cycleing help

ok so i need to cycle my 20 gallon tall tank it has 1 hob 20 gallon filter im going to cut open the filter pad remove the carbon and add live sand inside then ill put cheito and a light bulb in the back of it so its like a mini refugium. I also got a 55 gallon fluval sponge filter but what i need to now is can i cycle this tank with a wrasse or maybe a clown fish and some snails? maybe like 2 snails plus 1 fishy

 

nope. Get a fresh piece of shrimp, preferably a small piece and use that to cycle the tank. put it in a panty hose so when you remove it it doesn't wash out in the tank.

 

would a frozen silverside work?

 

Possibly

 

alrighty ill use a raw shrimp thanks for fast reply ;D

 

No problem.

 

I used a 4 Stripe Damsel to cycle my tank 18 months ago. He survived the cycle and he's as healthy as a horse now.

 

You can do this but IMO it's kind of inhuman(no offense to you just my opinion) it puts the fish through alot of unnecessary stress and most of the time you won't want to keep the fish. I like to use pure ammonia for my cycles. It's fast and easy. The raw shrimp method is also good. I've never done it but I'll probably do it for my reef. Hope this helps...

 

IF you really wanted you could use this One & Only Nitrifying Bacteria. I did an experiment with it while cycling my 10g with base rock and only took 11 days. If you want to cycle the traditional way, just go with shrimp. The key is to test, and test often. I tested twice a day when I ran Dr. Tims. Even though my numbers where 0,0,0 at 11 days I still waited till about week 3 before adding fish.