Dictating...of course not. Strenuously expressing your opinion maybe, but not dictating
Hell, I agree with the fishless cycle thing, but you try explaining that to a person who just -promised- her four year old child they got to pick out fish that day. Most people accept a fish-using cycle because it allows them to have something, anything, whatever in their tank to show off to their friends. When they come back and complain to me "My fish died" I can look them dead in the eye and say "how long have you had your tank and how many fish?" two fish every two weeks, I tell them, and if the count don't add up, snagged! Then they get all belligerant and huff and are more prepared to listen before wasting more money on dead fish. People all over the world like to prove that the LFS employee is just your typical moron, and as you know, there are more moron LFS employees than intelligent ones.
I don't offer seed gravel or water to start a fishless cycle with. Heck, I don't even put my own shop water into my tanks at home. Gravel is not only a great home for the helpful bacteria, but it also is a wonderful place for all those nifty little parasites as well, and any retailer that says "oh, my tanks don't have disease" is totally blowing it out their rear. Nearly all reatailers have disease (like ich for instance) of one sort or another in their tanks, it comes with the territory. It's just that the really good ones are better at cleaning it up before the customer sees it (ie yanking the dead fish before the store opens). Last thing I need is somebody complaining "your gravel made my fish sick..."
Bacteria in a bottle? I've used the stuff, I don't put much stock in it. I doubt it would help cycle a tank any simply because the bacteria could die of starvation if there is no ammonia/nitrite in the tank to feed it in the first place, provided it was alive in the bottle when you bought it.
Nope, about the best fishless cycle I've seen is exchanging biowheels off of Marineland filters (or sponges off of others brands) that have been run on established tanks for a year or so, and plopping one or two fish in there for a few months. Keeping in mind, however, the biological filtering capacity is only good for the current population of fish.
Besides, how much fun is a hobby where you don't make your own decisions? I take care of enough of my own tanks, I don't wanna be taking care of nobody elses<G>.
~~Colesea
