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To do a fishless cycle do i need to add bacteria or will adding ammonia on it's own work anyway?
I'm in no rush as I dont plan to add fish until the end if jan/feb
I have a tropical tank, would a very small amount of that water kick start it? I will be using RO to fill the tank so i dont imagine 10ml on non RO water will hurt will it?Bacteria is in the air. If you add rock, sand, water and some ammonia, bacteria will grow. Maybe not enough to support fish. You can try and find out. 10ml of salt water from one of your LFS coral tanks would help.
Oh no way it is on sale but I'm in the UK so cant order from there thank you anywayLive Aquaria has a very cost effective product also check Chewy.com for Dr Tims one & only, they have it on sale periodically for a couple of bucks to keep stock fresh. I add different types in the first 6 months of any tank.
@Sarah1990 Oh i see, well @najer is over in those parts and may be able to helpOh no way it is on sale but I'm in the UK so cant order from there thank you anyway
Oh no way it is on sale but I'm in the UK so cant order from there thank you anyway
What test kit are you using? The API kits are known to give a false ammonia reading of up to .25. Once you see your nitrite spike and go back to zero and you have detectable nitrates, I'd consider your cycle complete. Just remember to add livestock slowly, as you'll need to give the bacteria a chance to ramp up to the new bioload.Having just gone through this (i'm at 5 weeks, with live rock and still 0.25 ammonia), I wish I'd just added the Bio spira at the beginning.
I will add it to all new tanks going forward.
What test kit are you using? The API kits are known to give a false ammonia reading of up to .25. Once you see your nitrite spike and go back to zero and you have detectable nitrates, I'd consider your cycle complete. Just remember to add livestock slowly, as you'll need to give the bacteria a chance to ramp up to the new bioload.