The Puffer Forum

So my 10g which I'm trying to get cycled is still showing 0 for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. I had the shrimp in there for 5 days then I had to take it out, it was gettin kinda nasty Now I'm just feeding the tank flakes everyday. Should I just put another piece of shrimp in the tank but put it into a stocking net or something like that? Any tips are welcome, although there is nowhere here that sells pure ammonia though, I live in a small little town in the middle of nowhere LOL.

If you're going the natural way, you might just want to get a few hermit crabs or something small, it will keep a constant bio load going to at least start something.
Otherwise Right Now Bacteria, NiteOutII, BioZyme, and BioSpira work..
Personally I would suggest RNB, it has more benefits than just nitrification.
But if you've had a piece of shrimp in for 5 days and see decay, something is definately going on, but 0 nitrates makes me wonder.. You should be seeing something showing up for nitrates before adding anything if you are not using a bacterial additive.

My 10g is a FW tank with sand for substrate. What kind of hermits would I have to get and how many? Its a fishless cycle as well. I have been using stability in it just because I already have it and money is tight here.

In my filter for the 10g I took the filtrer media from my 55g and put it into my 10g filter to.

Oh sorry, thought it was sw
You're probably good if you used the filter from an old tank? That has/had fish in it?
If you really want to be sure, add abunch of flakes, like a quarter cup. Then you'll see your levels move and you won't have to guess, just be sure to test every day