This Has to Stop! Changing the Conversation About Aquarium Cycling 

*Out of all your current aquariums, how long has your oldest tank been set up?*

It’s so interesting how much goes into fish care that I’ve never even considered, which is part of the problem. Just because your fish is alive, doesn’t mean it’s thriving.

"Start with a garden" YES YES YES YES YES. I was forced to learn patience when I went away from my tanks for a month long trip. I carefully planned a barebones feeding schedule, made sure tanks were as heavily planted as possible before leaving, and when we got back we hadn't lost ONE fish. Since then, I relish the wait it takes to mature an aquarium. I love planted a garden, adding some snails, and seeing that ecosystem slowly settling into itself. I'm not so hasty to stock fish anymore, there's SO much more to enjoy about the aquarium process!

When I set up my shrimp tank, watching it season before I added any shrimp was actually such an enjoyable experience, especially when I started seeing the little microorganisms swimming around in there. I 100% agree with you about setting up environments to thrive. It's so much more than watching the colors change in three test tubes.

Cory is fast becoming legendary status in the aquarium industry and hobby by putting out videos like this.

Honestly, it was my love for plants that have helped me with my aquariums. I also don’t like using “man made things” to get rid of ammonia spikes and such things like that. I literally just thought about how I propagate plants in water to grow roots and then thought about putting them in my aquarium along with underwater plants. I was busy trying to find out how to get rid of ammonia, meanwhile I have pothos plants in my house that I have grown in water to get them to reduce the ammonia and no harsh chemicals were involved! Plants literally fix so much in new and old aquariums

I set up a tank for a family member. Told him, you can add fish after 4 weeks or once you start seeing algae. He added fish in the second week and they all died 🤦🏻 He then added fish after seeing some algae and the fish have been fine ever since 😆 Thanks for all you do Cory

My 2 cents is that a lot of beginners see the amazing tanks that others have and want that asap. The idea that it takes a lot of time and is a slow process is really discouraging for a lot of folks. I believe that the one thing that youtube has been a disservice for is that you see all the success a lot of people are having in an instant picturesque way but not the process of getting there and keeping it there for years on end. If you dig around (you have to put effort into it) you find the channels that really show you seasoned tanks and the journey they went on...but that's not the norm. Usually it's a quick video of an amazing setup with what went into the tank & equipment, but doesn't really break down the time to keep it going optimally long term. I think it's leading people to the idea that if you don't have perfection, it's not worth keeping the tank.

I had a 200 African cichlid tank where I fought nitrates for years. I converted it to an Amazon biotope, added plants, fertilizers (no nitrigen), angels- among others. Over a year the plant growth exploded and the tank looked stunning. Recently my plants started to get some browning leaves while still growing well. Discovered my nitrates were zero and the plants were starting to starve. Now I am adding Seachem nitrogen to supplement fish waste nitrogen. An established aquarium is an ever changing environment

I’ve attempted fish tanks off and on for 20+ years. I always ended up giving up on them. Why? The constant maintenance and changing numbers. Almost 3 years ago, I came across your channel and I decided to give it a go again. But this time the main difference was, I decided to use live plants. It changes the entire dynamic. Is there still maintenance? Yes. Is it as often? Nope. Am I chasing numbers like ph? Nope. I just make sure it’s stable. In my humble opinion, live plants is the key. It makes balancing the tank so much easier and quicker. Thank you for all you do.

That original “Is your tank cycled” video was enormously helpful to me. Observing how your tank balance shifts over years is a humbling, intriguing part of the journey. It’s probably the part I enjoy most!

STT! Seasoned Tank Time! My heart goes out to folks who are struggling to "cycle" new tanks. It's so much work and worry! But it's difficult to engage with them in forums/FB groups because they're just so dead-set on working through the process. They like the idea of a step-by-step with quantifiable goals, and I get that. I personally like the "plonk some plants in there and see what happens" method, but when I was newer to the hobby I wanted proof that I was doing the right things. Watching the ammonia/nitrites drop and the nitrates climb is more reassuring than "yay, algae! But what kind? Is it diatoms? Those are bad, right? Is it black beard? I've heard that's impossible to get rid of! WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THIS TANK?!?!?"

