fish-less cycle w.o adding ammonia

[Chelseachuy]

so i started my 29 gallon tank today. added some decorations from my ten gallon over but i don't feel comfortable with adding ammonia i know some how i will mess this up but i heard u can add fish flakes ? any advice ?

 

[Aspencer]

Ammonia is the purest and most consistent food for the bacteria you want to grow.

 

[mfdrookie516]

fish food is inconsistent and can cause excess phosphates leading to algae problems. it also takes a while to start producing ammonia, so it's hard to guage when to add more. Ammonia is the best way IMO. Just add a couple drops at a time... worse case scenario is you over-dose and have to do a water change to bring it back down.

 

[allaboutfish]

i heard shrimp are good(i know what you mean about the ammonia i couldnt find any and even looked at ace hardware they all have sufricant in them)

 

[Chelseachuy]

is there a certain brand of ammonia i should be looking for what kind should i buy ?

 

[mfdrookie516]

just pure ammonia... no mention of perfumes, cleaners, surfactants... and shake the bottle.. if it doesn't foam up like soap, its ok.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Ammo, is ammo, is ammo. Pure ammo just makes it really easy.

It takes longer, but raw shrimp, fish food, anything that rots will work (i don't recommend meat though). As it's rotting it continues to generate ammo and you need to watch that it doesn't get high, or if it's been in for a while that it doesn't foul the water too badly. I used left over peas on a tank the had minimal seeded material and it worked just fine. No matter what you use, put it in a stocking (washed/rinsed with hot water) or fine mesh bag.