Cories to cycle tank?

[cory catfish]

hi all,
Is it ok if I use cories to cycle my 25 gallon? ;D

 

[clothahump]

NO please do not do this as it causes the cories stress and physical damage.
If you must use fish to cycle your tank use Danios.
Better still do a fish less cycle.

 

[cory catfish]

ok,
looks like zebra Danios then. (I would have liked to do the fishless cycle but dont want to use ammonia).

will cardinal tetra be okay with the zebra danios?

thanks for the reply

 

[clothahump]

You do not have to use Ammonia, I have cycled tanks before just by using a small pinch of fish food every day until you get the desired readings.
Ammonia then Nitrite then Nitrate.
Is this your first tank? 8)
Go to articles in the left hand column and read Cycling by Tim Beer. 8)

 

[cory catfish]

thanks for your help , I've always wanted to try the fishless cycle.
yes this is my first tank

 

[JWright]

You don't want to use ammonia? Huh?

I've never had good luck with the food method. I do know people who've had great sucess with it though. I've found it doesn't generate enough ammonia to build up a sufficient bio-filter. I've also found cycling with pure ammonia to be much faster, provided you seed.

Josh