Fishless Cycle - Live Rock and Sand

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rpd

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
May 25, 2015
Messages
5
Location
London
Hi all,

I'm new on this hobby. I have bought my reef tank few days ago and I have already started the cycle, I guess. I have live rock and live sand. I was told I should add fish food daily to increase the ammonia to start the cycle. However, from day 1 my ammonia levels are not high enough I assume. Its levels is right now 0.004ppm.

How can I increase it? I have read that some people add ammonia using cleaning products. Other people keep adding fish food. However, I have always seen everyone with levels around 4.0ppm as start point for the cycle.

Can anyone help me please? I need some advice.

Thanks!
 
Personally I don't like using fish food for the ammonia source. Get yourself a cocktail shrimp and put it in some panty hose and tie it off for easy clean up. That will be a large enough source to get you through things, compared to needing a large amount of fish food to decay.


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Generally if you've used 1lb of Uncured Live Rock per gallon, thats a sufficient source for your cycle to get going and complete itself without issues.
Now, if you still want to up your ammonia level, then I'd recommend using a jumbo shrimp for the grocery store. Put it in a small net, and lay the nnet in the water. Leave the shrimp the entire cycle, this will more than up your ammonia levels. The net is to keep the shrimp from getting all over the tank when it starts to fall apart.
 
Hank and RM hit you right!
Shrimp in a net.
What test (kit ) are you using to get a .004ppm reading??
 
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