What ammonium source to use for my first Reef Tank?

[Andurias]

Hello Reef2Reef,

I am totally new to this hobby and tomorrow my first tank will arrive.
I have already done a lot of research and also studied biology so the biology and chemistry behind this is at least familiar to me.
However, I have a bit of trouble with the initiation of the cycling. I know that I need a source of bacteria as well as ammonium (which is the actual problem, more to that later) and that I need to test this.
As source of bacteria I want to use CaribSea Arag Live as well as additional bacteria from prodibio. I dont use live rock but dry rock instead, reason for this is the price of live rock.

Now to my Question: what is the best source of ammonium I should use? Best in the way, that it is affordable, easy to use, has a high success rate and is reasonably fast (I know, I know, fast is not the most realistic in a reef tank but there is a difference between 3 weeks of cycling and two months)

I know that there are several sources like a live fish, dead shrimp, ghost feeding and adding an ammonium salt. The live fish is a bit too risky for me, as this is my first tank and I dont want to kill it because of the high amount of stress and ammonium (and an inexperienced reef keeper). the fishless options are more to my liking, although I heard that you can also use a Clean up Crew initially to produce ammonium as they tolerate higher levels. Regading the dead shrimp: how long does this approach take and do I need to restock the shrimp regularly? Regading ghost feeding: how often do I feed and how much? my tank is 63 gal. And lastly regarding ammonium salt: which salt should I use? what are the pros and cons? Do I need to keep in mind stuff when taking this approach?

I found tons of information regading these questions but there are so many conflicting sources and this makes it really hard to know what to do.

Thanks in advance

 

[TX_REEF]

Welcome and congrats on starting your reefing journey!

just use liquid ammonium, easy to control dose to 2ppm: https://amzn.to/3NlvTRM

I would recommend that you consider adding at least some real ocean live rock from a reputable source such as Tampa Bay Saltwater [orders may be delayed due to the recent catastrophic storms). Their treasure chests are a great way to get some quality live rock and/or sand delivered to your door. There is not real replacement for diverse beneficial bacteria from the ocean, in my opinion and experience: https://tbsaltwater.com/product-category/ups-rock-sand-critters/

 

[Spare time]

Fritz and Dr Tims have cheap small bottles of ammonium chloride.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

The true best way is to use live rock from the ocean, its the healthiest for the system overall, and will insta cycle the tank, you can fish right away.

Next best way is with aquacultured live rock, basically rock in an aquarium with fish in it. These rocks are live, but have no hirchhikers that ocean rock would. This also insta cycles the tank and you can add fish right away.

You can just feed a pinch of flake food every week, this type of cycle takes about a month. The shrimp method also takes a month. These are 2 tried and true but slow processes.

New age cycling uses bottled ammonia and bottled bacteria, and you can add fish right away up to a few days later, depends which brand of bacteria you use.

 

[Fish Fan]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I like the bottled ammonium chloride from Dr. Tim's. It's cheap, easy, and no bad smells like you can sometimes have when you use a piece of shrimp, for example.

Good luck with your new tank!