No pure ammonia... other alternatives for cycling?

Question

I have heard that dropping a small piece of raw shrimp in the water works, but i have some cooked shrimp with the sauce and all that in there :P

What else would I be able to do in order to cycle my tank? I have a bacteria supplement, but now I'm not so sure it will do very much. Any suggestions?

Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

You can just sprinkle some fish food into the water.  I don't think cooked shrimp will work.  I think cooking the seafood changes the chemical composition so that it won't produce ammonia.  Any kind of raw fish or seafood will work, though.  You just have to let it rot in the tank so that the breakdown of the fish produces ammonia.  You can put the bacteria supplement in with each water change as soon as you have some ammonia registering when you test.  Do you have a test kit?

If you look at the grocery store for ammonia, just look at the label to see if it has any additives.  If you have a bottle at home and you aren't sure if it's pure or not, a "quick and dirty" test is to shake up the bottle.  If it foams up it has additives and is not pure ammonia.  Pure ammonia will not foam.

Answer 2

try fish food itll produce ammonia and itll rot which makes the ammonia. or you can use this product called "cycle" it already has good bacteria in it though you can get it at walmart for $6.

edit i would suggest to put the food in a nylon sock so it wont get messy and look nasty.

Answer 3

Hi, I love your sense of humour re the cooked shrimp and sauce.

Personally, I used micro pellets to cycle my tank because they sink and are easier to keep track of.  

I didn't have any established bacteria from another tank however I would really recommend that, in a stocking as another answerer suggested.

Good luck with your cycling.

Answer 4

fish food or house hold ammonia will work too.  

Answer 5

Fishfood, a raw shimp, even a cooked one.. all will decompose and release ammonia. Heck you can even pee in the tank and it will do the deed.

Main thing is to get a small amount of ammonia into the the tank to culture some nitrogen cycle bacteria.

Last resort, add a couple of crash test danios. If they are small and the tank is large, no worries, they will survive

Ian