This subject applies to Vivariums and Paladariums as well. So many people plant their Vivas and Palas, and after a week or two, they introduce their animals if they even wait that long. I have seen people introduce their pets the same day as they finish their Vivas and Palas and wonder why their pets start doing badly and/or dying within a week. I used to build Vivas and Palas as my job for years, and I got the same questions. Why are my animals doing so bad in my Viva or Pala? Why did all my animals in my Viva or Pala die? My first question was always: How long has your Viva or Pala been set up? Second, always was: Did you wait at least 4 weeks after setup before introducing springtails and other cleanup crew species? Did you wait at least 2 weeks after introducing your cleanup crew before introducing your animals? If the answer to any of these questions was no. That could most likely be the problem. Your Viva or Pala needs time to establish itself before you add anything else. Once the plants start to show signs of new growth, then you can look at adding your cleanup crew. If you use isopods or other like insects, you want to wait until you start seeing babies before adding your main animals to your Viva or Pala. There is a big difference between meeting the basics for a Viva or Pala and letting it mature for a while before adding your animals. Some animals are hardy and may be able to weather the "Storm" of the settling stages of your Viva or Pala, but most won't and will become sickly and/or die in a short time.

My 90 gallon aquarium is now 8 months old and it is just NOW beginning to thrive as its own ecosystem. The plants have grown, the substrate is finally able to feed the roots, the fish that I've added all along the way (and NONE at the beginning) are happy and the maintenance cycle continues to work but it's a moving target, and I know that. I watch my nitrates every week. I spend time nearly every day sitting and just watching. I look at the plants, their leaves, their growth and where the light and shade falls. This all changes. I watch the fish and where they swim. I watch the food fall and all the fish eat and observe where this all goes. Keeping a tank is so much more than cycling, as you mentioned, and I credit my understanding of that to you and a few of the other experienced authorities who promote this hobby. The fish, the plants and their ability to be happy and thrive matter to me. It clearly matters to you too which is why I follow you and also why I buy all my plants from you! I would buy my fish there too, but I'm 3.5hrs away and Snoqualmie is a nightmare this time of year:) Your channel is a beacon to those interested in this hobby. I hope that it helps them understand the long term, delicate and enjoyable nature of this hobby and drives them to learn more about how and why these ecosystems work. It is not for those who want a quick result or a chance to brag about what they have. It's a way to learn about water and air, plants and fish and the science that explains why these details matter. Thank you for continuing to post videos like this. Long time fan here, and grateful for all you do.

I can't express how grateful I am for your work over the years. Despite losing a couple betta fish and other critters, I've never lost a whole ecosystem and with time, patience and your videos to help inform my carefully chosen changes my tanks have only been getting better and more stable. Currently I am enjoying some Neon Tetra friends and they're doing well in a tank that's been up for a few years already. My old aquarium garden is much more energetic with them.

A mistake I made was thinking my aquarium would be cycled and ready through my move. I set up my aquarium and started having fish die. Come to find out my new tap water was extremely hard compared to my old place. It had a ph above 8.5, my old place had a flat 7. It completely changed the biology of my tank and made it unstable. Anyway thank you for the upload.

Personally I've found 4 to 5 weeks is when things start to get quite stable. However 6 months seems to be the sweet spot for tanks becoming an ecosystem.

In the saltwater world they are discovering that the reason new tanks get the “ugly stage” is that micro biome in the aquarium is basically non existent and that when compared to an aquarium that’s been set up for longer with less disturbance the micro biome is so much more diverse. You’re 100% correct in what you’re saying.

I’m a beginner on a budget who just started months ago. I have a 3 gallon tank with lots of beginner plants in it (Bacopa, Water Wisteria, Java Moss, Frogbit, and a literal Pothos cliping). Before I introduced my shrimp in it, I made sure that the plants were growing well and since they’re fast growing, I never had problems with them. After a month and a half of introducing my shrimps, I now see baby shrimps (pothos grew 4 inches as well!) I never had an algae bloom or anything, algae actually only grow on my HOB filter which I harvest and give to the shrimps as a snack. Once the shirmplets are all grown up, I plan to relocate them to another tank with my first ever fish to take care of (thinking of neon tetras) I read about the nitrogen cycle and tank cycling but I honestly failed at it because I heard that you need at least 3 weeks before introducing anything to the tank whereas I only waited a week and a half. None of my shrimp died and they’re multiplying even. I think the moral here is that there is actually no exact formula for success (actually might be my plants lol). A first timer like me did it and anyone can do it too if they stick to the basics and continue learning.

So true. In other words patience. This is often overlooked and difficult to teach.

