I cant believe I STILL havent got round...

I can't believe I STILL haven't got round to the cycle! I have my empty fish tank and that's it! Busy Busy Busy. Im promising myself Im going to start doing it before the Hoildays are over!
Anyway I just wanted to know is it ok if I start cycling my tank today or tomorrow without the water testing kit by just putting in some fish food or some prawns and then leave that for a while and then test my water like in about 3 days or so when I actually get the water testing kit?

The problem is that for that master kit thing that you get a P@H for 20- i cant afford that. But at my Local pet shop they sell one for 10 which I can probably get. I know the 20 pounds one would be better but can i still get the 10 pound one knowing it will work just as well but with less strips?

Hiya aquanovice. There is someone on here cycling with prawns and fishfood. I started to my fishless cycle that way too although it is not as easy to control or monitor as using ammonia.

As you say, the API test kit is the best, but it also more expensive, so if you can't afford it, get the best one that you can afford. You can also take some tank water to the lfs now and again. They use the API kits and they will test it for you free of charge. If you do that though, get them to write their results down for you, not just say it's "ok". It mught be a useful extra testing for you and will back up whatever results you are getting.

If you want to use food/prawns to cycle the tank, make sure that you put them in the leg of a clean pair of tights so that the debris doesnt block your filter.