has anyone used africans for cycling a tank? i was reading a website which lists a whole heap of fish suitable, quite a few cichlids included

There is no reason at all why you couldn't use Africans to cycle your tank. Just use the cheap ones in case you have a problem with ammonia and nitrites

Just fishless cycle (use pure ammonia). It's worked for me so far, just do a quick google to see how it's done. And a bottle of ammonia is usually heaps cheaper than fish.

I would say africans would definitely be hardy enough to cycle a tank.

How big is the tank deno?

Generally once you have one tank running you should never have to cycle a tank because you can just steal some media from existing tanks filters..

m Dad in Masterton wants a just few africans in a 3 ft tank. There is no other tank for him to pinch media from. He's a bit long in the tooth and short on patience to be trying a fishless cycle

My fishless cycle took less than two weeks...

If he came over regularly then I would just chuck him a fish or 2 each time and let the tank cycle itself.. As long as he doesn't overfeed it should be fine in a 3ft tank..

Obviously you would have to be careful with what you give him african wise for a 3ft tank, and younger fish or fry would be more ideal as they would create less bio load and also be less aggressive when new ones were added..

as ryan said tank should cycle with a few africans on board

just do 20% water changes every 3 or 4 days and keep the bioload down