Will This Work?

[airbusa1]

Will trying to cycle a filter by doing this work,
Leave you're main tank withought water until the day you get you're fish(maybe start the tank a a few days before you get the fish to let the temprature be at the desired temp without the filter in it.)
Get you're filter and lt it run in a small tank 0-3 gallons,
Then add pure ammonia to kick start the cycle,
Keep adding this until you're filter has cycled, 0ammonia 0nitrite 0-40nitrates.
This will keep the cost electricity from running you're lights, heater down.
Will this work?

I am not going to try this but just wondering you know


AIR BUSA 1...

 

[waterdrop]

The volume of water the filter is running in does matter because its that volume that determines the total amount of ammonia you put in. The -concentration- is the same across all size tanks but you have to put more ammonia in for a larger tank, thus you are ultimately encouraging a larger set of bacterial colonies. The fishless cycling method we do here is preparing a particular volume of water to be able to handle the "rough one inch of fish body per US gallon guideline." Once the filter "qualifies" it will have colonies that are large enough to support a stocking of that size. If you were to cycle your filter is a small body of water, its colonies would be much smaller and only be able to handle a full-stocking for that smaller size. You can't increase the ammonia concentration or you will just get the wrong species of bacteria.

~~waterdrop~~