# how do you keep a fish tank cycled with no fish in it?



## fisherman (Apr 22, 2010)

will my 10 gallon stay cycled without any fish in it?? i just want to know how i can keep my tank cycled without any fish in it... do i need a source of amonia to keep the bacteria going? should i still do weekly water changes? there is only a few plants in the tank right now..


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## GreenGanja (Apr 27, 2010)

1.use water from cycled tank
2.you can use chemicals
3.use a filter from another tank


-Mike


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## clintgv (May 6, 2010)

I buy the "good bacteria" (dunno what it's called). And I just let it sit and let them grow and cycle my tank .


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## fisherman (Apr 22, 2010)

hm so i geuss that means i cannot keep a fish tank with no fish in it cycled,,,, that sucks..

looks like all these questions just tell me how to cycle a tank? or im just trippin out..

question is how do i keep a 10 gallon tank that is already cycled, cycled Without Any fish living in it? maybe put some of those snails in it? i dont want to keep anything in the tank...


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## Scholz (Apr 21, 2010)

you can you just have to keep adding either fish food or ammonia


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## clintgv (May 6, 2010)

fisherman said:


> hm so i geuss that means i cannot keep a fish tank with no fish in it cycled,,,, that sucks..
> 
> looks like all these questions just tell me how to cycle a tank? or im just trippin out..
> 
> question is how do i keep a 10 gallon tank that is already cycled, cycled Without Any fish living in it? maybe put some of those snails in it? i dont want to keep anything in the tank...


Oh sorry. Misread the question. Thought it wasn't cycled already. My bad. I think scholz is correct.


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## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

Household ammonia will work. That's what I'm doing now to keep a bunch of sponge filters seeded. No need to change the water, nitrates will be sky high, but it's not harming anything. 

If you don't mind snails, you can use a bunch of apple snails too, but you'll need to do water changes.


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## martym (Jun 23, 2010)

Be Carefull with how much ammonia you put in seeing as how you have plants in there. Are you planning on putting fish in at a later date? You could always try putting in a very small piece of shrimp that will decay, it will keep your tank cycled. Why not just put in a cory or something?


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## discuspaul (Jul 2, 2010)

*keeping your tank cycled with no fish*

martym's suggestion is good. Use a piece of raw shrimp - just replace it with a new piece every few days, allowing it to decay somewhat & then replace with a fresh piece - cycle should maintain.
That's assuming you're not planning to add fish for some time, and don't want to have 1 or 2 live fish in there until you do so.


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## b/p (Apr 21, 2010)

I've always used household ammonia to cycle my tanks.

Try googling "fishless cycling" and you will find hours of reading on this topic.


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## Ursus sapien (Apr 21, 2010)

snails- esp. apple and diffusia snails


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