Has anyone here ever used purchased live bacteria to cycle a tank?
- Thread starter rydys
- Start date
lmforbis
Well-Known Member
If you have only dry rock it seeds the tank otherwise there isn’t any bacteria to colonize the rock. The down side is there is minimal diversity in the bacteria. A couple pieces of live rock will give you more diversity. Yes it will turn your dead rock into live rock. Nothing should ever be done just to make it faster in saltwater. It always backfires. I use liquid bacteria in my quarantine tank. I don’t keep it set up all the time only when I’m getting new fish. I soak my sponge filters in the liquid bacteria for a few hours before I set the tank up.
beaslbob
Well-Known Member
Absolutely correct!!!!!!!!!
yet no adverse affects. No ammonia, no co2 build up etc,etc,etc. So fish thrive.
Meanwhile the bacteria does build up even if slower.
Just you don't have the ammonia->nitrite-> nitrate spikes is all.
Still that's my .02
Candymancangt
Member
I instant cycled 3 tanks by purchasing Fritszyne 9 from amazon... When i first started reef keeping. I started in my 27g hexagon. I bought a 1 gallon bottle of the bacteria for 30$ put half the gallon in.. with 2ppm ammonia already measuring in the tank and in 2 days my ammonia went to 0 and i had 0 nitrites and 5ppm of nitrates.
I put in 4 fish and 3 corals and to this day 8 months later i still have those corals and fish. I did the same thing to my moms 30 long tank. Put half a gallon in the day i setup the tank.. put a ton of food in to check and in 2 days i had nitrates and no ammonia. Put fish in and they are still in that tank 5 months later.
I moved ny 27g to my 55g hexagon and had an ammonia spike one day ( my fault) i put new sand on top of the old sand and it killed my BB and caused ammonia... i bought another bottle of that stuff in 24 hours the ammonia was gone.
Then i setup my 135 gallon tank.. i put 50 lbs of ny rick and ssnd in that tank along with another 60lbs of new rock and 80lbs of new sand.. poured the entire 1 gallon bottle in and i had no issues.
Ive also used this stuff to setup my 20 long qt tank.. i had to put 1000$ in coral in that tank to do hypo in my 135 and i put half a gallon of that stuff in the tank and i lost 0 corals..
So the people who claim this stuff doesnt work... youve never tried it.. and if you habe.. lemme guess you bought the little bottles from pet co or pets mart those tiny bottles dont do anything.
You need a large amount of it and fritszyme 9 on amazon works great. I may be new to salt water but ive done fresh for 15+ years and i didnt have the patience of waiting 6 weeks to cycle my tank.
Would i do it again ? Hell yea.. . But i wouldnt dump fish in.. id QT them for ichand stuff.. that is one lesson i did learn i went in with fresh water ich mentality thinking its easy to get rid of
I put in 4 fish and 3 corals and to this day 8 months later i still have those corals and fish. I did the same thing to my moms 30 long tank. Put half a gallon in the day i setup the tank.. put a ton of food in to check and in 2 days i had nitrates and no ammonia. Put fish in and they are still in that tank 5 months later.
I moved ny 27g to my 55g hexagon and had an ammonia spike one day ( my fault) i put new sand on top of the old sand and it killed my BB and caused ammonia... i bought another bottle of that stuff in 24 hours the ammonia was gone.
Then i setup my 135 gallon tank.. i put 50 lbs of ny rick and ssnd in that tank along with another 60lbs of new rock and 80lbs of new sand.. poured the entire 1 gallon bottle in and i had no issues.
Ive also used this stuff to setup my 20 long qt tank.. i had to put 1000$ in coral in that tank to do hypo in my 135 and i put half a gallon of that stuff in the tank and i lost 0 corals..
So the people who claim this stuff doesnt work... youve never tried it.. and if you habe.. lemme guess you bought the little bottles from pet co or pets mart those tiny bottles dont do anything.
You need a large amount of it and fritszyme 9 on amazon works great. I may be new to salt water but ive done fresh for 15+ years and i didnt have the patience of waiting 6 weeks to cycle my tank.
Would i do it again ? Hell yea.. . But i wouldnt dump fish in.. id QT them for ichand stuff.. that is one lesson i did learn i went in with fresh water ich mentality thinking its easy to get rid of