Bio Cycle

[Draven]

Got my eclipse 3 gallon with bio-wheel setup. Nelson is still in his other home and will remain there. I've heard about using pure ammonia to kick start the bio cycle. Any suggestions on doing this? Someone pointed out some info on fishless-cycling to me a few days ago and I wanted to hear some ideas from you that may have done it.

 

[luxum]

A betta in a 3 gallon is one of the few situations where it wouldn't be too bad to cycle with him so long as you keep up with his water changes. That said, i will ~never~ cycle with fish again, fishless cycling works very well, but it requires the patience to stare at an empty tank for awhile and to not get upset with what will feel like endless ammonia/nitrite spikes. I've fishless cycled several times succesfully.

This link explains the basic process as well as the original recipe for the fishless cycle. While this link explains some improvements to the original idea. If you go fishless, use the recipe in the second link.

 

[Draven]

Those are the links I was given before. I just wanted to make sure there were no second opinions or any other ways to do it since I have a bio-wheel.

 

[BirdofPray]

I have an eclipse 12 setup that has female bettas in it. I did fishless cycling and it worked out perfectly. It took me 18 days to finish and I followed the links to a tee. With that time while looking at a bare tank, consider different options on decorations.