I am new to the hobby and I have one tank that I started setting up in August. Animals added in October. Additional plants (I had some at the start and kept adding) just arrived from y'all this week. :) I say "animals added in October" because that's when I brought home my betta and two snails, but I first had detritus worms and copepods show up, have me totally panic about it, do some googling, and realize ...oh, those are okay, whew! LOL. I am grateful for your videos, because you're like, the voice of reason compared to The Fish Police who condemn me for using test strips instead of the API kit (to which I have more than once replied, "Cory from Aquarium Co-op says test strips are fine, so I'm going with that"). I've learned a lot about trying to make it a balanced ecosystem from y'all, so thank you! Additionally, I've been learning about my new friends, their personalities, and what they like and don't like. My betta flares at one of the snails (pretty much always the girl and almost never the guy) too much, so I've been adding more plants, a floating betta log, and a ball in there to try and give him more to do and the snails more places to be out of his sight. The snails are nerites so they don't like a lot of food offerings I've tried and they've done a great job clearing up the algae, but they'll eat catappa leaves, Kat's Aquatics calcium chips, unsalted green beans, and white sweet potato (not garnet, lol). It took a lot of trial and error to find foods they would eat! I keep learning new things every day and I don't imagine that's going to stop anytime soon.

This is the absolute best video I've seen you make. I retired and moved to Colombia 3.5 years ago. Here there is a much larger emphasis on establishing a biosphere since we have the largest bio diversity in the world. So I have to prepare my wife when we setup our first aquarium (waiting to move into a larger home) that the aquarium will only have plants and wood and leaves for about a month before we add the discus. Though we may add a handful of tetras to feed the bacteria. Before we even bought it I tested the water so that we know what we need in a setup. No surprise here it is below 6.4 pH! Our city water comes from the various tributaries that feed the Rio Negro. And I also told her that when we get the fish they may be juveniles but we need to stick to set numbers. We may have many people asking why the tank is so empty...but we can just tell them to wait and see.

I dont own an aquarium, nor I am thinking of getting one, but I admire people that strive for better conditions for animals and pets, even if I’m not in the community thank you for this video

On some of my Planted tank social media groups, I am constantly hearing about adding ammonia to a brand new tank, testing twice a day, values of ammonia and nitrite and nitrate, adding more ammonia, testing obsessively again and again, freaking out about variations in ammonia and nitrite (you keep adding ammonia... what do you expect?). A lot of the advice is about adding more ammonia, and more testing, more expensive test kits, etc. I have NEVER added ammonia to a tank. I have however added gravel and/or filter media from a well aged, cycled tank, purchase live aquarium "soil" products, or additives that contain a mixture of live bacteria, etc. Waited 4-6 weeks before adding fish to a planted tank. Using a couple of cheap fish to "cycle" a tank, and watching their health to see if balance is being achieved. This video is a welcome reminder to "Just calm the hell down and do some research" Thanks, I will be linking it in response to panicked cries for help in some of the groups I belong to. Thanks

I'm in the process of setting up my first tank. I've got it in my head that I will plant it and cycle the tank for two to three months before introducing livestock. Think I may have conflated the water cycle with a larger process so I was a bit confused watching the video at first. lol

Thank you for continuing to be a wealth of knowledge in our community!

I set up my tank (14 gallon) three month before with aqua soil capped with gravel, an old filter pump, many different hardy plants, duck weed, frog bite and bladder snails. Some weeks later I added cherry shrimp and also some ostracods from water in a glass that I had filled in a nearby river two years before (basically a ecosphere). I read the book of Diana Walstead beforehand and understood a good part of what and why I was doing while building the tank. All turned out well, I never had any algae or some of the other problems I keep hearing about beginner tanks. I don't even have to do water changes and the shrimps even take care of whatever accumulates between the gravel so I don't have to clean. Only maintenances is cutting the roots of the froh bite weekly as they grow like crazy. It's just beautiful to witness how everything balances itself out if you care to provide a diverse range of species in the tank. Even if I'm kind of overfeeding it doesn't do anything to the water parameters as the frogbite just sucks every eccess nutrients up like nothing and the bladder snails simply mutiply and eat away any leftovers quite quick. And now shrimps are breeding and first babies have hatched :) Also some hydras appereard. I discover something new every week in there!

As a new fish keeper, my most challenging thing was to figure out why my aquarium would get pH swings. I assumed my tap water was fine. I knew nothing about KH/GH and concentrated on ammonia and nitrites because this is all that is talked about. I had to do emergency water changes, sometimes twice a day because my pH would drop from 6.8 to 6 in a matter of hours. I wish fish stores would ask customers to bring a sample of their tap water and aquarium water prior to buying fish. Or maybe have a system in place where if you do bring your wanter samples you get a small discount when buying your fish. I could have known the root cause of my problem faster and avoid stress to my poor fishies. Thankfully, I kept on top of things and tested my water multiple times a day because I work from home. I realized about 3 weeks later that my tap water is very low on KH/GH, combined with drift wood and fluval stratum, you see how bad things would get. A simple solution was crushed coral in a media bag, some seachem equilibrum/alkaline buffer mixed in my new water bucket to use for small water changes. But I didn't know all of that at the time and my fish suffered for it. We all know about ammonia and nitrites but pH/KH/GH isn't talk about enough. It's important to also educate about how objects in the tank can also interact with water parameters. If I had known about my soft water I would not have purchased fluval stratum. This aquasoil was recommended by my LFS but they didn't know my tap water issues, neither did I. I would have boiled my driftwood to try and get as much tannins out and put crushed coral from day one. I think a beginner series about all of this information, maybe in multiple parts, would help. What are water parameters, what happens if their values changes, how to test for them, what objects can interact with your water parameters, etc. What to do before getting your aquarium setup (understand your tap water!!!), etc.

