Where does beneficial bacteria come from?

[ejaramillo01]

IMO the source of the ammonia in the case of the shrimp, meat, or fish food pellets comes from the protein side.
Proteins are high in Nitrogen, so for a vegetable to work as a source of ammonia, needs to be a vegetable with a high content of protein.

Im not an expert but not to many vegetables have high conecntrations of proteins, some grains do as soybeans or wheat....

Interesting

 

[Mr. Limpet]

I saw someone post the other day saying they threw in some vegetable and it worked as an ammonia source. Can't remember who said it though..

Great! I mean it makes sense, and might be something to explore as an ammo source when stuck cycling with fish or a small bio load. I don't mind the pure ammo method to cycle fishless, but a natural less toxic option is preferable to me.

Maybe peas as they ferment when turning bad (don't ask how I know lol).

Thanks!

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[Amicus]

Sorry it took me so long to reply. Zuccini would work as would anything that decomposes. The cycle is intricate as the smell you detect when an animal is rotting is the bacteria's poop, or waste material, ammonia. Vegetable matter is the same. Bacteria are everywhere and when we add a catalyst they reproduce like crazy. The veggie matter would work but the meat is a little more potent.