Fishless cycle questions (1 Viewer)

[tthorn125]

Has anyone here used Clear Ammonia from Cub foods (Supervalu) to start a fishless cycle?

Everything I've read says to use "clear" non-detergent ammonia. The Supervalu brand seems to fit the bill.

On the label, it says water, ammonia, and surfactants. Soaps are surfactants, however not all surfactants are soap.

 

[kieffer_5]

Use a cocktail shrimp or two

 

[tthorn125]

I was just interested in speeding things up a bit. Straight ammonia would be faster than waiting for the shrimp to rot.

On that note, would there need to be a carbon source at the same time to help culture the beneficial bacteria?

I've done the wait 2 months thing in the past.

 

[TwinCities Dan]

Some Stability from Seachem?

 

[CaptainGreg]

Just pee into your tank:biggthumpup:

 

[tthorn125]

I do have the kegerator downstairs next to it... :beerchug:

 

[David Grigor]

Unnecessary risk IMO. Just use some fish food or table shrimp.

 

[CaptainGreg]

Adding amonia will still take time for the bacteria population to grow.

Pee in your tank is not a joke. It contain all the stuff that bacteria use to live on. (Red Neck Solution)


Use the bacteria in the bottle from LFS and ground up meat of any kind and dump it into your thank. Put a large circulating pump in it and let it run for a few days. (Better than the Red neck solution).

Lot of stuff that you can use for cycling your tank in 24 hours. I did it before. Lot of bacteria in the bottle with many brand name. I though I saw a thread here with Dr. Tim of some sort bactria in the bottle.:beerchug:

 

[Stoneyj33]

I believe raising the temperatures to the mid 80's is believed to help establish bacteria quicker. You can cycle a tank with a small piece of live rock. You can put it in the sump, wrapped in a media bag if your worried about pests in the display.

 

[RJREEFER]

As mentioned above, not worth the risk. If it wasn't meant to go in the tank, don't put it in there. I cycle my new tanks using a cube of mysis and the recommended dosage of BioSpira. It works like a charm for me and I usually can start with my first fish at week three. This is starting off a tank with dead rock BTW.

 

[sleeri]

I've always been told live rock and a cleanup crew are enough to take care of the cycling. Are you planning on adding live rock? Anyone else heard about just using live rock? Been so long since I started my reef I can't really remember if I used fish or not.

 

[reeflover]

I've used ammonia water from Fleet Farm in the past. It works, but you still have to wait just as long for the cycle. Food breaks down to ammonia in the same day so no time savings that way.

 

[tthorn125]

I already have 60 lbs. of rock in there that had been curing in another tank for around a month. The other tank was just saltwater, heater, and a skimmer.

I had added a small amount of ammonia, but now I have 3 raw shrimp in pantyhose tied down with one of the rocks. The only thing that should cause a cycle in the tank would be the 150 lbs of new sand.

 

[00kitty]

what about adding old water from water change on an already established tank?

 

[kieffer_5]

No the bacteria is mainly in the rock sand or similar. A good thing to do is to put a sponge or filter in a pre existing tank for a few weeks then put that into your tank

Btw.... Another thread resurrection!!