What plant is growing on the glass @3:58 ? Really curious

I have been using your methods and products fornthe last 3 years. My tanks are stable and enjoyable. Thanks for all the good advice.

I'm not a tech guy, don't own computer, therefore I had never heard of cycling a tank before I found Aquarium Co-op's channel... I guess mine have always been well seasoned because I generally get all my plants planted and let them 'grow in' for at least 1 month, usually two... And I always start my 'new' tanks with old tank water... Thanks again for another great informative video...! Keep it up...!

I wish I had found your channel when I first started 4 years ago! You’re great at explaining things plainly, why you feel they work, showing the behind the scenes, your failures and successes. A lot of other sources act like everything they do was perfect the first time, every time and you’re obviously doing things wrong if you don’t have the same results.

We also need to change the "water change" mindset in the hobby. People on the interwebs... including very popular fish keepers ... use water changes as a crutch for poor fish keeping practices. Or... they believe water changes are the cure all for every problem. They don't want to actually investigate the cause of the problem, they just want a quick fix that makes them believe they've solved the problem.

I hope this message gets out there far and wide because THIS is what people need to know about the hobby. You've done so many wonderful and helpful videos over the years, but this might be one of the most important. Thank you.

I take sort of a hybrid approach. I take a bunch of frogbit and dwarf water lettuce from my established tank and throw it in the new (in my case quarantine) tank along with a double dose of easy green. Then I give it about a week for the plants to settle in since they tend to lose a few roots and get stressed when transferred. Then I take one of the two sponges from my established Sicce 400 and stick it in the new tank filter. I usually change the water a couple times the first week after adding fish just to be safe. Even when ammonia and nitrite look okay. I use easy green to keep the nitrate around 10 ppm for the plants.

Cory, what I have noticed on RU-vid is another of influencers show this is how to set up a tank. But the majority seem to forget that a newbie does not have a used sponge filter they can throw in the tank. So they end up watching a 10 to 20 minute video on how to set up a tank. I have not seen one influencer do a time laps with date stamps on how to set up a well balanced ecosystem tank. I have been out of the game for three years for work and I have recently set up two 75 gallon aquariums, mainly to get my step son evolved in the hobby. A lot has changed in three years. I used to get on forums and ask to buy trimming and plants that people want to sell. That has seem to just go out the door. My step son is 11, so he is short on funds, we tried the aquarium clubs but they seem to be stagnant from covid no one returns emails or messages. I feel sorry for him some days cause we are doing a fishless cycle. So far it's been 5 weeks of feeding a tank every day with nothing in it. He has saved up 10$ and went and bought a plant. He sits there and looks at it and says to me when can we add fish. I say to him when the cycle is complete, the tank is seasoned, and when u have a forest growing in your tank. Then he looks at my tank with just substrate and water and says I will have a better aquarium than u cause I have a plant. Sorry got off track. But yeah we need some time laps videos on how to set up a well established tank.

You’re right. As a seasoned aquarist I know that a complete nitrogen cycle is just the first step toward a mature aquarium. I sadly have to admit that I have not been a great communicator of this truth as I help new hobbyists along. I will do a better job of explaining that we need an ecosystem to keep our fish healthy long term. Thanks for stepping on some toes. It was needed.

Cory - your videos always make so much sense. No fluff, just info that is easy to understand and delivered in a way that seems attainable to a majority.

It's all about balance. I now see myself as a bacteria keeper. The whole picture of nature is really hard to show someone that's never been in nature. We have these pristine aquariums, but when you go to a creek it looks filthy . It's the way nature works.

I need some freshwater clams for my tank... lots of particulates after all the critters eat. Just built an anti-crayfish baby fish and plant section... but every add-on adds a new problem to fix... Clams and some more guppy grass seed is what I need! And probably a 25% water change today.

It's great to see these conversations being had.

