Is instant cycle only possible with saltwater tanks and not freshwater tanks?

[homersimpsonlikesfish]

I have been watching the show Tanked and I am wondering how they can instantly add over 50 fishes in a newly built saltwater aquarium. So does this mean that you can only do this with saltwater aquariums and not in freshwater aquariums?

 

[Rubymoon286]

Brett actually did an interview with George from Youtube. In it, they go over a lot of things that are "wrong" with how tv portrayed what they did, including adding way more fish than ended up staying in the tank, and the "magic of tv" where the tanks were cycling prior to the big reveal with all the fish even if tv made it look like it all happened in one day. It's a great interview

 

[WheatToast]

I have been watching the show Tanked and I am wondering how they can instantly add over 50 fishes in a newly built saltwater aquarium. So does this mean that you can only do this with saltwater aquariums and not in freshwater aquariums?

They did the same thing with a few freshwater aquariums as well, it's just that they worked with saltwater aquariums much more often.

 

[homersimpsonlikesfish]

They did the same thing with a few freshwater aquariums as well, it's just that they worked with saltwater aquariums much more often.

Is it okay then to use a lot of Quick Start in a new tank so that I can add 10+ fishes right away?

 

[WheatToast]

Is it okay then to use a lot of Quick Start in a new tank so that I can add 10+ fishes right away?

I would avoid attempting an instant cycle. It can be done but it is much safer to instead be patient (patience is key in all aspects of aquarium care) and let the cycle proceed as normal and monitor water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) to track how the cycle is progressing.
Cycling guide by Melev's Reef

 

[sfin52]

I've used media from an established tank and never had a cycle. Just don't fully stock the tank.

I have a 100lbs in a brute trash can. If I where to start a tank with that rock. I would start dosing ammonia and establish a large load of bacteria. That would instant cycle a tank.

 

[WheatToast]

...in a new tank so that I can add 10+ fishes right away?

BTW how large of a tank is this, what fish are you planning on adding, and are you planning on quarantining these fish?

 

[Rubymoon286]

I've used media from an established tank and never had a cycle. Just don't fully stock the tank.

I have a 100lbs in a brute trash can. If I where to start a tank with that rock. I would start dosing ammonia and establish a large load of bacteria. That would instant cycle a tank.

I do something similar, in salt, I'll take rock from my sump to put into the new tank then replace that rock with new dry rock, and for freshwater, I run whatever filtration I intend for the new tank on an established tank. In a pinch I've used Dr. Tim's one and only freshwater for a client's kid because the tank was happening whether or not it was good for the animal.

 

[reef guy 56]

Just add rock and other stuff from an established tank Quickstart works reasonably well. Let’s best used on tanks that you added one or two fish in, also coralfish 12G annoys me by how dumb he is, and how many myths he spreads he put a refugium with copepods and amphipods, and then he put the skimmer in the downstream of the refugium if you want the beneficial crustaceans to get in, you have to put the skimmer upstream of the refugium. Also, bacteria don’t populate the column water they require surface area and the actual amount isn’t going to go down. It’s like 2 ppb in terms of the bacteria in the water column so you don’t need to add bacteria after you do a water change because you’re not really removing that much there’s no difference.