Cycling without ammonia

[bosog]

Hi guys, can i cycling without ammonia? I'm cycling my tanks about 2 weeks now and only add some pellets only to feed the bacteria.. am i on the right side?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Tank needs ammonia to do the cycle. If you're feeding it and added bacteria, the food you're adding will break down into ammonia, then nitrite and then nitrate. Soinds like you're already on the correct path

 

[Jimbobalou622]

Hi guys, can i cycling without ammonia? I'm cycling my tanks about 2 weeks now and only add some pellets only to feed the bacteria.. am i on the right side?

Yes you are but it will break down into ammonia which is what you need for the tank to cycle

 

[Dan_P]

Hi guys, can i cycling without ammonia? I'm cycling my tanks about 2 weeks now and only add some pellets only to feed the bacteria.. am i on the right side?

The method you selected depends on the food pellets having a low carbon to nitrogen ratio so that ammonia is produced by the bacteria digesting the pellets. This approach will take a month or more if the bacteria are stingy with nitrogen excretion. Also you may never see nitrite nor nitrate accumulation and won’t know if the ammonia oxidizing bacteria have populated the aquarium.