bottled bacteria

[pangasiusfan]

and others such as bio spira

can i use these products while i have fish in the tank?
i kinda got too excited and started to add fish in my halfway in the cycle aquarium...

and i'm going to be doing water changes everyweek so now the cycle is going to take even longer...so i decided to go with bottled bacteria but wanted to know if it is safe for already existing fish

 

[Taboojen]

and others such as bio spira

can i use these products while i have fish in the tank?
i kinda got too excited and started to add fish in my halfway in the cycle aquarium...

and i'm going to be doing water changes everyweek so now the cycle is going to take even longer...so i decided to go with bottled bacteria but wanted to know if it is safe for already existing fish

I personally like Stability from SeaChem. The only thing is that you have to dose at least a week. It's worked great for me. Others swear by bio spira. I tried it, but didnt do much for me.

Just make sure you keep an eye on the nitrites, esp if you are in the middle of a cycle.

 

[Fishyfan]

and others such as bio spira

can i use these products while i have fish in the tank?
i kinda got too excited and started to add fish in my halfway in the cycle aquarium...

and i'm going to be doing water changes everyweek so now the cycle is going to take even longer...so i decided to go with bottled bacteria but wanted to know if it is safe for already existing fish

Yes you can use them while you have fish in the tank. Bio spira is really the only stuff that works though (at least for me) so try to find that.

 

[pangasiusfan]

i'll buy both of them an try...wait will it be safe if i mix both of them, or will that over-dose it?

taboojen; what do you mean by dose it a week? do i have to wait a week until it works and i can add fish? or do i just add it(capful or whatever) for a week?with fish in it right?

which ones are sae/unsafe to use in tanks with fish in it?
how will i know that it is working? when i do tests and the nitrite is 0?

 

[Pufferpunk]

If you have to dose anything once/week, it isn't working. The ONLY live bacteria in a bottle is Bio-Spira. Everything else is just dead bacteria & actually adds to your bioload--DO NOT USE THEM, THEY ARE ALL BUNK IN A BOTTLE. The only reasons you would want to use B-S on a tank with fish in it already is if the tank wasn't cycled yet or it had crashed for some reason (you need to find out why before adding it). You could also use it if you were planning on adding a large fish--causing a huge bioload or a school of fish at one time.

 

[Pirwhana]

Not true pufferpunk - I used to use the bacteria from hagen and it cycled my tanks perfectly with and without fish in it.
Lindsey

 

[Pufferpunk]

What product is that? Did it cycle with 1 application & then a fully stocked tank--no ammonia/nitrites & minimum nitrates?

 

[Taboojen]

i'll buy both of them an try...wait will it be safe if i mix both of them, or will that over-dose it?

taboojen; what do you mean by dose it a week? do i have to wait a week until it works and i can add fish? or do i just add it(capful or whatever) for a week?with fish in it right?

which ones are sae/unsafe to use in tanks with fish in it?
how will i know that it is working? when i do tests and the nitrite is 0?

What i mean is that you have to add it for an entire week. So, for example, the instructions indicate - Day 1 - 1 capful for 10gals, then every day, for the next 6 days, you add a capful for each 20 gals. I've done this with fish in my tank before, and it worked fine.

I think no matter what bacteria supplement you choose to add, the tank will still if anything go through a mini-cycle and thus you need to constently monitor. (You wont go through a full 3-4 week cycle, but it'll still happen, when you get a short peak in nitrites).

When I added Stability, (and on other occasions - Bio-Spira), my nitrites still get pretty high a day or two after, when there are fish already in the tank. (It also depends on your bioload). I mean bio-spira took a little over a week or so in one of my tank to come out with acceptable levels. Stability went about the same too.

I believe some of the supplements can speed up your cycle, but you still have to make necessary water changes if the Ammonia or Nitrite levels get too high. Else - as for supplement - I think its which one you want to go with personally. Search Bio-Spira, Stability, or bacteria in bottle, in the search engine here and you'll hit a lot of threads. That is what i did a few months back when I was doing my research on the same topic. You can read about people's experiences and go with what you think will work for you.

 

[guppy]

Yes bacterial additives can be used with fish in the tank, so can sludge from a healthy tank be added to new filters. You will still want to add the fish fairly slowly rather than all at once, the sludge or additive such as biospira kick starts the BB colony but it still needs to grow to keep up with the population of fish, the larger the fish the fewer it is safe to add add a time.

 

[tunerX]

Bio-Spira is the only live bacteria in a bottle. They have a paten so until it expires no others can sell the nitrosoma or nitrobacter strains. The other stuff just conditions the water so it more closely matches the parameters of a mature tank.

Bio Spira is meant to remove the cycle steps. You add the fish and the bio-spira at the same time. You are supposed to pour it into the tank, but you could also add it directly to your filter. Your water will get a white cloud for a day or two. This is just the millions of bacteria in your tank that are looking for a home.

You can double dose if you are worried. I would actually do both if I want to skip the cycle process altogether.