I feel like I'm getting into this at just the right time. It would be such a different hobby to start without all this information you've shared.

Man this is such a great conversation. For the longest time it seemed like people didn’t focus on the fact that this is a habitat you’re creating. I run a reef tank and I am still constantly dealing with stability issues a year and a half in. I just keep working at it though knowing that it will continue to mature and get better.

I find that gardening and houseplants go together with aquarium keeping. Thank you Cory for a great talk again

I battled BBA for years. Add this, add that, do a 25% water change every week, do 50% every fortnight, and so on and just couldn't win. Now I have no BBA whatsoever. Why? Because I just left the tank to do its own thing for a year. Bog wood, live plants, a thick substrate and a 50% change every couple of months. Many have shouted at me for doing that, but I base it on my nitrate levels, which only build up every eight to ten weeks because of the plants which are now thriving whereas before I was struggling to keep them alive. My tank really feels like an ecosystem now, a home for my fish, not just an ornament to make my living room look nice.

Absolutely love my fish (all smaller peaceful nanos except a couple Pearl Gourami). Love all the movement, different colors, shapes, patterns, behaviors, etc. But I end up studying and enjoying my plants even more (all from your online - all perfect, all still living, so thanks for that!!). Seeing a Pogo need trimming every month, watching my Tiger Lotus bulbs blow up, Swords that constantly put off new shoots and no holes, or Java Ferns that produces new plants is much more interesting to me. Seeing plants flowing in a little bit of current or moving a plant from one tank to another and finding roots nearly 8 inches long and white as a ghost is awesome. Totally agree cycling is important, but people tend to forget "cycled" really only means cycled enough for the load you currently have. When you add big fish or even more little fish you are stressing out your "cycle" so have some patience and only add in increments. Maybe a little extra bacteria culture during water changes isn't a bad idea either. Patience and enjoying what you have is too often forgotten in a quest to have more RIGHT NOW! Great video. Thanks as always

I love this video style - voiceover with aquarium footage. Beautiful and effective.

Thank you your videos are very helpful I lost 18 of pigmy corys because of a nitrate spoke I didn't catch. I think you have to be ok with failure in this hobby as long as you keep pushing forward and learning from your mistakes.

My first ever aquatic tanks not even as old as this video. but heres my story for anyone looking for them or maybe looking to make a tank themselves looking for inspo its at 8 almost 9 months old now and its doing really well thankfully. First month I just planted and added chlorine free water every day or two (was quite diligent on this one cause I didn't wanna mess with me microfauna) after the tank was filled where the above tank plants could get a drink hung them all up and waited for the 1 month mark. It was about this time I started really seeing them... all the little dots, dancing ones spinning ones some well limpets are pretty borning but great to see lol. Now it was time tho the java fern had lost some but was growing some leaves the super reds were... well still pretty red but my lighting was definitely not up to snuff. Originally had a 60watt older style grow light and a 60= Led new style but both were bulbs and I just dont think they point the light right, There made to cast more or something cause even tho I dropped to a single 50watt= semi fancy over the tank led bar thing you could visually see the difference. The top 1/3 of the water not a problem looked about the same under both if not bright under the bulbs, but the bottom of the tank different story there were crisp shadow lines not just gradients of darker to lighter. Plants like light, whod of thunk it RIP back to tale. The plants all in all were doing well tho specially my monster (its my huge momma monstera) and it was time for more and some livelyness, picked up 4 ramshorn 3 CRshrimp and Mr mustachio my handfeedable mystery snail plus subwassertang for the CRS and this big African bolba thingy cause... cool plant 🤷‍♂️ time goes by everyone was doing well minus 1 scrimp (thanks Mr Mu for ninjaing the poor CRS my mans jumped from haftway out the water straight on the guy like rude holmes) around 3 to 4 month mark tanks looking good theres little snails everywhere all the die of from plants just super fuled them I guess (including some bladder snails that must'vecame with a plant). Both CRS are huge and brightly colored and Mu's shell was coming in truly gold so pretty 😍 the worms scuds and dreaded hydra populations were starting to get a bit much specially the latter was time for some backbone. 3 adorable little water puppy albino corydoras MY HOMMIES one of which to my dismay is really good at getting into spots he cant get out of 😂 filter quarter inch away from the side glass at the top looks like a good spot to lay... CORY JUST FLAILING his tail head stuck lol. Another 3 months go by more gens of ramshorns Mu's rasp feels so odd and found out that I got haft as many cory as I should have so was really happy to see the three of them school and bomb around the tank together I join in as a fingerfish occasionally, plants all but super red doing good they died after getting dug up a couple time's sadly. It was here about the 6-7 month mark I got the light bar a bag of CRS friends a airstone couple of amazon swords a bundle of moneywort and some red roots, Oh plus a hitchhiking guppie baby. With all that now we come to well... now, theres a colony of CRS bombing around and playing with the bubbles all day the corydoras swim against the filter outlet like there dang salmon and Mu seems to love the Jacuzzi esk feeling 😂 just facefirst into the water stream like a dog in a car. Little feesh is lot less impossible to see now and such a good little scudsy hunter everything but those super reds has made it the Java bolba amd my monster have blown up so much I'm thinking about splitting the java. Its about 7 inches of rhizome with 2 to 3 leaves every inch and the monsteras already haft a foot over the light and its already made 5 or 6 splits. The bolba imma just let get dense less I see it causing issues for the inhabitants. All in all its been such a great project and has really helped me through some stuff love all my swimmers cheers to all and take care ❤

