Cheers mate, that clarifies the situation a lot and reiterates what the cycle is for, in detail.
So, in conclusion, it is obvious that we do not want to cycle the tank for the octo with the octo, as you may kill it.
N.B. If somebody is an octo keeper they may well be in the same mind frame of an octo and just think of fish etc as food, so ultimatley not mattering if they suffer slightly before becoming food (STOP!! dont think for a second im relating anybody or everybody or even me for that matter with this view, it is merely a theory!!! so get off your horse an drink your milk, i havnt finished yet!!!), althou they may not and wish to give good conditions to fish.
Right so supposing they do feel for the fish (which for clarification is where i stand , but hadnt really thought about it in detail until igoRulse raised it, as im unfortunatley not at that stage yet, not throu lack of tryin!!)
well then we are talkin about a fish less cycle, cause its a bit silly to stress an octo (somthin you wanna keep) an not fish (somthin you dont/might - depends)
so if were talkin about a fishless fella, then we are talkin about either
1) uncured live rock
2) wee in it
3) chemical stuff spoke of above/below (depends which side of the world your surfin the net on)
4) cocktail shrimp
5) fish cycle
6) im sure there are more
answers
1) some dont want this as you loose lots in the rock
2) only david blaine wee's in a glass box
3) dunno anythin about it but sounds borin
4) those poor little shrimp!!! sacraficed for the same reason a bunch of fish would be, but the fish would be given the chance to fight for their lives. Never the less a good idea, but borin, although kinda one of my more likley routes
5) painful, possibly for the fish, risk of death (RISK), not very nice if your into looking after animals an fish an all that larky magarky. Although exiting cause you have somthin to look at.
6) cant comment cause i have no other means
Ultimatley, igoRulse has raised a good debate, and one he/she feels strongly about, which is cool. However, there is no hard and fast rule here an it needs to be recognised that people are given the choice to act as god (im no bible basher incase you wondered!) in some respects with life. So it is up to them at the end of the day.
If a person can live with a borin tank with a couple of rotten maky little shrimp off the deli in there tank then fine you set a good example. If you cant you have to accept any sufferin that comes your way, as what goes around comes around.
There you have it! thats my two pence worth an you can do what you like with it!
I like the idea of lookin at a couple of clowns etc wonderin round the tank for a while, but i dont ( a lot! ) like the idea of seein them suffer just for my later enjoyment, im very tempted by the cocktail shrimp idea, but can i face the boredom. dunno?
best thing is i dont have to think about it at the mo cause im tryin to sort other stuff out first.
if i use clowns...send your mates round with baseball bats an we'll see!! if i dont send your mates round with franchensense an mere (or however you spell it!!)
as a closin note, as i know ive gon on a bit, maybe the best option is to cycle with a cocktail shrimp for the few weeks or whatever it takes to cycle an then for newcomers to marine (i.e. me) then throw in some fish to practice keeping parameter?????????????
but tonight Mathew..............my name is Trevor Brookin an im sittin on the fence!!!!!!!!!!!!
:P :P :P