Advice
Thank you for the welcome and the links to the resources. I definitely need some advice!
So, I am attempting to do a fishless cycle using fish food flakes and brine shrimp cubes. I've been doing this for the past month and my ammonia levels haven't reached the 2 ppm-3ppm levels. I thought I was really putting in enough fish food! I finally decided to buy Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride but I haven't used it yet. I also have a couple of plants in the tank and some bulbs under the substrate but they have not started growing, so I'm a little worried about that. I definitely want a tank with lots of plants but I didn't want to add too many just yet, until I got the hang of what I was doing.
Now, my tank has lots of fuzzy growth on the substrate and the decor which I thought was a good sign. I guess I'm wondering now if I should just put the ammonium chloride in, should I completely start over with new water and put the ammonium chloride in. I also have API Quick Start that I was going to use once the ammonia levels were up.
I would love any thoughts or feedback. Thank you all so much!
Nicole