Setting Up New 45 Gallon

So I got some cash for my birthday coinciding with Petsmart having a sale on aquarium/stand combos & therefore I have a new 45 gallon sitting in my living room. Partly because I'm trying to spread out the spending a bit & also because it's probably the best way to go anyway I'm going to try to do a fishless cycle. I've never attempted this before (when I set up my sons tank I didn't really know about cycling just added some TSS with the fish) so I have a few questions.

First of all I wasn't really wanting to try to dose ammonia so I was just planning on adding flakes to the tank to supply the ammonia. So I've read that if you are supplying ammonia TSS can survive without the fish & speed up the seeding process. First of all is this true, secondly if so should I start adding flakes in a few days before adding TSS until I show ammonia reading?

Also I plan on adding real plants, should I go ahead & add them in right away or cycle first then add plants & fish?

Finally I wanted to make a cave by adding a piece of PVC pipe & covering it with some pebbles I have left over from my sons tank. (I'll be doing a sand substrate everywhere else) sort of mimicking a gravel bar in a river. My plan is to slice a 2" piece of PVC about 6" long in half to make in essence a U shape. Putting it up against the glass creating a cave that can be viewed from outside the tank. My questions about this are, is there any issues with the PVC affecting the water, and just overall is there some reason I'm not seeing that this isn't a good idea?

Thanks in advance for any help

 

Dosing with ammonia is really the best way to do this, as with food you can't be very precise and it takes a while for it to decay and release ammonia.
Best thing you can do is dose ammonia to 5ppm and dump the whole bottle of tss in the tank. But yes it is true that the bacteria don't need fish, just ammonia.
I would wait to add the plants since they use the nitrates that ammonia is converted to. Nitrates are the best indicator of cycle progress, followed by nitrites. Plants might throw off your readings and might make it confusing with how far in the cycle you are

 

The PVC is safe to use as long as there are no sharp edges or corners.

 

Dosing with ammonia is really the best way to do this, as with food you can't be very precise and it takes a while for it to decay and release ammonia.
Best thing you can do is dose ammonia to 5ppm and dump the whole bottle of tss in the tank. But yes it is true that the bacteria don't need fish, just ammonia.
I would wait to add the plants since they use the nitrates that ammonia is converted to. Nitrates are the best indicator of cycle progress, followed by nitrites. Plants might throw off your readings and might make it confusing with how far in the cycle you are

The issue here is I don't have any ammonia just lying around.

Is there a certain product I should use? I'm willing to get it if that's the easier route just want to make sure I get the right stuff.

The PVC is safe to use as long as there are no sharp edges or corners.

Cool, I'll just make sure I sand the edges I cut round to prevent any scrapes.

 

Adding plants like Java Ferns will help cycle, when their leaves die they produce ammonia. Same with other plants, but Java Ferns are cheap.

 

I've been told you can get it at an ACE hardware or somewhere like that. The one I see recommended the most would be Drs. TI'm and Foster. I can't seem to find their ammonia, but here's their "instant cycle" bacteria bottles:
I think Islandvic will know where to get the ammonia

 

I bought Dr. Tims Ammonia from Amazon.ca. Eliminates the guessing on whether or not your hardware store ammonia is 'pure', and it's instantly and accurately measurable, vs adding fish food (which is neither of those things).

 

Is this the stuff I need?

 

Yup!

 

PVC 100% safe for aqauriums. ScareCrowe asked previously.......

It is what distributes your home's drinking water around to the faucets. It's used in the piping for sumps also.

I used Dr. Tim's ammonia in the 2oz bottle.

I think I paid less than $5 for it on either Amazon or the Doctors Foster and Smith website. DFS is a great online resource, they always have sales.

Yes the price per oz compared to hardware store ammonia is astronomical, but I wanted a bottle with a dropper for a lid so I can precisely dose the ammonia according to directions.

I could have just as easily purchased 100% pure ammonia, performed the dosing calculation based on actual water volume and used syringes to measure it out, but I want the convenience.

Plus I know that Dr. Tim's is 100% aquarium safe.