cycle question

I've seen differing amounts suggested. The bacteria will grow at the same rate but if you keep a higher level of ammonia you will end up with more bacteria and can presumably fully stock your tank when your cycle is complete. I used .5 when I fishless cycled my tank but I didn't want to stock it fully all at once. I like to take my time :). You are right wataugachicken this thread does suggest 5ppm. It's all in what you want to do. http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57791&highlight=fishless+cycling
 
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honestly, it's not an immediate process. you'll probably see it start to go down a bit after a few days, and after a couple weeks, maybe less, the bacteria will be able to get rid of all of it in 24 hours. keep dosing at 3ppm though, until you see nitrites drop down to 0 as well. you may want to add another handful of gravel or more squeezings (the actual filter cartridge would be better) after the ammonia-using bacteria do their job, to add some nitrite-using bacteria. otherwise those will have to grow from scratch b/c they starve in that in-between period before nitrites are produced. the whole thing can take 3-5 weeks, and that's just an estimate. once nitrites and ammonia are both down to 0 24 hours after dosing ,then you can do a big water change to get rid of nitrAtes, and add your fish. nitrates should be definitely below 40, most people try to stay below 20 to be on the safe side.
 
Ghostshrimp. If you could get some actual filter media from your in-laws, that would speed thing up. I didn't see a reduction in ammonia for about 3 weeks but I had no way to seed my first tank. That cycle took 6 weeks. My second tank was seeded from the first and took 3 weeks to cycle. The main thing is to be patient and just keep watching! Make sure you always use dechlor. :)
 
Yikes! 3-5 weeks...........I'm tempted to do a fishy cycle with the "cleaning crew" that I want to put in. That'll consist of mainly a bunch of cory's, khuli and pakistani loaches, snails, possibly some ghostshrimp and maybe some dwarf suckers. If I do a massive water change to bring the ammonia level way down and intoduce the cleaners, doing water changes when necessary and feeding with flake and algae tabs or blanched spinach/lettuce, will this be faster, especially since I've already innocculated the filter with a huge amount of fish poo? I added about a liter+ of the grossest water I've ever seen........probably 2 inches of solids at the bottom of the bottle. Also, do plants "eat" nitrates? I was thinking about introducing them at the end of the cycle for a few days to chew up the nitrates.

Thanks a lot!
 
you have a choice between doing that first massive water change at the beginning, and daily changes of around 50% for over a month to keep the levels down just so you don't have to stare at an empty tank for a few weeks, or just being patient and only doing one water change at the very end.
your choice is your choice, but don't forget that once you add those fish , you are responsible for keeping the conditions safe for them.

while plants will use up some nitrates, you shouldn't depend on them to do tank maintenence for you. still gotta test and change water.
 
i think ill go for around 1-2ppm -lol- thanks for all the help :read:
 
i will i still have quite a bit to do though -lol- i wish i had a digital camera so i could post pics :o
 
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