Fishless Tank Cycling

I've been reading on the net about the use of ammonia to cycle a tank without fish. I have only been able to find household ammonia with a surfactant added. It does not foam when shaken, but I do not know if this will harm fish or not. One article said to use charcoal in the filter to remove dyes, perfumes, and surfactants after the tank cycles and another says to not use anything but pure ammonia without a surfactant. Does anyone have any experience with this method? Where did you get the ammonia? I do not want to sacrifice a fish to see if it is harmful, so I may have to start without the added ammonia. I understand it will take longer and I need to shorten the process as much as possible to relieve an overcrowded tank.

If I am reading your post correctly then you already have a cycled tank. If this is correct you can circumvent having to wait for a cycle by adding old filter media to the new tank. This seeds the tank with the beneficial bacteria without having to wait for the ammonia and nitrates to go through their gig. You would need to add fish to the tank though because the bacteria will need the ammonia and nitrates to feed off of for extended survival.

Thanks for the info DanTheMan! How long will it then take for a typical seeded tank to cycle?

It technically wont cycle, as you are skipping the steps leading to the bacteria multiplying. The answer to your question would simply be instantaneously.

Thanks for the help. I just brought 47 baby Angels to Memphis from St Louis and all are doing well. I will watch the water and test it daily to stop any suprises.

Yea I would definitely keep an eye on the parameters, but nothing should go funky. So, what kind of angels ya got?

I am not familiar with the different varieties that I got in the 47 I brought home, but the names that were listed are as follows: Blacks, Silvers, Smokies, Golds, Lepoards, Lace, and Zebras. I think these were from several different parents and most are a mix of some of each. They range from smaller than my pinky fingernail to about quarter size. All appear to be very healthy and are eating everything I give them. One is deformed without a tail, but he seems to get around OK. I do not think the seller wanted to sell the deformed one and packed it accidently. I am going to contact him to ask if he would like me to take it back to him the next time I travel to St. Louis. I also have three blacks and several marble Angels that are half dollar and larger in size in a separate tank.
I started to suggest that we switch to private messages or a different thread since we are off topic, but there are no other threads going and I would like to see this site grow. Especially with Memphis contacts.

I thought about the switch to PM as well, but hoped our chatter would draw some attention from a few lurkers. And I just have to ask, why 47? or what were the parameters on the deal?

I saw an auction on Aquabid.com and checked out the web site listed by the seller - http://midwestangelfish.com/ I contacted the seller because he was in the St. Louis area and arranged to visit him while I was in the area. I was going to buy 24 but decided that I would get 36 because they were dime size or less. He offerred to give two free with each dozen and ended up giving me extras. He also gave me a large number of the quarter sized angels. They are eating so well that none of the food is accumulating on the bottom of the tank. I also forgot to mentition when I was listing what I got, that some of the mix are blushing angels.

Sounds like a nice bunch! Tanks still showing normal?

The water started clouding so I checked the parameters. The ammonia was at 0 and the nitrites were a little elevated (I think they were 0.5 ppm). The nitrates were more elevated ( I do not remember, but I think they were at 30ppm) and then I did a 20% water change after feeding the Angels. As long as the Angels look happy and are eating well, I'm happy!

So, how many tanks and what kind of fish do you have?

That opens a whole new can of worms...Ill post that whole essay after the Olympic ceremony

Well I have 9 tanks and a pond set up. I have a 30G full of convict fry. A 10 planted with 3 pair of platys with a ungodly amount of fry currently. A 10 planted with 7 serpae tetras. A 55 with parrots and severums. A 30 with assorted africans. A 10 planted with 6 emperor tetras, 3 white skirts, and cherry shrimp. A 100 planted with angels, rainbows, a clown and royal plec, and a syno cat. A 30 planted with cherry shrimp a swordtail pair and the orange zebra danio as well as some leopard and zebra danios. A 30 brackish with a snowflake eel. A 300 pond with an oscar, a jewel, 2 convicts, a bumblebee, 2 brim, a channel catfish and a largemouth................... Ive probably left a few things out...

...I will send the question back at you

Did you source the Cherry Shrimp locally? Are yours breeding?

I got them locally from lil john's animall. I actually had him order me some. They are breeding but the numbers are low because they got hit with some crazy plague that reduced them from about 150 to 30...but i now have several babies here and there