This is just a strange observation I have made that I thought I would share and get some input on. I have developed a rather odd way of cycling and keeping my tanks that I wasn't sure if I wanted to share since it's not the traditional way of keeping fish but here it is. I could never get a fishless cycle to work so I decided I wanted to create mini-ecosystems in my betta aquariums and have huge success since. No filter or cycle just live plants and bubbles. I even have one aquarium that has no bubbles or filter and the two bettas in there are just as healthy as the rest. I also add my fish only a day or two after filling it up. I use prime for two or so weeks with water changes until everything is balanced and the water tests completely safe. It has worked for me very well since I jumped back into the hobby recently. Before this second try at the hobby, I only kept tropical fish the traditional way and had terrible results. Even now, I can't keep my mom's tropical fish alive and they keep dying one by one despite using the exact same method as with my bettas. The tank is going through a cycle with tons of filtration, water changes, and prime. Even after doing a water change and adding more prime last night a guppy died in the night and another is in the process of biting the dust. All these fish were bought from Petco and looked fine when I got them but are dying. This happens to me every time I try and set up a Clearwater aquarium with tropical fish. I get fish, they look fine, then they die one by one with only a few survivors. I had a fully cycled 40-gallon tank in my last house and every time I would add new fish, half would die and the other half would be fine even if the water tested perfect and there is already established fish thriving in the aquarium. Any ideas? Are cheap big box fish just doomed to die or have I just been trying to keep fish the way I am supposed to instead of keeping them the way that works for me?
