How To Keep A Tank Cycled?

[lesleyanndunn]

i have a 4ft tank, had some guppies in it, they are now gone

im waiting on the lfs getting me a fish in, will take about 4 weeks

how do you keep your tank cycled with no fish in it?

i was told to put in a prawn to keep ammonia in tank for filter to feed on?

how long do you keep the prawn in for? and how high do you let ammonia levels get etc?

do you do water changes while prawn is rotting? sounds gross, as my tank is in my living room

any advice/tips/info?

greatly welcomed!

 

[Assaye]

Cleanest way to do it is to get some pure ammonia froma hardware or DIY store and add that to the level of 4 or 5ppm of ammonia. This doesn't smell (not once it's in the tank anyway) and doesn't come with all the nasty bacteria from a rotting prawn. It is easy to regulate and will keep your tank cycled.

I wouldn't advise the prawn method as who knows what nasty bacteria and such will come in with it.

You'll need to test for the ammonia and make sure it doesn't go right down, as the bacteria will starve if you accidentally let their food source run out.

 

[lesleyanndunn]

thanks think i will use the pure ammonia method

dont fancy the rotting prawn smell

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, just want to "second" Assaye's post that dosing some pure (household) ammonia is the non-smelly, controlled way to just keep a biofilter going along despite fish not being there. If you've not done this before it may require you to have the little adventure of actually -finding- the right ammonia (Boots in UK, Ace Hardware in USA are good starting points) and verifying that there are no dyes, fragrances, surfactants or soaps in it. Also, you need a good liquid-reagent based water test kit in order to be able to trust that you know your ammonia levels when doing this. The members can help with any of those details, so just let them know your situation if you have any questions.

~~waterdrop~~