Tank question!

[evo.howard2010]

I just finished setting up my tank 3 days ago and all my levels are reading fine! I used dry rock and live sand why is there no spike is it because there is nothing in there? How do I get the cycle going?

 

[AZBigJohn]

You can either throw in a raw shrimp from the grocery store, or "ghost feed" a couple flakes of food every day.

 

[azjohnny]

If you use some raw shrimp put it in some panty hose. The shrimp will break down and will be easier to remove from the sump

You can also use 10% Ammonium Hydroxide. 1 ML will raise 5 gallons of water from 0 ppm Ammonia to 5 ppm Ammonia.



Just make sure it is odorless and colorless, it can be bought @ Ace Hardware

 

[bdevillier]

^^^ this is what I did with my tank. I dosed the ammonia till my level was 10ppm and checked it daily. When it dropped to zero, nitrite was zero, and all that was left was nitrates, I dosed it again. When my tank could do a complete nitrogen cycle in 24hrs I was done.

 

[JMCAquarium]

Shrimp works fine then let everything level off for a while.