My girlfriend bought me a tank for christmas after I had mentioned to her my desire to keep fish. I've been slow to set it up but finally have everything ready, I just need to rinse my substrate and and the decorations(I picked up some driftwood and slate ate the local pet store) before I start cycling.
I would like to do fishless cycling and have been reading up on it, the only problem I have is I don't have access to an already cycled tank to borrow media or substrate from. I also do not really trust the products sold that claim to contain the bacteria needed after reading many bad reviews(not to mention that I can't find a single store that sells them).
Anyways, my question is this: Can I do a fishless cycle without adding the bacteria ahead of time? Do I need to do anything differently? How does the time to cycle differ?
Thanks
First time cycling my new tank
4 posts
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natalie265 - Site Admin
- Posts: 746
- Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2008 9:48 pm
I haven't heard anything good about those products either. You can still do a fishless cycle even w/out borrowed media. It will just take longer. Not sure how educated you already are on the subject, but here is a good link if you need more info: http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861
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tokyo - Posts: 7
- Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2010 2:28 pm
Thanks, that link was helpful, but now I have another question.
What do I do if I can't find pure ammonia?
I have looked everywhere, checked every grocery store, pharmacy, hardware store, and even gas stations with no luck. I can only find ammonia with dyes and purfume or clear ammonia with surfactant. I have read that some people recommend leaving a small amount of fish food in the tank to raise ammonia levels in the tank but many people have also said that this is a bad idea because it can promote disease.
What are my options here? Am I going to have to just suck it up and do a cycle with fish?
What do I do if I can't find pure ammonia?
I have looked everywhere, checked every grocery store, pharmacy, hardware store, and even gas stations with no luck. I can only find ammonia with dyes and purfume or clear ammonia with surfactant. I have read that some people recommend leaving a small amount of fish food in the tank to raise ammonia levels in the tank but many people have also said that this is a bad idea because it can promote disease.
What are my options here? Am I going to have to just suck it up and do a cycle with fish?
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natalie265 - Site Admin
- Posts: 746
- Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2008 9:48 pm
Are you in the U.S.? If so, i have found a couple possibilities. Dollar Tree stocks something called "Pure Ammonia". I haven't read the ingredients, but assume it is what it says it is. Or, i found this online company that has a product called Clear Ammonia.
http://www.cleanitsupply.com/p-5270-aus ... us500.aspx
It doesn't list the ingredients, so again, i'm just assuming it is what you are looking for. Seems a bit expensive though. You might try your own online search and see if you can find something cheaper. I just searched for "buy cleaning supplies".
http://www.cleanitsupply.com/p-5270-aus ... us500.aspx
It doesn't list the ingredients, so again, i'm just assuming it is what you are looking for. Seems a bit expensive though. You might try your own online search and see if you can find something cheaper. I just searched for "buy cleaning supplies".