Qwertus

Not sure if this fits under this section but I'm wondering if anyone try this product from drsfostersmith.com:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...m?pcatid=16760

It' suppose to contain bacteria for freshwater and saltwater aquariums that can give you jump start. The reason for it because a friend of mine lives in another state wants to start an aquarium so this would give him a faster start.

Diana K

The nitrifying bacteria have been identified. This bottle does not have the right species.

Look for Tetra Safe Start or Dr. Tim's One and Only. For salt water tanks Bio Spira has been taken over by someone else, but is still sold with the Bio Spira name.

You are looking for Nitrospiros sp of bacteria.

Another way to start a tank is to do the fishless cycle. This will grow the proper species of bacteria, even if you have no starter colony to get it going. These bacteria are very common, and will grow when you give them the proper conditions.
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Fishless Cycle
You too can boast that "No fish were harmed in the cycling of your new tank"
Cycling a tank means to grow the beneficial bacteria that will help to decompose the fish waste (especially ammonia). These bacteria need ammonia to grow. There are 3 sources of ammonia that work to do this. One is fish. Unfortunately, the process exposes the fish to ammonia , which burns their gills, and nitrite, which makes their blood unable to carry oxygen. This often kills the fish.

Another source is decomposing protein. You could cycle your tank by adding fish food or a dead fish or shellfish. You do not know how much beneficial bacteria you are growing, though.

The best source of ammonia is... Ammonia. In a bottle.

Using fish is a delicate balance of water changes to keep the toxins low (try not to hurt the fish) but keep feeding the bacteria. It can take 4 to 8 weeks to cycle a tank this way, and can cost the lives of several fish. When you are done you have grown a small bacteria population that still needs to be nurtured to increase its population. You cannot, at the end of a fish-in cycle, fully stock your tank.

The fishless/ammonia cycle takes as little as 3 weeks, and can be even faster, grows a BIG bacteria population, and does not harm fish in any way.

Both methods give you plenty of practice using your test kit.

How to cycle a tank the fishless way:

1) Make sure all equipment is working, fill with water that has all the stuff you will need for the fish you intend to keep. Dechlorinator, minerals for GH or KH adjustments, salt, if you are creating a brackish tank...

2) Add some source of the bacteria. Used filter media from a cycled tank is best, gravel or some decorations or a few plants... even some water, though this is the poorest source of the beneficial bacteria.
Bacteria in a bottle can be a source of these bacteria, but make sure you are getting Nitrospiros spp of bacteria. All other ‘bacteria in a bottle’ products have the wrong bacteria. You can start it with no source of bacteria, too. Just skip this part. If you can get some source the cycle will go faster.

3) Add ammonia until the test reads 5 ppm. This is the non-sudsing, no-fragrance-added ammonia that is often found in a hardware store, discount stores, and sometimes in a grocery store. The concentration of ammonia may not be the same in all bottles. Try adding 5 drops per 10 gallons, then allowing the filter to circulate for about an hour, then test. If the reading isn't up to 5 ppm, add a few more drops and test again. (Example, if your test reads only 2 ppm, then perhaps add another 5 drops) Some ammonia is such a weak dilution you may need to add several ounces to get a reading.

4) Test for ammonia daily, and add enough to keep the reading at 5 ppm.

5) Several days after you start, begin testing for nitrites. When the nitrites show up, reduce the amount of ammonia you add so the test shows 3ppm. (Add only half as much ammonia as you were adding in part 4) Add this reduced amount daily from now until the tank is cycled.

If the nitrites get too high (over 5 ppm), and seem to stay up for several days or a week, not coming down, reduce the amount of ammonia you are adding, or even skip a day. If this does not budge the nitrites, then a partial water change may help. It can happen that the bacteria growth is slowed because of the high nitrites.

6) Continue testing, and adding ammonia daily. The nitrates will likely show up about 2 weeks after you started. Keep monitoring, and watch for 0 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrite and rising nitrates.

7) Once the 0 ppm ammonia and nitrites shows up it may bounce around a little bit for a day or two. Be patient.
You can test the system by adding more than a regular dose of ammonia, and it should be able to handle it overnight or faster.
If you will not be adding fish right away continue to add the ammonia to keep the bacteria fed.

When you are ready to add the fish, do at least one water change, and it may take a couple of them, to reduce the nitrate to safe levels (as low as possible, certainly below 10 ppm)

9) You can plant a tank that is being cycled this way at any point during the process. If you plant early, the plants will be well rooted, and better able to handle the disruption of the water change.
Yes, the plants will use some of the ammonia and the nitrates. They are part of the nitrogen handling system, part of the biofilter, they are working for you. Some plants do not like high ammonia, though. If a certain plant dies, remove it, and only replace it after the cycle is done.

Philosophos

You know, I haven't tested NH4 or NO2 for a cycle in ages. High plant density pretty much reduces NH4 and NO2 to obscurity, and intense water changes early on helps to keep both algae and NH4/NO2 levels down. Filter seeding from a sparsely planted tank is good insurance, but not necessary. I use this method even despite using ADA AAS I, which back leeches a fair amount of ammonia.

There are a number of ways of dealing with a cycle depending on your plant density, substrate, tech level, bioload and so on. Commercial preparations can speed things up, but after your first cycle they're pretty much pointless. If this is your first time around, try finding someone else in your area to filter seed off of.

If you provide some details about your plans for this tank, I can be a bit more articulate about things.

-Philosophos

Diana K

Yes, of course. Doing a full fishless cycle on a fully planted tank is sort of a waste of time. The plants themselves ARE the bio-filter, and they bring in enough nitrifying bacteria that you can reasonably stock the tank as soon as things have settled down after set up. Both plants and nitrifying bacteria will remove the various nitrogens and keep the water safe for the fish.

Some substrates have a break in period when the conditions might be unfavorable to fish, however, so setting up a tank, including plants, with one of these substrates will include a waiting period while the substrate goes through its cycle. (Natural soils, ADA products and probably some others)

Whichever way you go, test the new set up often so you do know what is going on, and be ready to do water changes as needed to keep conditions optimal for the plants, fish and microorganisms.

I also set up a new tank by planting, and swapping some filter media around so that several established tanks will donate enough cycled media that the new tank has a fully cycled filter from day 1. I add fish as soon as the water has cleared (24 hours after set up, usually)