I set up my first aquarium in ages AFTER watching all of your videos about seasoning, etc.... and let me just say, I will NEVER do it any other way! My plants (which I also bought from Aquarium Co-Op) and my fish are incredibly healthy - my testing levels are perfect - and I have never had a tank become so healthy and stable! Started back in May of this year!

I've been keeping tanks for 20 years. Just took delivery of a 350g acrylic for some big South american cichlids. I've found very established tanks have a really heavy earth/dirt smell to them. It takes quite some time to get this smell going I've found. I know it's a bacterial smell, but even in newly cycled tanks, they don't smell like a well established tank. That deep sand/gravel bed houses those anaerobic bacteria, I believe they take much much longer to colonize than your nitrifying bacteria. I think that's where a lot of that earthy smell comes from.

100%true,people need to ask better questions and answer more properly!!!

Good Talk. I didn't know stratum took 3 months to cycle in.... Answer to one problem.

I’ve had my tank set up for over a year now. I swear it’s just one big science project. I had a big problem with blue green algae for months, plants really helped but then they started to die off. Im still playing around with new fish and plant supplements. Balance is key

Gosh! This dudez awesome! Amazing content, excellent presentation and great editing! Cheers from a fan in Bengaluru India 👋🇮🇳🙏

I have learned a lot from your channel, and I just learned one more thing! I am planning to set up a 20 gallon planted aquarium and trying to decide what to use in the substrate. I'm so glad you said that about the soils having ammonia in them. I have two other aquariums that have gravel substrates, so building a planted tank is a new thing for me.

I have a lot of algae in my tanks, but am just now getting a handle on some parasites and stress induced cotton wool disease, but my tanks never got cloudy. My 10gal got set up in August. I've been in the hobby for over 30yrs, literally doing tank maintenance as a toddler. I've put fish in a tank that had been running for 24hrs and been ok, but it's not preferred (ADHD impulse issues are real). I'm still learning. The 10gal had mostly marbles as substrate, which was fine when it had 15watt incandescent grow bulbs. But since I got LED replacements, not great. Shiny grows algae. Then I put in a Japanese Trapdoor snail, who proceeded to have babies. Awesome because it's exciting, but they can hide and it makes it hard to clean. Slowly swapped marbles for gravel (marbles were cleaned and repurposed for a 2gal drum bowl I'm gonna play with), losing a few baby snails in the process (possibly hiding as well, they are good at it and there are tons of places to hide). I haven't lost a fish in this tank, even with parasites. Lost 1 nerite due to having to take them out because of meds, but fish all survived!

God I remember this fiercely elite debate even on forums when I was a child on Wondows 98.

Yeah, I love it when I ask my customers, "how long has your tank been running?" And they say, "oh, it's cycled. I added the tank drops, and and I added the seed, and I did it a day and a half ago... Its a 10 gallon tank, and I want neon tetra ×5, some barbs, and I'll definitely need one of those sucker fish to clean the tank and eat the fish poop." .....😓😩😫

Always giving out the best knowledge for free! Great video! Thank you!!

This is the very first channel I watched when I decided I wanted guppies, and I’m so very glad it is.

1,5 years by now. But I kept fish at my younger age, and 1,5 years ago was when I got back to the hobby. I have learned so much since then. When I was young, I did water changes on schedule. Now I have learned what to look out for and when I need to make water changes. And on the topic of cycling, you have a good point. I can "cycle" an aquarium by squeezing an old sponge in it. And that is fine for putting the fish in. But I need to be on alert for at least a couple of months if not more. Because things can change fast in a not mature aquarium. My advice is to look out for the small creatures that are scooting around on the glass surfaces. When you see quite a lot of them, then you know that you have a fully established ecosystem.

