Should I cycle my new tank with or without fish?

Is one method better than the other?

Does it take the same amount of time for both options?

 

What I did was went to the Grocery store and got some cocktail shrimp and put it in some nylon and hung it in the tank. The die off will help start the cycle. I left it in there for about 2 weeks. If the tank needed more cycling or didnt seem to be going fast enough , I would get some more.It worked great. Or some people even put the shrimp in a jug of water and put it outside or something for a week or two. Well dont forget to wrap them in something like nylon for easy removal and than added the water to the tank.

 

There is a product out there by Tropical Science named NitroMax that contains billions of nitrifying bacteria. You put it in there every day and by the time the bottles run out, it should be cycled. You can do this with or without fish. It will cost you between $10-$15 depending on the FS you go to. It comes with two bottles, one jam packed with beneficial micro-bacteria and the the other with food too feed the micro-bacteria. Try to find it cheap. I've been using it for about 2 months. I added every water change. I plan to use it till my tank reaches 1 year. Either that or toss in some damsels and chromis, those things are dirt cheap. There is a LFS around my area that sells the damsel and chromis for $1.99 ea! The only thing is that you will have a hell of time trying to get them out when it comes time to rid of them.

 

SSSnake,
Either method -- with or without live fish -- will work. I think that the tank will cycle slower without some help, either a fish to make waste products, dead shrimp to decay into waste matter, or the synthetic alternative that Rickzter suggested. Remember what the purpose is of the cycle: build colonies of bacteria that will change waste products (ammonia) into nitrite and then into nitrate.
Rickzter's recommendation is elegant because it ensures that the size of the tank's bacteria colonies will be large and won't die off once the load of ammonia is consumed.

 

I dont work for Tropical Science or anything, but I really like the product. I know a friend of my brothers who used it and his tank cycled in about 1 week and now his reef is thriving! Of course, he doses and monitors, but NitroMax ensured a proper cycling process. He also used chromis which he regrets as he is now having one heck of a time getting those little boogers out.

The cool thing about NitroMax is that you continually add bacteria and this will ensure a proper cycle as you are constantly re-introducing nitrifying bacteria that will break down every single ammonia trace and leave everything at 0ppm. The person who used this added a yellow tang a week after the cycle and he is doing just fine.

 

Save a fish some stress...I would do it without the fish...I used Live Rock and about 40 lbs of the "live" sand that carib-sea makes. It worked great.

 

JMHO use the fish! Damsels will survive and most LFS will give you trade in credit for what you paid towards another fish. If it dies use it for bait on your next fishing trip-or freeze it and feed chunks of it to your corals or fish. I have never had one of those SOB's die and it helped quicken the cycle-good luck

 

Thanks for the suggestions.
Wow, these damsels have a really bad rap.