Unsure about cycling

[FishOwner]

I am trying to cycle an 18.75 gallon tank in a fishless cycle using fish food. The most I can get ammonia up to is 0.50 ppm. Should I just add pure ammonia instead? I'm starting to run out of fish food and the gravel looks unsightly.

 

[ZxC]

pure ammonia is best yes.

 

[FishOwner]

Just bought the ammonia, thanks!

 

[Tankereasy]

Keep in mind you don't need much pure ammonia , here's a good article on doing a fishless cycle: https://www.algone.com/fishless-aquarium-cycling. Id highly recommend using Seachem Stability for your beneficial bacteria, and dose daily to your tanks size, along with doing a full water change before starting with using the pure ammonia. test every two to three days, once the ammonia drops to zero and you have plenty of nitrites you'll know the cycle is moving right along. Don't over do water changes as it can stall a cycle, 20 - 25% weekly or so.

 

[FishOwner]

Ok, sounds good! I've already done a gravel vacuum/water change before I did the ammonia. I've read some other articles that live bacteria aren't necessary, so I'm going with just the ammonia.

 

[Tankereasy]

If you don't dose with some form of bacteria, its going to take months, literal months for the tank to cycle. It'd be silly to not pick up a bottle of some kind of quick start, or Seachem Stability and start dosing daily. This will be the foundation of the bacterial colony and help turbo charge the whole process.

here's some good facts on getting the cycle going:

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/freshwater-fish-tank-cycling-how-to-prepare-for-new-fish

 

[FishOwner]

Ok, I'll try to grab some from Amazon. Thanks for the help!