Did lots of research and my head is spinning with all the ways to cycle a new tank from bottled bacteria to ghost feeding.
Some people on YouTube swear seeded media cycles instantly.
I want to know, what have you tried that worked, or maybe failed?
Let's discuss!
Posted by FeelinFishi2026
17 Comments
You’re already overwhelmed with information, nothing anyone posts here is going to change that because there are just so many ways to successfully cycle an aquarium.
For me personally, I use bits of media from an established filter and do a fish-in cycle. I start the stocking very slowly, only adding 1-2 fish at first. Depending on the size of the tank, they don’t produce enough ammonia that the filter/plants/etc can’t keep up so the levels never get very high. I also test daily. Plus I supplement with a bacterial starter like Seachem Stability.
Bottled bacteria and ghost feeding aren’t two separate options. You can (and many would say “should”) add a bottled bacteria product to jumpstart the nitrifying bacteria colony…but then you have to feed them. You can ghost feed them, or you can feed them ammonia. Ghostfeeding breaks down to ammonia. Either case (adding liquid ammonia or ghost feeding) simulates fish waste. I’m in the camp of just use ammonia – it’s easier to dose and thus almost always faster. With ghost feeding you can over or under do it. With ammonia, add 2 PPM and wait.
I’d recommend Dr Tim’s ammonia and his “one and only” bacteria or FritZyme 7 bacteria. If you have a used filter, that will also accelerate it. The rule of thumb that’s pretty robust is if you can add 2 PPM ammonia and then 24-hrs later both ammonia and nitrite test at “0” then you’re ready to add fish.
[APT Start](https://www.2hraquarist.com/products/2hr-aquarist-apt-start?bg_ref=2hNZ1y8saR&utm_source=2hr%20aquarist%20Post%20%2F%20scarves-hayloft9n%40icloud.com%20%2F%202hNZ1y8saR&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=2HRAF1812) worked really well for me. I have a heavily planted tank currently. It’s been thriving since. This hobby is a patience game though. Nothing happens overnight.
Seeded media does cycle intstantly BUT it it is limited to the media size. If you cycle by dosing ammonia, you can dose up to the amount that’s equal to the waste the first batch of fish you want to put in the aquarium will put out, so once it’s cycled for that amount, you can stop dosing and put in those fish you had in mind. With a seeded media you can cycle very fast but you will not really have an idea of how big your bacterial collony is. I use seeded media to kick start the cycle and depending on how much seeded media that is, I might already add a first small batch of nano fished after a few days of adding an ammonia dose (and in this case I believe a pinch of fish food does the job) if the test are good. But I do still want proof of a cycled tank on my test results.
Ultimately being cycled just means the tank is able to process ammonia to nitrate.
With enough seeding material you’re basically already cycled. I mean just think, would taking all your substrate, water, and filter, and putting them in a new tank require it to be “re-cycled”?
Last cycle I started from scratch I dosed it with ammonia, added some bottled bacteria, and waited for anything to happen. Took a couple weeks, so it’s not clear if the bottle was any good.
I’m setting up a new tank right now, and for that I’m probably going to seed it with an extra filter pad from an existing tank. I expect within a week it’ll be good to go because there are for sure viable bacteria being brought in, they just need to multiply to new surfaces.
One last thing, the term “cycled” is a little nebulous, in that more heavily stocked tanks need a stronger cycle, while sparser ones don’t need as much bacteria to cope. Just pointing out how it’s all variable based on your tank and stocking. So for example, I wouldn’t go crazy stocking a tank that’s just started a new cycle, because I don’t know how much is really happening in there.
Everything works.
The only critical step is patience.
Whack in a pouch of goop and stock the same day!
Nice to have proper products available 🙂
Nitrico.co.uk
I got the smallest bottle of pure ammonia from the hardware store ages ago making sure there’s no surfactants and fragrances, dosed accordingly and I’m set for life
Any time I setup a quarantine tank I bring over a sponge filter and test with 2-3ppm of ammonia to see if it’s actually cycled enough for new incoming fish.
I dosed with Stability every day for seven days, then once a week afterwards. I did about two or three teaspoons of fish flakes every day. It took about 6 weeks for my 125g to start showing 0 nitrite and 10+ nitrate. I had very small plants in the tank with no animals during the cycling process.
After my tests started showing zero nitrite, I put in 15 or so neocardina shrimp, a mystery snail, and four nerite snails (I was misinformed at the time how mature a tank must be for nerites). After a month I stocked it with fish.
Honestly I’ve only ever done a fishless cycle twice. I usually use items covered in BB from established tanks into new tanks to cycle instantly and then keep an eye on parameters. No issues so far!
Used substrate and filter foam from another tank. Lots of plants. In my water with those items in place, the parameters are stable within a couple of days.
I’ve never formally cycled or done a water change in 15 years. Just top it off after some evaps. I guess I’m lucky.
Fishless cycle, of course, using Dr. Tim’s ammonia and seachem Stability, plus some used filter media if I have any to spare.
When the tank can process 2 ppm —> 0 within 24 hours of dosing, I know it’s ready. Then I just do a decent water change and we are ready to go!
1. Setup and heavily plant tank
2. Use a mature filter and substrate
3. Ghost feed for a few weeks (longer if you didn’t have a mature filter)
4. Check parameters (ammonia and nitrite should be 0)
5. Gradually add stock
6. Continue checking parameters and be prepared to do water changes
7. Understock
It’s not the best or fastest, but it’s simple if you have patience and some idea of what you’re doing.
There is no such thing as failure. Bacteria will eventually grow even without seeding because bacteria is everywhere. All you need is patience.
If you have lots of patience and do not want to illtreat your livestock, just do fishless cycle.
I recommend fishless cycle at the beginning from a humanitarian point of view.
Seeding is a matter of budget. If you have budget, you can add bottled bacteria. If you asked for used media from a friend or a LFS, there is a risk of adding pests, so I do not recommend it.
For fishless cycle, just throwing in a piece of shrimp from the supermarket will do. If not, just throw in some fish food (ghost feeding).
The way I do it is go to the grocery store and buy one raw shrimp (you will get a weird look). Plop that sucker in for a few days, then take it out, and then wait out the numbers for your ammonia, nitrite and nitrates.
Absolute best way is to get an element from someone who has an established tank up and running. Filter media and substrate both work.
You can also buy a piece of driftwood from Petco that is in one of their tanks with fish- it is very porous and has a ton of beneficial bacteria on it.
That being said, it’s not an “instant” cycle. You still have to add an ammonia source and build those bacterial colonies to match the size and bioload of your aquarium (dose ammonia to a concentration in the tank water that reads 2PPM).