CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

OK, I have heard so many conflicting reports about cycling a new tank. Many websites say that it can take weeks to months to cycle a new tank, some say just throw in some hardy fish and they will cycle it for you, others say do NOT use fish instead use the "fishless" cycle, adding janitorial ammonia instead. But two of my LFS people have said do NOT add ammonia to your tank, just add water, something to de-chlorinate the water and a condioner such as Cycle and then run the filter for three days or so, check the ammonia, ph, nitrate, nitrite, ect levels every day and then you can put fish in. (maybe in a few more words) I own a 55 gal that is set up for lake malawi cichlids. I have crushed coral and shells mixed with some appropriately sized pebbles for substrate. We have many rock caves set up as well and have decided for now that plants are a no go. I have many pictures if anyone would like to see the set up. I have a Marineland Penguin Bio-wheel 350 filter and a Marineland Visi-Therm Stealth Submersable 250 watt Heater. Our water is crystal clear. So far I have added tap water to the tank and have had it running 24 hours. I added Aqua Safe with BioExtract to the water to remove the chlorine and chloramines in the water. We have naturally hard water so the ph and alkalinity are great so far. I'm sorry for the length of this post, I just want to make sure that everything is in order and to get the real scoop on cycling. I have already bought my fish, they are being held at the store until my tank is ready and I can bring them home. I have also been told to bring home some of the gravel that was in teh tnak with the fish and this will help you establish the biological filter. I just want to do this right and not bring them all home throw them in and risk killing them all. I'm not sure why I have been having so much trouble finding the right info...
Thanks so much in advance for any responces!
~steph~

First of all, be careful what advice you take from lfs salespeople.  I've found them to be wrong way more often than right.  Fishless cycling is entirely possible -- use clear ammonia with no detergent addatives.  On the other hand, it'll take a few weeks, and you've already bought the fish.  I'm sure you're anxious to get them in your tank.  Adding some gravel from an established tank is a time tested way of introducing bacteria in enough quantities to matter.  As far as biological accelerants such as Cycle, I've tried a few of them.  I found Cycle to be worthless.  Got a decent result with Stress-Zyme.  Haven't tried Bio-Zyme.  Be sure and get some water testing products -- they're cheap and effective.  It really helps to know what's going on with your water, so that you can follow the course of the "cycle". 

Only add a few fish at first.  No point asking for trouble.  Once you get your fish in the tank, add some salt to the water -- a teaspoon or so per gallon is suffiicient.  This will help detoxify the nitrites that are bound to be present after a week or so.  Be diligent with your water changes as well.  This might stretch out the length of time for the cycle to complete (or it might not), but will make life better for the fish in the meantime.

Here's a post from our FAQ's  you might find helpful.  Good luck with your fish!

http://oscarsfishtank.com/discuss/index ... ic=16962.0

Thank you so much for your reply! Yes, I have bought the fish, however, I am surely not bringing them home until my tank is ready. My reasons were they were extreamly healthy and responsive fish. I picked specific fish out that I had wanted in my tank. The woman at the store was very knowledgable about cichlids just threw me for a loop about her ideas on cycling. They told me to bring in a sample of our tank water prior to bringing the fish home and they would double check to make sure it's safe.
Thanks again
~stephanie~

This is the story I read, feel it is very good. The knowledge that this web is presenting is something we can actually do.