cycle boost supplementation?

[chelseagrin]

i dont know if this is worthy of the advanced topics forum, but what the hay right? i was wondering about the products that claim to boost your cycle or even make your tank cycle immediately. has anyone ever used these? i have heard some stories that they are worthless but also quite a few on how great of a product they are. it would help me alot because i have 3 tanks set up for 5 pairs of dwarf seahorses and i need to get these up and running asap but the tank havent even cycled yet. i fortunately havent ordered the seahorses, i wont until i figure all this out.
any thoughts?

 

[Krish]

When I get to a computer I'll send you a link to thread (recent one) where there was a good discussion on it. A member here swears by it so I'll let you read it for yourself. Everyone has their own opinions on the effectiveness of bacteria in a bottle. I'll get you that link in s bit.


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[Krish]

Here...I was able to find it on my phone.

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/showthread.php?t=61809


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[chelseagrin]

thanks for the link kris, what do you think about this bacteria in a bottle stuff? i am kkind of thinking the best route will be just live sand and rock.

 

[mojoreef]

I just cycled mine with it, it does not really cause any issues, and allows you to get your fish back in the tank quickly, the next day basically. For me I had to remove my fish and so on to do a redo on my system, so using the product made sense so I could get the stuff back in. It speeds up the ammonia to nitirite to nitrate portion of the cycle, but your still going to have to go through the balance of the overall cycle. So if its a brand new tank and you already have LR and LS then dont worry about it as your going to have so much dieing and decaying stuff coming off the rock and sand that it will over power the bacteria anyway and will still be unsafe for fish.


Hope it helps


Mojo

 

[Krish]

I've always used "cycle" in freshwater tanks, but never in a saltwater application. I'm pretty patient when it comes to cycling and so I let my rock do all the work and go from there. It took me practically 1 year from start up to add my first coral so yea, I'm pretty patient. No harm though in the bacteria in a bottle as Mojo suggested, but I just don't mess with it personally.

 

[trido]

So if its a brand new tank and you already have LR and LS then dont worry about it as your going to have so much dieing and decaying stuff coming off the rock and sand that it will over power the bacteria anyway and will still be unsafe for fish.

This IMO is going to be your biggest factor regardless of how you go about cycling your tank. Ive set up several tanks without much, if any cycle at all, and have stocked them with corals within days (hours at home) slowly adding fish over the next months. This only works if the LR is very clean and has been cured at the LFS or came from a local tank.
Brand new LR that has just been shipped in from Fiji etc. can have alot of die off and can cause a huge cycle and noticably stinky ammonia that will choke you upon walking into the room. IMO if this is the case, there is nothing in any bottle that can counter the effects of massive die off from the LR.

There are alot of variables that can effect the length and severity of a tank cycle or lack of. Take your time and keep testing.

 

[godzen]

well, i just setup a used red sea max 250 all in one 65 gallon tank with cured live rocks from indoor reef. I currently have three fish. I know, it's waay too early for fishes but it was part of a recent purchase. My setup is about 2 weeks old, a pair of clown and an angel appears happy in their tank. ammonia, nitrate both are coming down slowly. I'm doing 20% WC q5 days or so. Using Ro/Di. I'm also using the included red sea max nitrobac nitrifying bacteria that appears to help also

 

[cobracop]

they sell some stuff in a little red jar, it's a powder, can't remember the name