fishless cycling with food

[LestWeForget13]

tank girl recommended that i start a new post so here goes....

im cycling my tank now finally and she recommended to start the ammonia in the tank by adding food everyday, but she didnt know how to measure or how u could tell if it is starting so please help if you have experience with cycling with food

 

[Menagerie]

Any decaying food will release ammonia. Are you going with decaying shrimp? I don't believe there is a required amount. What size is your tank? Did you read http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=15 ? It's for SW, but works on FW.

 

[LestWeForget13]

i have a fifty gallon tank and i guess ill do the shrimp deal and once i put the shrimp in will i have to test the same day?

 

[Menagerie]

No, I would wait two or three days until you start testing. If you are just putting one shrimp in, then I would wait 5 days before testing.

 

[chrisethompson]

I started a 20 gallon and cycled it with a pinch of food each day. I put in about the right amount of food for a couple of fish. Perhaps 4-6 small flakes. That seemed to work nicely. It cycled fully in about 3 weeks. I did a deep gravel vacuum, then I then added 2 fish each week for 4 weeks. The ammonia and nitrite never moved.