My tank has been set up for about 5 months, but 2 months with fish. My water is soft as we use a water softener. Ive put in 1/2 tsp of equilibrium from seachem for 2 water changes. My fish dont seem to like this and 2 of my platys sit on the bottom of the tank for several days afterwards - still hungry and will come out to eat, but hiding and stressed and just not acting normal. Can I put egg shells in my tank to get calcium for my fish and plants without drastically changing the PH and hurting the fish?

I remember when I was having issues with one of my fish having a bacterial infection, people kept focusing constantly on the cycle - kept asking why my nitrates were near zero (it was because I was doing daily water changes to try and fix the problem) and insisting that the cycle must be the issue. It can be pretty frustrating that that's the focus - did you accidentally break your aquarium's nitrogen cycle - even when I explained why the parameters were reading the way they were!

I really appreciate the recap of all these individual discussions! I have seen the individual videos and livestreams but having the recap is great!

Don't beat yourself up too much over this. Most of the responsible Fish Tubers have told us the same thing. Use filter media from another aquarium, use the quick starters from different companies, only start a new tank with a very small amount of fish, check the water every day for a week in the beginning, look for algae to form, use live plants... You're doing a great job, and I'm so glad I discovered you and Rachel and Prime Time Aquatic when I was restarting with aquariums a few years ago. I now have 4 nano tanks with happy healthy prolific fish and happy blooming plants which give me joy every day.

Wise words, man!

Yessss!!!! Thank You Cory so much for making this video. What you said needed to be said esp now a days in this hobby.

I stopped using my tap water conditioner (dechlorinator) over a month ago because the tank seemed to get a little sluggish whenever I did. Now I just top off my tank with tap water that hasn't been conditioned at all, and so far everything is fine. I have a filter in my tank with biomedia, and the filter just picks up any dirt that the plants don't or can't deal with, and makes the water move enough to avoid the tank being stagnant. I have mystery snails and ramshorn snails to do the big waste clean up, and inherited some acroloxus snails and ostracods from the plants that help with algae removal and bottom feeding. There are some bladder snails in the tank too, I had more but their population became too large too quickly so I removed them and am gonna sell them to my local pet store. I'm keeping some because they are adorable and are also helping with the waste management. I did have a fungus issue in the tank two weeks ago, and my betta did start white spot disease. The fungus actually died/disappeared on its own as fast as it appeared, my guess is the snails took care of it, and I treated the betta with pimafix. The tank handled the pimafix fine, there was zero clouding of the water. The betta cleared up super fast too, probably because I caught the white spot disease early. I do trim the plants to avoid overgrowth, and occasionally remove the water lettuce if it started to prevent the UV light from penetrating the surface. Otherwise I leave the plants alone. They are helping to balance the tank more than anything else in there. The way I have always seen it, is that you have to let things do what they are meant to do, and not try to control or force things to function differently. I think some hobbyists are control freaks and care so deeply about the aesthetics of the tank that they forget about the actual health and stability of the aquarium. Also, "Is your tank cycled?" is an unanswerable question. There's really no way to determine if a tank is cycled. You can determine it is balanced by watching the ecosystem thrive, you can test the water to determine if the pH, ammonia and nitrate and nitrite levels are appropriate, but you cannot define "cycled".

What are your thoughts on letting dead fish and plants and other matter stay in your tank to decompose vs removing them from the system? This would be for a planted tank

I set up my 29 gallon aquarium 11 months ago. Having done this previously about 35 years ago, I knew that I love a well-planted aquarium with a focus on a balanced ecosystem. It's taken a few wrong turns to find out what plants grow the best for my aquarium, getting the right lighting, proper feeding, etc. It is now lush and beautiful with tons of thriving plants, and my fish love it as well.

Great video. I’ve always kept planted tanks and always will. To me plants are as important as the water

I don't think there is right or wrong... It is a matter of being a dedicated aquarist or a pragmatic beginner... It all depends on the type of owner, regarding setup-time and care-time...

I couldn't agree more! A cycled tank for me are the ones that have been set up for a year. I learned the hard way when i went back to fishkeeping and lost a number of fish when i added more livestock in a 3-4 month old aquarium. After such i didn't buy any fish until it reached 1 year and everything went smoothly. No fish death and water parameters were all good.

Its the term that's the problem. No-one cycles their aquarium. The aquarium cycles itself if its set up properly or even close to properly.

Videos like this are why I've been Subscribed to Aquarium Co-Op for years. Love these videos and how truly educational they are, and the love for the hobby AND the fish that is expressed through these videos. It's also thanks to these types of videos that I've managed to keep a beautiful tank for so many years. Thanks for everything you guys do Cory and all those at Aquarium Co-Op! Keep up the great work!

