cycling a aquarium using ammonia?

[Ontheway]

If you over dose ammonia, you still get a successful cycle, but in the end, you will have a ton of nitrates. Skimmer cannot remove this. So, be careful when starting with ammonia, stay on the low/safe side.

 

[gtbarsi]

If you over dose ammonia, you still get a successful cycle, but in the end, you will have a ton of nitrates. Skimmer cannot remove this. So, be careful when starting with ammonia, stay on the low/safe side.

There are guides for the dosing, and you should always test before and several hours after dosing ammonia, that way you can track how quickly the tank bacteria is managing the addition.

No matter what when you are done with your cycle you will need one or more large water changes to get your nitrates down. If it is not the case then you probably have not cycled well and you are going to have another cycle spike when you add your first livestock.

 

[gtbarsi]

I think Tim's writeup is a reasonable one to read on ammonia cycling, whether you choose to use his bacteria, or wait a bit longer for it naturally. Your refugium mud will bring a lot of bacteria with it:

http://www.drtimsaquatics.com/resources/how-to-start

Are you a fan of mud in the fuge? What do you consider the drawbacks to using mud?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Are you a fan of mud in the fuge? What do you consider the drawbacks to using mud?

I'm not a big fan of mud. I doubt it is a big problem, but the only plausible benefit is release of trace elements, and I don't think mud is smart enough to know what your tank might need.

I'd rather be more controlled in what I'd add, such as iron.

 

[CodyRVA]

+1 : Started cycling my 46 bowfront with 100% pure ammonia from ACE. (***No Detergents***) I added a cap full a day until my ammonia hit around 6-8 ppm. Within a week it was gone and she was cycling. Never had issues with Nitrates or anything like that. IMO it was a very clean and effective way to cycle.

 

[Salty1962]

I did it and used the DR Tim's method. Details on the web site and he sells a pure ammonia solution that is stable and safe. I tried to find a good ammonia at ACE, Home Depot, Loews, and Walmart. My local Ace could have gotten some in but the whole guessing game sounded crappy. Also used his One & Only to get the process started and the cycle was fast and painless.

Once I started adding livestock there was no detectable mini-cycle and everything has been working well that way.

+1 on Dr. Tims. I used both to get the cycle going on my present tank. Also used to verify that my tank was stable enough to handle ammonia spikes.