Cycling with Thanksgiving leftovers

[mcordelia]

I am on the fence as far as how kidding I am here

Hubby and I were on a drive today with toddler who decided to skip their nap today, and following the clear logic of two sleep deprived parents at their wit's end, we were having a conversation about cycling the 20gal QT.

I was agonizing to hubby about how we needed to start cycling a week ago in order to have it "ready in time" (for what...? Lol), and how we don't have any ammonia and how it's going to take forever to either wait for an online order to arrive or taking the covid risk of walking to a crowded store during second wave to buy some. He was musing over alternative cycling strategies (silent cycle, fish food cycle, fish in cycle etc), and our brilliant minds together coalesced on the idea that since ammonia spikes when there's something dead in the tank, there is no better way to use Thanksgiving turkey leftovers than tossing some into the tank in an old sock.

Brilliant! We said, we can get rid of some of the turkey and not have to deal with getting an outside source of ammonia!

But, of course, you must rinse the turkey so you don't get spices and seasonings into the tank, future fish wouldn't like that.

And you do have the issue of the fat, decomposing fish is a lean protein but even the white meat probably has more fat than a dead fish....

But, fear not! Fat floats! So you just mop it off the surface once it separates itself from the rotting meat pile!

But what about the smell...? Well, close the door! We won't even be here for the holidays so nobody will notice!

Thoughts?

 

[kwi]

Wifes cousin swears by chicken breast to start a cycle.......

 

[2tank]

weird way to do it. I just go to the chemist and get a little bottle of ammonia which I use a syringe and dose directly. though I would recommend wearing googles and a mask as the fumes will give you a killer headache.

 

[FFGuest6357]

Before I was a carpenter, I was a cook for 15 years. This idea has bad news written all over it...

I have seen poultry of several varieties spoil under normal refrigerated conditions, and it is unpleasant at best of circumstances.

would not recommend

 

[Utar]

I say no with the turkey.

During the covid crisis amazon is our friend, you don't have to physically go anywhere to buy what you need, Pure Ammonia.

That is enough ammonia to last a life time of aquarium cycling and still share some with your friends...lol..

Pure bottled ammonia is all I ever use for cycling my tanks.

Let me edit that bottled ammonia is what I used to use, but since I started using my homemade aquisoil, it produces its own ammonia.

 

[Colin_T]

You can use meat products to cycle an aquarium. We used prawn or fish many years ago before bottled ammonia was sold at pet shops. You add a raw or cooked prawn and monitor the ammonia levels. When the ammonia hit 3ppm, you removed the rotten prawn and left the tank to cycle.

A prawn in the shell will hold together better than fish and is easier to remove afterwards. I used to tell people to replace the prawn every 24 hours so it didn't smell as bad as one that had been in the tank for a week. That way they still got ammonia but not the smelly rotten prawn that made the cats come to the house and the people leave.

You can also use fish pellets or red meat. Personally I prefer prawn or fish instead of red meat. And I avoid poultry due to the drug resistant bacteria found in every commercial poultry abattoir around the world.

Having said all this, if you already have an established aquarium, just take half the filter media/ material from the established filter and put it in the new filter on the new tank. Instant cycled aquarium ready for fish.

 

[FFGuest6357]

@Colin_T

that is a far more detailed reason not to use turkey than I could have come up with...

 

[the_lock_man]

Using bottled ammonia, it's far easier to control the dose.

 

[Essjay]

Hey lock man, long time no see

 

[CassCats]

Ive cleaned out more floor drains clogged up with rotted meat in kitchens than I can count to know this would be a very gruesomely smelly idea haha

(I work in kitchens)

 

[mcordelia]

Thanks guys for all your feedback!!! I just ordered a boatload of plants (is 18 plants a boatload?) for the 20gal, so maybe I will just end up doing a silent cycle anyway. I'll see how the plants take I guess. Do I need to do anything to the plants to prepare them for a silent cycle? I've seen advice to wait, but does that mean "wait and fertilize" or "wait and add ammonia" or "do nothing"? I also ordered a 10-pack of flourish root tabs. Do I put all of them in?

 

[CassCats]

Id only do the root tabs for the plants that need them (crypts and sword plants), stem plants need a liquid fert, root tabs will be useless with stem plants

 

[mcordelia]

Thanks!!

 

[eatyourpeas]

Given that I am the one who loves to eat but doesn't cook, I'm afraid any advice I give will steer you the wrong way...

 

[2tank]

You can never have enough plants.