Starting the cycle again?

[joeyg2100]

I am going to be starting the cycle of a new 30 gallon tank. I am going to put media from my established tank in the filter to start out the cycle. I am going to be leaving town for a week, and I would like to keep the bacteria in the filter media, so what do I need to put in the water to keep ammonia in there? Is there some kind of ammonia drops you can put in the water? I am not going to have fish in this tank. Thanks for your help

 

[LunchBox]

if you're doing fishless, dose the tank up to about 5ppm. then you're supposed to put in like 5 drops a day until nitrites appear (If I remember right). if you'll be gone for a few days you may be ok just dosing it up and redosing it when you get back.

 

[joeyg2100]

can you pick up ammonia at any LFS?

 

[LunchBox]

actually I think you can get it at a grocery store. the key is tto look for labels that say "clear ammonia". make sure it doesn't have any detergents or perfumes or anything in it before you buy it. The cycling article i nthe articles forum goes into more detail on what exactly to watch out for

 

[joephys]

Here is an idea, get some of those ammonia absorbing crystles (I don't remember what they are called. Soak them in ammonia to get them full of it, then put them in the tank with some salt. The salt causes them to expell the ammonia that is stored in them. I don't know how quickly they loose the ammonia in them, but it could be worth a try. Maybe someone here knows more about it?

 

[hmt321]

If you are hust starting a fishless cycle why not just dose it up to 6 or 7 ppm just before you leave?

I just got done with doing a fishless in a 40 gal, the 1st week my ammonia stayed at around 6 or so untill like day 9 or 10 when my nitrites showed up then i had my spike at around day 13 or 14. my cycle did stall when i had a ph drop, the used filter material may speed things along I am not sure.