# Cycling a 10 gallon tank! Advice please?



## pinkcupid765 (Aug 14, 2011)

So, I started cycling my 10 gallon tank 2 days ago. I'm doing a fishless cycle. I added some of my dad's gravel to the filter, i've put bacteria supplement in the water, and i'm put gold fish food in everyday. The water is really cloudy. Is this a bacterial bloom? I've never cycled a tank before, so i'm a newbie! Is there anything else i need to do? About how long does cycling take? How will I know when it's done?


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## BettaChic (Feb 1, 2012)

pinkcupid765 said:


> So, I started cycling my 10 gallon tank 2 days ago. I'm doing a fishless cycle. I added some of my dad's gravel to the filter, i've put bacteria supplement in the water, and i'm put gold fish food in everyday. The water is really cloudy. Is this a bacterial bloom? I've never cycled a tank before, so i'm a newbie! Is there anything else i need to do? About how long does cycling take? How will I know when it's done?


Iamntbatman has created a pretty good sticky comparing all the different fishless cycling methods, also talks about the Fish Food method.

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=47838

I'm still a newbie though so wouldn't be able to help you much with the fish food method. But I'm also planning to start a fishless cycle on my 10 gallon this weekend, first time. I've been doing some research though and I think I may go for using pure ammonia as a source to start the cycle instead of food. I've read that food will leave a mess for you to clean up, cause cloudy water, and potentially a problem with algae. I found this guide for using the pure ammonia method:

http://www.tropical-fish-success.com/fishless-tank-cycling.html

I haven't found any cons so far, but I think I'm going to keep researching just to be sure. If it's not harmless and it's the cleanest, I'm down lol.

Good luck with your 1st cycle and let us know how it goes.


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## pinkcupid765 (Aug 14, 2011)

Thanks for the links and advice! Really helps! ^^


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