Cycling without damsels OR live rock?

"SG" wrote in message
...
In article , Tom E. wrote:

Where did the bacteria come from???

It is in the air.

And why is ammonia added in the process?

The "Cycle" is the process where bacteria convert ammonia to nitrite,
and then to nitrate. Tanks with a plenum or deep sand bed go furthure
and convert nitrate to nitrogen gas. The bacteria need a source of
ammonia to eat. Pure ammonia, decaying shrimp, live rock die off, or a
live fish are all sources of ammonia.

Fishless cycling is the smart way to cycle a tank.

Thanks. Lets say I have a 20 gallon tank with salt water and
crushed coral on the bed. Do I use a filter during the cycling
process, or just let it mellow?
Tom

In article , Tom E. wrote:

Where did the bacteria come from???

It is in the air.

And why is ammonia added in the process?

The "Cycle" is the process where bacteria convert ammonia to nitrite,
and then to nitrate. Tanks with a plenum or deep sand bed go furthure
and convert nitrate to nitrogen gas. The bacteria need a source of
ammonia to eat. Pure ammonia, decaying shrimp, live rock die off, or a
live fish are all sources of ammonia.

Fishless cycling is the smart way to cycle a tank.

In article , Tom E. wrote:

Thanks. Lets say I have a 20 gallon tank with salt water and
crushed coral on the bed. Do I use a filter during the cycling
process, or just let it mellow?

Your entire tank should be running while cycling. The bacteria live in
whatever filter you are going to use. Most filters are a place for
bacteria to live, not a thing to remove junk from the water. With that
in mind filter media should be cleaned gently and only when needed.

for what its worth, i always pee in a new tank
i know it sounds gross and i don't eat asparagus the night before but
truthfully using fish to cycle always sounded like an extra burden on the
livestock

and no not a full bladder boy i'm drunk lets try fill it to the top type of
pee

Personally, I believe this cycling stuff is a lot of hullabaloo. If you
start with any type of sturdy species (trigger, tang, lionfish, damsel) and
add fish slowly, and use charcoal, the tank should be able to age on it's
own. For example, if you have a 75 gallon tank, and you add a tang, a
trigger, and a lionfish and a damsel, and have a good filter, fresh
charcoal, and feed sparingly for the first weeks, you shouldn't have any
excessive spikes. That is just my opinion, and it is what I did in my 92
gallon tank, although I DID use damsels, as that's what I was told was best.
Mike.
"Tom E." wrote in message
...
Is this possible? It would seem all I would need is
something biological to drop in the tank. Some people
here have managed to turn me off of using damsels to
cycle, and live rock for a 29 gallon tank would cost
150 dollars. Too damn much for a couple of small
boulders. By the way, I found what has got to be one of
Americas best aquaria stores right here in Phx Arizona
called "Ocean Bottom". They had fish in there that I didn't
even know existed. Mostly fresh water though. They had
thousand gallon tanks in there with ludicrously big fish.
It was better than Sea World:-)
Tom

Mike D. wrote:
Personally, I believe this cycling stuff is a lot of hullabaloo. If you
start with any type of sturdy species (trigger, tang, lionfish, damsel) and
add fish slowly, and use charcoal, the tank should be able to age on it's
own. For example, if you have a 75 gallon tank, and you add a tang, a
trigger, and a lionfish and a damsel, and have a good filter, fresh
charcoal, and feed sparingly for the first weeks, you shouldn't have any
excessive spikes. That is just my opinion, and it is what I did in my 92
gallon tank, although I DID use damsels, as that's what I was told was best.
Mike.

One can always speed things along by asking LFS for a cup or two of gunk
out of one of their sumps...