Is It Possible To Cycle Tank Whilst Away From Home?

[acg200587]

Hi,
 
I'm totally new to tropical fish and I am planning to purchase a tank and start preparing it for fish. I have heard lots of different things about the cycling process and my question is this - I go on holiday in 3 weeks time for a fortnight, if I get my tank now and begin the process will it be possible my tank will be cycled by the time I come home or will it not work if I'm not there? Very confused....

 

[Ninjouzata]

Unless you have someone at home who can test the water and add ammonia when necessary, no.
 
You'll want a liquid test kit. API is a popular brand, you want tests for ammonia & nitrite though pH & nitrates would be good too. This can be found online for cheaper usually but you should also be able to find it in your LFS.
 
You'll also want some ammonia which you can find sources for that HERE. Then you'll want to read THIS and follow it to the letter. You may need to read it a few times for it to click. If you have any questions feel free to ask!

 

[TwoTankAmin]

The odds are this will not work. If you had enough time to get the tank fully cycled before you left you might have a decent chance. That way the loss of bateria while your were away would be minimal and getting it back to full strength would only take a few days. But without seeding or using a bottled bacteria, the odds are not good that you can have the tank fully cycled in just 3 weeks. And this is what will be the issue.
 
You can give it a try. When you come back, do a big water change and then add that 3 ppm of ammonia and see what happens. If you have any bacteria left they will certainly jump start the process when you resume it even if the tank is not at the same level as when you went away. Besides, why ruin your holiday worrying about bacteria?