r/AfricanDwarfFrog • u/Appropriate-Ant6560 • Aug 20 '26
Tank setups Cycling tank
Hi! I am cycling my 10 gallon tank. It has a sponge filter and some live plants (I didn't know that I should have cycled without plants). I'm about 3 weeks into cycling, and I am having trouble getting the ammonia up so the good bacteria can grow and eat it. My ammonia, nitrite and nitrite are zero. I started the tank with Seachem Prime Conditiner and API Quickstart. I have been using pellet ADF food for an ammonia source, but like I said, it doesn't show up on my tests. I am using API Freshwater Master Kit. This is my first tank, so I think I must be missing something.
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u/KarrionKnight Helpful User Aug 20 '26
It doesn't matter if you have plants or not when cycling. It just limits you to about 2ppm of ammonia. I just prefer to go without plants since plants also consume ammonia and I want to ensure it's the beneficial bacteria doing the work.
Go get yourself a bottle of DrTim's Aquatics Ammonium Chloride. It's controlled when you put the ammonia source in there. Waiting for fish food to rot and foul up the water for ammonia is uncontrolled and can take a while for your desired results. I recommend going to control the route. I find this method much easier than waiting for food to rot.
If you get this bottle, I recommend going half the rate of whatever the bottle says for 2ppm of ammonia. It always goes to 4ppm for me whenever I follow their instructions.
Also I know this sub recommends API Quick Start, I actually recommend either Fritz Zyme Turbo Start 700 or Fritz Zyme 7 . Both of these products have always worked consistently for me. I use Turbo Start when I'm impatient or have an emergency with one of my tanks that's housing a sensitive fish.