i have been trying to figure out the best way to cycle a tank. i have been doing the normal and getting a few "cycle" fish and let the tank run its natural course. my tank took almost a month to fully cycle. i've heard a lot about adding bacteria to the tank that i can buy at my lfs and its supposed to cycle the tank in a day to couple of days. i've heard people swear by that and others say that it doesn't work well. i'm wanting to know what everyone else thinks. thank you.
does bacteria additives work
- Thread starter traedizzle
- Start date
ive only used BIO-SPIRA when setting up my 75g for rays. I added water, started filter, added bio-spira to treat 110g of water, and added 3 giant danios, 3 rainbows and a gourami and xray tetra. (gourami and tetra were SUPPOSED to become ray food, but they apparently have different plans so far)
first few days tank showed i think 10ppm ammonia, some nitrates and like 180nitrite. however, tank was showing no ammonia, almost no nitrates, and around 80ppm nitrite after 7 days. added a stingray 2 weeks after starting tank, and dident have a single spike or issue thereafter.
now only 3 months after starting the tank, its stocked with 2 rays, a black ghost, yellow gourami, and a blood parrot. still always 0 ammonia, 0 nitrates and never higher than 80ppm nitrite still.
im sure people will disagree with bio-spira, but it worked well for me. despite the hefty price tag, i had absolutely no fish loss starting a tank for the first time. not even the little xray tetra. so the $ was worth not stressing my fish, and having a fully cycled tank.
first few days tank showed i think 10ppm ammonia, some nitrates and like 180nitrite. however, tank was showing no ammonia, almost no nitrates, and around 80ppm nitrite after 7 days. added a stingray 2 weeks after starting tank, and dident have a single spike or issue thereafter.
now only 3 months after starting the tank, its stocked with 2 rays, a black ghost, yellow gourami, and a blood parrot. still always 0 ammonia, 0 nitrates and never higher than 80ppm nitrite still.
im sure people will disagree with bio-spira, but it worked well for me. despite the hefty price tag, i had absolutely no fish loss starting a tank for the first time. not even the little xray tetra. so the $ was worth not stressing my fish, and having a fully cycled tank.
IKeepPacu;1525233; said:
Do you have the nitrates and nitrites reversed? In a cycled tank there should be "0" ammonia and nitrites. Nitrites are extremely toxic to fish. If you truly do not have a nitrate reading, you should retest. The nitrate test is very technique sensitive. That second reagent bottle must be vigorously shaken for a full 30 seconds, and after adding the reagent to the test tube, the tube must be vigorously shaken for a full minute (if you use the API kit). I hope you just typed your post incorrectly.
the only bacterial additive that will add live beneficial bacteria to the tank and drastically speed up the cycle is bio-spira, the others are just full of dead bacteria, enzymes and live anerobic bacteria. the other was to get the live BB into your tank is to seed a filter on another tank(heaviest stocked one you've got access to) or add substrate from another established tank.
pacu mom;1525286; said:
yea, dont mind me. i have a bad habit of reversing things like that when i try and talk/type. i mixed up the nitrates and nitrites in that post
being a teenager dident do much for my memory
There is another product on the market... but I can't remember the name. People talk about adding "BB" to the tank and generally don't know what exactly that is, just something they've come to associate with cycling (Don't quote me and get offended, this wasn't a shot at anyone... just a generalization).
Most cycling products come unrefridgerated, the true bacteria that completes the cycling process is a family called nitrospiros. These can not survive without refrigeration, and even then have a very short life-span. Most of the other cycling products come with an assortment of other bacteria (sp. nitrobacter and nitrosomona), and these certainly will help the process along, but they won't complete it.
Check out marineland's website on the history of biospira, very informative.
Most cycling products come unrefridgerated, the true bacteria that completes the cycling process is a family called nitrospiros. These can not survive without refrigeration, and even then have a very short life-span. Most of the other cycling products come with an assortment of other bacteria (sp. nitrobacter and nitrosomona), and these certainly will help the process along, but they won't complete it.
Check out marineland's website on the history of biospira, very informative.
when i set a brand new tank up i use "cycle" brand water conditioner... i dont use any chlorine remover because if u let water sit out a couple days its gone anyways... i use a large amount of charcoal the first week the tank runs..without any fish just air wands and live plants....its always better to seed but in this example were not.... after 1 week i add a half dozen danios.. dont add any chemicals i keep my plants going with co2 live plants are not a necessity after u see your perameters start to level start doing small water changes along with gravel cleaning...everyone thinks they need a lot of help with the tank cycle..chemicals get you into trouble keep it simple and be patient...they have everything in a bottle but we all still run into some trouble so it all apparently isnt magic
