Faramir's got the good skinny on Ammo-Lock. Just be prepared for some "false positive" NH3 readings. BTW, AmQuel sequesters the ammonia in a form the nitrifiers can still take up, so it doesn't compromise the "cycling." See If Ammo-Lock does the same. (There's a website listed on the bottle.)
Stirring the gravel's not so much the problem as taking the top layer, where the nitrifiers depend on lots of oxygen, and plowing it under, where they'll stifle. All decay of organics produces NH3, so cleanliness is next to godliness. Still you do need some sources of ammonia. The fish may be enough.
The "nitrite spike" isn't essential. It's an artifact, produced byb the fact that nitrite-respiring bacteria are a little slow to reproduce and a little intolerant of ammonia, at least it would seem. With easy cycling, as in a fully-planted tank, there's very little nitrite spike, IME.
Stirring the gravel's not so much the problem as taking the top layer, where the nitrifiers depend on lots of oxygen, and plowing it under, where they'll stifle. All decay of organics produces NH3, so cleanliness is next to godliness. Still you do need some sources of ammonia. The fish may be enough.
The "nitrite spike" isn't essential. It's an artifact, produced byb the fact that nitrite-respiring bacteria are a little slow to reproduce and a little intolerant of ammonia, at least it would seem. With easy cycling, as in a fully-planted tank, there's very little nitrite spike, IME.
