any veiws cycling with amonnia ?

[pipatic]

any veiws cycling with amonnia ?

[flfirefighter13]

Ive heard of people doing it, but dont see any real advantage over just letting the cycle take its course or useing LR that is established and cured. My tanks are set up with 90% dry sand, 10% live sand, at least 1lb per gallon LR and up to 1lb [er gallon Base rock and I have never had to go through a full cycle, as long as the bioload is added slow I have had no problems. Patience is key but it really doesnt take long if you use LR an some LS. Then again if you planning on useing a wet dry or something it may help, im not sure. I do recall a book saying it used to be common to use Urine to start a tank cycle......... not sure Id want to try it but someone may have some experince

[pipatic]

hi thanks for replying,
i dont plan on using l.r in the main tank or sump, to cycle the tank,
i have use the amonia on setting up f.w tanks, with great and fairly fast results


the amonia replace sthe fish poo(amonia) without actualy adding the fish,
and so the bacteria converts to nitrite an so on which you know already,

urine in the tank, my hose would reach that far lol

[flfirefighter13]

You could also just throw a dead shrimp in the tank, that will kickstart the cycle as well. I cant see any reason why ammonia wouldnt work, maybe someone will chime in here:)

[pipatic]

thanks for the replys, yes would be nice for others to join in too

[rnelson]

I've used ammonia several times to kick-start the cycle in my freshwater days......it speeds up the cycle and does no harm to any fish (naturally ;) )

Be sure to use the purest ammonia you can find. The kind you will find in the grocery store will not do well as they add surficants to it....the rule of thumb is: if you shake the bottle, there should be no foam.

I went to a cleaning supply store and got mine, it's 26 percent. Just be careful when you pour it, it will burn your eyes.

[king1522]

I have used the ammonia method to cycle and it worked just fine. Good if you only have base rock.

[pipatic]

thank you for the replys, as i thought i'ed ask incase something /bacteria might be diff as its been salted water.

[pipatic]

what iam think of is a sump full of alfa grog ,and 10-20kilo of l.r in the main tank