Just finished up setting my freshwater 40 gal, and I'm trying to cycle it as fast and efficiently as I can. I'll be buying Tetra SafeStart and I was recommended by a few people on here to buy some starter fish. The problem is I'm planning on buying only one blood parrot to live its entire life in the tank by himself, so if I get any minnows or danios he'll just shred them overtime. Feeder minnows I don't mind if he chomps on them, but the risk of disease transmission is too high for me to allow. Danios shouldn't really be sharing the same conditions as the required ones of the blood parrot, and I'd hate to stand and watch tropical fish become food to tropical fish. So I'm thinking about cycling fishlessly.
They say using all the external factors like the SafeStart, the tank should be ready in a week if I add an ammonia source to the tank during it. I'm unfamiliar with cycling fishlessly, though, and I don't really know how much fish food I should be adding each day. I have an ammonia testing kit though so I can just sort of do trial and error throughout the days. Just any advice or input on my plan would really help. Thanks
They say using all the external factors like the SafeStart, the tank should be ready in a week if I add an ammonia source to the tank during it. I'm unfamiliar with cycling fishlessly, though, and I don't really know how much fish food I should be adding each day. I have an ammonia testing kit though so I can just sort of do trial and error throughout the days. Just any advice or input on my plan would really help. Thanks