Okay, so I am trying to cycle my 29 gallon tank with fish food since I cannot find the right kind of ammonia anywhere. I found it needs a TON of food to get the ammonia up...So I added a ton more this afternoon. Now it is rotting in my tank and smells absolutley disgusting. Its almost so bad I want to gag, if it gets any worse I WILL gag. Is this supposed to happen? Is it going to get worse, stay the same or get better? Why am I haven't such a hard time cycling????? I'm not sure of the ammonia yet since it takes a while to break down (don't know how long) but I guess I'll test it tomorrow after I get home from school and post. Please help, its gross!

why dont u just buy a couple of feeder goldfish and put them in there and change 25% of the water every 3 days. Rosie Reds would work too, but guppies wont since they dont create that much waste.
Also see if someone can let u have some used filter pads.

I had the same problem with I tried to a fish less cycle! You can also try putting the fish food in a mesh baggie and take it out like every day and add new food so it doesnt rot. It might help.

Is that what you did jessica?

I don't really want to cycle with real fish because I havne't found a petsotre that isn't infested with disease and parasites. I think I'll start saving for biospira lol.

and then what would she do with the feeder goldies?

Shouldn't stink. too much food I think. I'd vacuum well and do a major partial water change.

I thought you were going to try it with your 2ppm ammonia tap water?

I know you can buy bio spira for $18 online plus shipping. Not too bad

I would do a good gravel vac and then try tying up some panty hose or something to make a mesh like baggies for the fish food, and change it daily so it doesnt rott and mold.

I tried the fishless cycle, and gave up, and use two commons I had won at the fair a year before this, so I knew they were parasite free, and then once it was cycled, they stayed in there for awhile, and now are in a pond.

No kissy your tank shouldnt smell. I too think you are putting too much food in. You only need a few flakes put each day at the intake for it to take into the main chamber. Its a very long process but unless you get the ammonia then really theres no other way. Dataguru has a point though, if your water has ammonia in it then it should cycle with that.

Well, you can buy BioSpira online for even less than that (1oz. good for 90 gallons for $6.+) BUT it has to be shipped overnight with ice packs! There is a 2-day shipping rate available but it is not recommended for the best results from Biospira, especially in the summer heat!

In my recent experience with BS, I think it works, to some degree, but not "immediatley" as Marineland's advertising purports... I think it was helpful but not effective enough to justify the cost, IMO. If one did not need to spend $25.00 on the shipping, it might be worthwhile to try it - hopefully you have a mom/pop pet store nearby that carries it...?

You might be better off with BBRW suggestion of using bags - that would work! Or, do you have a tea strainer?

i read that you can use a lump of raw meat to help cycle.. not a very big bit but like a little chunk of pork or something?

That was me, before I realized I was just freaking out over nothing.

Yeah I always wonder about that too....

Well, if the feeders were disease free like I want them to be, I'd keep them. I plan to have a nice big rubbermaid soon, but I really think only one will be good. I don't want to deal with fish right now, I'm going to be so busy since school just started and I'm getting a job soon. Yah, my tap is at 0ppm. For a fishless cycle, your supposed to get it to 3-4ppm first, and then wait right? I've been adding fish food forever and it only got up to .5....that took a week anyway. This morning it was all green and cloudy...I just got home and I'm afraid to go check lol.

I tested water this afternoon and ammonia was only at 2. Does it take longer than 2 4 hours for food to break down into ammonia?

hi kissy, my 20gal tank is so close to being cycled. i used bio spira. bio spira does work, but it does take some time.

I'll probably call around today or tomorrow. No places around here have it, so I'll look it up in the phone book. This is gross! I also suddenly have a huge surplus of money...so yay! I may end up spending it on bio-spira.

It does take a while for the food to release ammonia, since the ammonia is the byproduct of the break-down(rotting) of the food.

It's tough to do a fishless cycle, takes forever, I've got a small tank (40 litre = 10 gall) of golden medakas and danios that I keep especially to cycle tanks, they're small and they do take a while to create enough ammonia to kick start the biofilter, but they work, these little guys of mine are very well travelled fish, cycled 4 tanks so far, and at the end of their work they go back into their nice little home, they live with our fighter Yule.

What's a fighter yule? I'm curious, I've never heard of it before! Same thing with medakas...

Kissy - Fondoo is selling 1oz biospira. He can't PM yet but if you want me to IM him for you - let me know - otherwise, I know you can get it online at www.fishstoretn.com. Hopefully, you can get it locally! I wish it was more available!

Will one ounce cover 30 gallons?

1oz will cover 20gals. if your interested, i can sell you a pack. let me know.

kissy im sure a couple of flakes will do the job?

Sounds like a yucky way to run a cycle.

Can't you just run your new filter in an established tank for a couple of weeks and then pop it into the new tank with one of the pond fish and after a few days add another pond fish and start doing small water changes to keep the nitrites low until the filter catches up?

Lol, yes, it was very yucky in the begining. I did add WAY too much. I didn't realize that it took so long for the food to decay into ammonia so gradually so I kept adding more and more. It smelled very bad, but it went away in a couple days, and in a week you couldn't smell it at all. Its all cycled now yay! I add a tiny bit of bloodworms every few days to feed the bugs until I'm ready for fish. What pond fish?? Did I mention pond fish? Running the new filter in my old tank wasn't really an option..the filter is for 30-60 gallons and so big! I'd probably scare the poor little fishies with the huge current. There probably wasn't very many biobugs in the ten gallon anyway, there is only two tetras in there and they don't produce much waste. Its all good now tho

You know you could try what one of my best mates did - he peed in a jar and poured a little into his tank

Worked a treat and kick-started the cycle real well

Lol so YOUR the one some one was telling me about...some one said a friend of a member did that lol. I'm thinking that would be a more pleasant way than using fish flakes lol.