...these will be the first live addition to the tank. I'm planning on a fishless cycle... just not sure where to go after the cycle is completed...
does that make sense???
 
Clown Loaches are not tough from my readings. If the tank is cycled before via fishless cycling, Clown Loaches will definitely keep your cycle up as their bioload created is pretty high.
 
If you do the fishless cycle first, I would get the dither fish you want for when the discus will be in there. Certainly not the clowns.
 
I would avoid the cardinals unless the tank is truly fully cycled. pretty fish but sensitive to water params
 
I agree about the cardinals--they are extremely sensitive fish & should be added last. After a fishless cycle (if done correctly) there is absolutely no reason not to stock the tank with your discus as long as you acclimate them properly, since this is all new, fresh, water.
 
oddly if you are adding young discus you should be do frequent water changes.

cardinals are a good choice for tank mates with discus. as BOTH are pretty sensitive to water conditions..meaning they do not tolerate nitrates well not dissolved organic compounds.
the frequent water changes should help to alleviate this issue.

discus should be added to a mature tank..meaning the tank should have been established long enough to have a well established bio filter.
 
LOL, if you are adding ANY discus, frequent WC are necessary! Wouldn't you think if a tank's biological filtration is handling 5ppm ammonia in a tank, it has a fully established bio filter?
 
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