The fastest cycle ever

[brendanh]

Hello all,

With a bottle of "Cycle", some rotting fish meat, and temps around 86, my cycle lasted only 1 1/2 weeks or so. I'm ridin' at 0 NO2, and 0 NH3. However, I dont want to introduce fish for another week or so. I've read all this mess about cycling but it doesnt mention how long you have to wait after fishless cycling before the bio filter starts dying.

So, if I feed the bio filter OLD OLD flakes, will this keep it viable for another week or so, or is that unnecessary?

The NO2 peak happened about 4 days ago at about 2-3 ppm. The NH3 peak was a week before that around 3 ppm.

Oddly enough, the chloramine in my local water supply would probably feed the biofilter. After using AQUA PLUS on it, the concentration of NH3 goes to about 1 ppm.

What's the carbon source for the nitrifying bacteria in a fishless cycle?

 

[silentskream]

if you "feed" your empty tank fish food until you put fish in it, i think you'll be fine.

as far as the carbon goes, user Happychem and i are testing something overnight to see if baking soda will help speed up the process (baking soda is sodium bicarbonate) in my cycling 55gallon.

here's a little more info on that experiment: http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=29448

 

[Neo Sithlord]

You could just pick up a bottle of strait ammonia (I used Wal Mart brand). Only like 2 dollors just add afew drops a day to keep the cycle going.
-Neo Sithlord

 

[TKOS]

The bacteria will start to die off after 24 hours. So adding food of some sort is a must. Also make sure to do a water change before adding the fish.

 

[happychem]

The carbon source for nitrifiers is bicarbonate (HCO3-)