How to keep a tank cycled without fish added

[vyro25]

Im new to the hobby and I’m currently cycling my first tank (currently on day 2). It occurred to me today that I should also set up a quarantine tank. There’s a good chance that my DT will complete the cycle well before I finish quarantining my fish.

My question is how would I keep the tank cycled without any fish added to the tank while I quarantine my fish?

 

[Dan_P]

Im new to the hobby and I’m currently cycling my first tank (currently on day 2). It occurred to me today that I should also set up a quarantine tank. There’s a good chance that my DT will complete the cycle well before I finish quarantining my fish.

My question is how would I keep the tank cycled without any fish added to the tank while I quarantine my fish?

The nitrifying bacteria are unlikely to die without food. Overtime the population might diminish. If you wish to keep the population up, add ammonium chloride, say 0.2 to 0.5 ppm once a week. And if you are curious about how the bacteria are doing, test the ammonia depletion rate right after you add the ammonium to convince yourself the “bugs” are still there.