Thank you ❤We don’t have chlorine in the tap water in Germany and otherwise it’s really good as well. But it helped to watch this video

This is why I still havnt started marine I'm still learning how to run a freshwater setup lol

I think the girl at PetSmart watches your video because she asked me the same thing, and then she gave me 7 fishes extra free of charge. 😂

Also when i set up my tank the decor is for the fish i.e to hide or caves and crevices a dont care if i dont see them as often as i like i love knowing they have there own space in the tank where they can retreat and feel safe especially when family visits and kids are running around and such

i hate the term cycling an aquarium period, its just wrong. we establish beneficial bacteria for the nitrogen cycle, we arent cycling anything.

Wow what a great video Cory

I believe successfully teaching customers how to run a healthy aquarium starts with the items that are visible on the shelf in the shop. Give it a natural look. Use natural materials. Get rid of most of the water conditioners and magic liquids that promise impossible things. Get rid of artificially colored gravel. Get rid of most of the plastic decorations (some kinds of plastic caves still can make some sense for some species). Have a low tech, low maintenance aquarium in the shop that just runs for years and years and use it as a living example. Take your time to explain the benefits of having a limited number of fish species in a tank, compared to a very mixed up community tank. Learn to say no when a customer wants to buy an animal that will not have a good life in his tank.

As someone who works in a big box pet store I wish this was more common knowledge a fish tank should run like an ecosystem and that takes a lot longer and a lot more work than just running a filter for 5 days, keep doing your thing and inspiring others

"An aquarium is so much more than the nitrogen cycle" is such an important tidbit! There was a video a few years back where you said something that has stuck with me: it was something like that you should judge the health of an aquarium by how well it produces life. And life is so much more than just fish! I started getting in to this hobby about two years ago. Began with a ten gallon. All of your advice has made my aquarium a resounding success. Instead of waiting for the tank to be "cycled," I waited until I saw algae growing, until my java fern began flourishing, and until my dwarf saggitaria began to spread. Once I saw this life thriving, I felt comfortable adding fish. But you also taught me not to overdo it! I chose eight ember tetras, knowing that their bio load would not be relatively small and not overwhelm the bacteria culture I had carefully cultivated on the sponge filter. Two years later, and where I'm at now is mind blowing. I started with two dwarf sagg, now there are seven. Those eight ember tetras have since become thirteen; I would never have guessed any fry could survive in a with so little room to hide! But with all that life growing and thriving, it shows that, whatever I'm doing, it's working. Things just take time, we have to have patience! It just goes to show that being patient, and taking everything one step at a time, is really the best thing you can do to promote a healthy aquarium.

My God, the number of times I've been asked if my tanks were cycled.... I don't even bother answering the question anymore, I just ask them if there are any other suggestions because of course I do the chemistry tests, but I also check if my plants are growing, if my fish are colored up or not, how high or low the diatom concentration is, is there algae? And every time I pose these on top of the chemistry, people are baffled only for me to discover it was something simple I could have avoided by double checking.

I have learned so much from you. I have followed but it’s my first time commenting. My oldest aquarium has been set up for 2 years now (75 gallon). Thanks for all the great content. I really love the hobby, it has been my outlet since I set them up. !

Very well said. I've always tried to ask questions like this to customers for the exact reasons you mentioned. I also try to tell others on reddit they need to rethink how they try to help... still working on that front, but people often bring you up in discussions so hoping this helps others help better.

Thank you 🙏 finally all I ever see is is your tank cycled lol so much more than that very well said

❤❤❤ Best. Fish Video. Ever.

omg!! im so excited to start!!

Nothing has given me more patience than setting up a marine tank. Such a slow process, but so rewarding. It's only two months old and still has so far to go before it'll be a fully functioning ecosystem- but seeing the shrimp and copepods flying about gives me endless entertainment.

The number of times I see people on forums asking why their fish are dying when "all the parameters are good", with no other context about what they did with their tank...

I'm so happy I didn't impulse buy a tank (let alone a fish)

I have gone to very specific forums to ask a question along the lines of rearing fry of a rare catfish I'm breeding and sometimes the first response will be "Is your tank cycled?" It's become a meme at this point 🤣

this a video that has needed to be made for so long. thank you wish more of the people i see with tanks could have watched this earlier

Great video 👌🏾

It’s nice to see more advanced thoughts on what makes what I call a “mature” tank. Can’t exactly do a build except say time and patience.

I just always just use the walstead method. Soil layer on the bottom, lots of plants, mild movement in the water and aeration no filtration.

Same for weekly water changes. Complete waste of time and resources.