Fishless cycling with fishfood

[wisecamel]

Hello - I have a new 88 litre tank, fluval 2 plus filter and am having a go at a fishless cycle using fishfood rather than ammonia before we get a little group of minnows.

It has been a week and we've been dropping in some fishfood every other day but my reading is still 0.25ppm ammonia when I test. Am I just being impatient? I don't have a heater so will it take weeks and weeks to start a cycle or would it be quicker to get hold of some ammonia and do it that way? The shop had a chemical that they said I could put in and would be ready for fish in a week but having read some posts on here, I thought this might be better.

I have put some plants in and at the moment have a tiny snail which I presume came off one of them - he seems OK

Thank you!

Ooh, you're doing all the right things

How much fish food have you been putting in? A good handful in an old stocking suspended in the water should do the trick, that way you don't get the tank all dirty either.

Thanks for this - we have just been putting in a few flakes and I don't think it's making much difference. Will try with the leg of an old pair of tights - not glam enough for stockings in this house!

OK, so I put in the handful of food in the tights overnight and this morning I got a reading of 2ppm ammonia, but the whole living room smells horrible! The water is a bit cloudy and very smelly. I have taken out the tights for now and put them in a tupperware box. Is it supposed to smell? Do I let the filter clear it and then put the tights back in or put them back in now and put up with the smell for a while? I am hoping this is temporary - I don't actually know anyone with a cold water aquarium - do they smell when the cycle is complete?

Loads of questions - you might just spot that I don't have a clue (am trying to read up as I go along) DS will so owe me for this.

Thank you!

Yes, ammonia is pretty stinky- like cat pee or wet nappies. Once the cycle has finished then it shouldn't smell bad, it just smells a bit like damp earth. If it smells bad then that's usually a sign that something's wrong.

You need to have a steady supply of ammonia so leave it in there. If it stinks too much then you might prefer to use household ammonia to cycle it.

Thanks EauRouge - we have put it back in and it does smell less now. I think we are getting the hang of it.