The Puffer Forum

Whatever bacteria is in the filter media will die off with ammonia to feed it.

Quick question, if I put in one of my smaller cichlids into the 10g would that help out in ctcyling it?? Just curious.

Please NEVER cycle with fish.

I was just alittle curious but im gonna test the water today and see where it stands. Next weekend I'm hoping I'll be able to get some fishy's

Your tank will not cycle without an ammonia source. Read the 1st 4 articles: library/category/water-filtration/

I took one of my filter bags from my 55g and gave it a shake into my 10g to help out with the cycle. I dont have any other source for ammonia though. Will this be ok for the cycle?

Have you read those articles? All you are doing is "seeding" the tank with bacteria. Without ammonia for food, the bacteria will die off quickly. You really need to understand the nitrification cycle.

Is there any other options to get an amonia source? I'm broke atm but was wondering if there is another way to get ammonia into the tank without have to go out an buy it, thanks in advance PP I'm new to the fishless cycle, and haven't had to cycle a tank in over a year

Would I be able to add a raw frozen shrimp to my 10g to help get ammonia? Someone in my area suggested it, does it actually work??

Yes, it should but it's gross to me. Generic ammonia should be <$1/bottle.

I guess I'll have to give the shrimp a try, my hubby works seasonal here and its been raining lots so he hasn't been able to work hence the no money thing. It sucks but I do have lots of shrimp, my 2 gsp's love em . So im just gonna try that and keep testing every 2 days I think and hopefully I can get my fishy's next weekend. And thank you PP, I probably sound like a broken record with all my questions, i just wanna do this right and you guys here give the best advice

Just put some fish food in there! Throw a pinch in every day just as if you were feeding a fish.

It will still be smelly, but it won't be nearly as horrible as a rotting chunk of shrimp!

And just putting in a pinch of fish flakes will work then for the amonia part??

Yes, basically all you are doing is pretending there is a fish in there producing waste. If there's no waste for the bacteria to eat, the bacteria will die and when you put a fish in there, the ammoina will burn/kill it because there is no bacterial to change it to safe nitrates.

So yes, putting in some food will basically do the same thing, you're just skipping the step of the fish digesting it.

Then you can keep an eye on the parameters. There should remain 0 ammonia/nitrite & some nitrate & before you add the new fish, do an 80% WC.