Cycling A Tank With A Dead Fish?

Inchyally · Jul 16, 2009

I am getting a 75gal because 2 of my fish, while they are small, will outgrow this tank in a few months. My dad is against fishless cycling because he is worried what pouring ammonia into the tank might do. I don't think it can do any harm, but he is against it.

I accidentally fish-in cycled when I got this tank and all the fish died except for 3 that I still have. I don't want to put any fish through it again! So, I am wondering, could I get a dead fish (probably for free) from a store, leave it in the tank, and while it rots, let the ammonia rise, nitrites, with added mature media from my current tank? Thanks.

afishdude · Jul 16, 2009

Yes but it will take about a week until it starts to release ammonia. And the amount released isn't much at all. Probably won't even show up on your test in a 75g

Tokis-Phoenix · Jul 17, 2009

The other issue is that it will smell bad, make the water look really skanky and may introduce diseases (even parasites) into the tank. If you have another tank which is running and cycled, you could clone the filter bacteria. If not, i would advise doing a fishless cycle- your dads fears are not grounded and tbh its your tank either way.

OohFeeshy · Jul 17, 2009

Frozen prawns seem to be the norm as something to rot in the tank, presumably because they're easier to work with and cheap. Stick some in a muslin bag to catch all the bits that fall off.

Socks · Jul 17, 2009

Maybe you could dig up some resources that you could show to your dad to make him see that ammonia is ammonia,be it from a bottle or from some waste breaking down, and the advantage of the bottle being that you can precisely control the amount in the tank rather than just winging it.
Probably already tried,but thought I'd throw that out there.