fishless cycle for cold water tank

[terri06]

Hi guys hoping someone could help me i got my tank set up last nyt and turned my filter on i also put some fish food in to hopefully get my cycle started my question is if i put some media out of my canister into an established canister for a week will this help my cycle along and help benefical bacteria colonise on my pads

 

[Deckape]

Hello there. Absolutely is the short answer to your question. When doing a cycle, fishless or fish in, old media is priceless. The more the better without interfering with your established tank. There is a link in my signature that will answer your questions about fishless cycling in detail. Eco23 wrote it to assist folks who choose this method of cycling.

 

[Deckape]

Also if you have extra decorations or even gravel from your other tank that will help also in jump starting your cycle. The key is not letting them dry out. If they are dry, then the beneficial bacteria aren't alive anymore.

 

[librarygirl]

Deckape covered it Yep that will definitely help. Actually the longer you can leave the new pad into your established canister the better. Good luck!

 

[terri06]

Hey guys so i put some fish food in last nyt to kick start the cycle till i get some ammonia how long will it be before i see some results in the ammonia starting to rise

 

[librarygirl]

Hey guys so i put some fish food in last nyt to kick start the cycle till i get some ammonia how long will it be before i see some results in the ammonia starting to rise

Hm, I'm not sure. I haven't tried doing a fishless cycle with fish food. I'm not sure how long it takes to decompose. You could test tonight (which would be 24 hours) and see how high your ammonia level is. Also using the fish food method can be very messy. How long would it be until you can get some pure ammonia?

 

[terri06]

So guys thanks for all your replies i tested my water an hour ago and the ammonia is at 0.25 does anyone no why the ammonia isnt higher with the decaying fish food thats in there

 

[terri06]

So guys thanks for all your replies i tested my water an hour ago and the ammonia is at 0.25 does anyone no why the ammonia isnt higher with the decaying fish food thats in there

 

[eco23]

I've also never used fish food...but obviously it takes time to decay and slowly leech ammonia. Unfortunately I don't know the amount or time frame it requires. If you can't find pure ammonia, adding 1 or 2 raw shrimp into the tank can work much cleaner and as efficient as fish food.