Bacteria

[Curtis]

Does anyone know of any good bacteria culture products that help with mini cycle's from moving fish that can be purchased in the US?

I recently moved all of my loaches and tanks and in the process lost a great deal of my bacterial colony so I was wondering if any of the bacteria products like CYCLE, actually work.

Thanks.

[Jim Powers]

BioSpira is a great product, if you can find it.
There is another product out there that is also good, but I can't think of the name. If I remember, I will post it.

[Keith Wolcott]

I agree with Jim that BioSpira is excellent. I used it to start the cycle on a quarantine tank. I had put filter material in from an established tank and the cycle seemed to be developing, but not fast enough to handle the load that I had added to the tank, since I was getting some ammonia and nitrite levels above zero. I had cut back on feeding for several days to reduce the load, but it was only helping a little. I added BioSpira and from the next day on, the ammonia and nitrite levels were zero and remained zero even though I increased the feeding again in order to fatten up my new loaches.

[linarite]

While I haven't used the BioSpria I have used Cycle for a number of years. I apply it every week and at water changes. I find that it really helps to keep things in balance. Hope this helps.

[Diana]

Fritz' Turbostart is another one that I have heard good things about, but they do not let you know which species of bacteria are in there.

Bio Spira has the long lived bacteria that develop a stable population in an aquarium. Supplementing when something happens to the biofilter is a good idea.

In the UK I think there is a Tetra product with the same bacteria.

All other 'cycle helpers' have a short lived bacteria or assorted enzymes that may help a cycling tank somewhat, or may not help at all. The bacteria die off as the long lived bacteria population grows, which is why the 'wrong' products tell you to keep adding them (and to increase profit for the company)

Nitrospiros bacteria do not enter a dormant phase, so bottling and shipping is an issue. Marineland has found a way that requires the product (Bio Spira) to be refrigerated (but never frozen) and has a short shelf life, even refrigerated. The 'other' products, either dry or liquid that can be kept at room temperature, or have extended shelf life are, again, the other bacteria that have a short life in the aquarium, but they do enter a dormant phase, so packaging and shipping is easier.


I used Cycle when I first set up new tanks, and did some careful thinking... An aquarium ought to replicate some of nature, with bacteria that remove the waste and turn it into plant fertilizer. In nature there is not bottle of additives getting dumped in the stream each week. The bacteria that do the work are in there all the time, not washed away in the current, but must be growing on all the surfaces. No need to keep adding them.
That was the last bottle of Cycle I bought (or any other cycling aid). Those earliest tanks cycled with water changes only. From then on I was also able to jump start a new tank by sharing filter media, and plants.
It was several years later that the scientists at Marineland found out that the 'wrong' bacteria had been getting all the credit for the Nitrogen cycle.

[grizzlyone]

Guys:

Why buy cycling products? Let nature take its course. Buy a bottle of Prime, keep your fish safe while Mother Nature populates your tank and coverts the nasty stuff to non-toxic forms that your biofilter can still use...

Kevin

[mikev]

FWIW:

I'm currently running a small container filled with media, air pump only, ammonia added every 3 days, W/C once a week, the biocycle is holding so far, on a potent level.

The idea is that the moment I have a spike in any of the tanks, I can take half of the media from the container (replacing with the new one), and get considerably larger amount of bacteria than from any prepackeged product..also for free. Since the container has no fish/plants in it, it is not likely to spread infection either.

The only drawback is that I probably will eventually forget to feed it....

Incidentally, Biospira failed for me on five separate occasions....

[linarite]

mikev -
Could you go into a little more detail about your setup please? Sounds like something that I might be interested in trying since I have plans to do a larger tank soon. Source of the NH3 and so forth. Thanks.

[grizzlyone]

You can just pick up a bottle of pure ammonia. You just need to make sure it doesn't have any extra ingredients.


If you have a hispanic grocery store in the area, thats the best palce to find it. You can also search the web for "fishless cycling" as well.


Kevin

[Diana]

Keeping a good culture going like that is also helpful when you get new fish and want an instantly cycled Q-tank.

[mikev]

mikev -
Could you go into a little more detail about your setup please? Sounds like something that I might be interested in trying since I have plans to do a larger tank soon. Source of the NH3 and so forth. Thanks.

Not much to say:

Container is the same as LFS' use to collect fish. It is filled with lava rock media almost entirely. Airstone in the bottom, under the rocks. Ammonia: indeed, unscented (pure), but I'm not sure it really matters here. Ammonia is pre-dissolved, so I only put a few drops of it at a time. I add soda, ph swings widely, above 7. Conditioners not used: I first used aged water, now RO. Ammonia in the water clears within hours from 1.0/2.0 levels, so the culture is potent.

If you are not familiar with fishless cycle, read on it, what I'm doing is pretty much the same.

[Diana]

Nitrifying bacteria thrive best in water with some minerals and a pH in the mid 7's. THey do use some of the minerals as they grow. In the average aquarium you might never notice the mineral level going down from these bacteria, but if you are using RO water exclusively the bacteria will eventually deplete the minerals that started the culture.

I would add a little Equilibrium and a little baking soda to keep the KH and GH above 3 degrees. (yes, that is a very low number, but it is not 0!)

[mikev]

I should have added: RO mineralized with Kent's RO Right.
(Actually, I want to try Equilibrium, could not find a convenient source yet).
Soda: the "Sea buffer" mix (carbonate, bicarbonate, borate).

pH swings between 7.2 and 8.0, since the container is very small, even small amounts of soda affect the pH value greatly,....but it does not seem to matter .

[helen nightingale]

that black stuff you buy from the fridge in good shops is amazing. i put too much of the aquarium starter in, as the instructions didnt say test for amminia, just nitrate and nitrite, and the ammonia levels went up so high the cycle wouldnt get going. the black stuff in the filter did a great job.

i think it might be called bactinelles????

[crazy loaches]

Incidentally, Biospira failed for me on five separate occasions....

And thats why I'd never rely on bottled bacteria to do much of anything. Thats to bad though that Biospira failed you as thats the only one with high recomendations across the web. But I've heard only the stuff thats refrigerated and farily new is any good. That culture your running sounds like a great plan. To much work for me though, but if you can keep it up sounds like a great idea. Ive never had any issues starting up a tank though, using some media and plants from a mature tank. The last tank I setup, my 20g quarantine which I set up a few weeks ago when I bought 9 Roseline sharks, I grabbed one of the two XP3's I had on my 75g, my Turbo Twist UV, and a piece of driftwood covered with Java Fern. The XP3 was past due for cleaning so it was a bit clogged and full of bacteria (I didnt clean it) and the reduced flow was actually about right for the 20g as well as the UV. The large bunch of java fern probably have as much surface area as all the media in the filter too. I never saw any readings of ammonnia or nitrite, and its good I setup the QT as the fish did have ick and they all made it through.