Fishless cycle questions

[allikins]

So I recently bought myself a tank. :D Yay. I've got myself a filter, heater, air stone filter thing, and some gravel. I've also bought test kits. Don't have any decor for the tank yet seeing as that's kinda pricey. :[ Have to wait 'till next pay check but anyway.

I tried finding myself pure ammonia and well, that doesn't seem like it's gunna happen.
So I was wondering if anybody's done a fishless cycle just using food [I have freeze dried blood worms] or shrimp? If you have done either one - how hard is it to keep track of the amount of ammonia you're putting in and how long does it take? From what I've read with the pure ammonia it takes about a month, is it the same?

[Welsh]

Originally Posted by allikins

So I recently bought myself a tank. :D Yay. I've got myself a filter, heater, air stone filter thing, and some gravel. I've also bought test kits. Don't have any decor for the tank yet seeing as that's kinda pricey. :[ Have to wait 'till next pay check but anyway.

I tried finding myself pure ammonia and well, that doesn't seem like it's gunna happen.
So I was wondering if anybody's done a fishless cycle just using food [I have freeze dried blood worms] or shrimp? If you have done either one - how hard is it to keep track of the amount of ammonia you're putting in and how long does it take? From what I've read with the pure ammonia it takes about a month, is it the same?

I have never done the pure ammonia thing but I have cycled my tank with fish food alone, although I prefer to cycle my tanks now with filter media, deco and substrate from an already estabilished tank, I did that along with feeding fish food and I cycled my 6.5 Uk gallon tank in a week

[Zeetrain]

You could try asking your LPS or LFS for filter media to use to seed your tank.

[allikins]

Originally Posted by Zeetrain

You could try asking your LPS or LFS for filter media to use to seed your tank.

Does it need to be the same kind as mine?

[allikins]

Originally Posted by Welsh

I have never done the pure ammonia thing but I have cycled my tank with fish food alone, although I prefer to cycle my tanks now with filter media, deco and substrate from an already estabilished tank, I did that along with feeding fish food and I cycled my 6.5 Uk gallon tank in a week

that sounds way better than a month :D

[Welsh]

I was still impatient though waiting for it to finish lol. Luckily I had way too much sand in my 12 gallon so I took what I needed which was about quarter of a bucket maybe. lol

[allikins]

Originally Posted by Welsh

I was still impatient though waiting for it to finish lol. Luckily I had way too much sand in my 12 gallon so I took what I needed which was about quarter of a bucket maybe. lol

lol This is my first tank and I don't know anybody else who has one. So. :[

[Welsh]

Another thing most people do is use a piece of dead shrimp of fish, when the shrimp/fish starts to decompose it will release ammonia into the water. If your squeamish about this then you could put the dead meat into a piece of pantyhose so its easier to remove when your done with it

[allikins]

Originally Posted by Welsh

Another thing most people do is use a piece of dead shrimp of fish, when the shrimp/fish starts to decompose it will release ammonia into the water. If your squeamish about this then you could put the dead meat into a piece of pantyhose so its easier to remove when your done with it

I'm not squeamish about it. I was thinking that I like that idea best. Could I buy a shrimp ring and place one of 'em in there? xD

[Welsh]

Im not sure what a shrimp ring is but depending on the size of your tank you can use 1-2 cocktail shrimps for the cycle