Tank Cycling

[elliotulysses]

I don't mind doing the slight water changes. They are not so much of a hassle as I have a pretty nice siphon and bucket, along with good supply of treated water. The pet store owner recommended guppies at first, but then said just to use food during the cycling process when he saw the look of horror on my girlfriend's face. However, I wanted to kind of keep them as a good indicator of when things are going right/wrong. I am concerned about the bacteria, but the guppies are supposed to be disease free/treated so they don't carry too much. If guppies are bad, I've seen people cycle with mollies?
I do have a complete testing strip, which shows nitrate levels, but it does not have ammonia. That is something I am going to have to set up.

And are you sure they are ok an an uncycled tank? I am more concerned about doing them harm than some little guppies/mollies!

Anyways, this is the current enclosure



For some reason my images are being very small. I will try to show you them in the tank, but I don't think you'd be able to see them too well .
Each are about 1.5" max at the moment.