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Tank cycling with catfish?
I'm setting up a new 55 gallon tank and I'm choosing to cycle it with fish. I'm curious if I can keep 5 juvenile (around two inches each) pictus catfish in the tank to cycle it.
Will this cycle it adequately?
Should I expect any complications with this method?
Anything else I should know?
Thank you =)
3 Answers
- Gary CLv 77 years agoFavorite Answer
You can do that, but with fish-in cycling, you need to make water changes to keep the ammonia level from getting high enough to kill the fish. Since you don't ever let the ammonia level get as high as with fishless cycling, it takes considerably longer to develop a healthy colony of nitrifying bacteria.
Any fish you use for cycling have to be regarded as expendable, since they will be subjected to a good deal of chemical stress to their bodies. I would never try it with rare or valuable fish.
When those pictus cats grow up (assuming, of course, that they don't die), they will be overcrowded in a 55-gallon tank, but that's a question you didn't ask.
