jump start cycle
- Thread starter transman
- Start date
mandarin w
Member
There are so called magic potions out there, but it is best to go with the tried and true. If you try taking short cuts to cycleing your tank, and cycle your tank too fast, you could have problems down the road. Plus it is never a good idea to put anything in your tank that is not 100 percent necessary. You also can not test for these chemicals. Just be patient, and do it right the first time, and then you probley wont have to worry about things down the road.
reefrank
New Member
Very good reply
It seems more and more now days that many people want to rush into this hobby. Just let it take its course, sit back and enjoy the cycle. I actually find it interesting to watch the different cycles and growths that occur.
Take your time, ad your rock, sand, sit back chill enjoy....
It seems more and more now days that many people want to rush into this hobby. Just let it take its course, sit back and enjoy the cycle. I actually find it interesting to watch the different cycles and growths that occur.
Take your time, ad your rock, sand, sit back chill enjoy....
lion_crazz
Active Member
Yep, I agree with both of the above. The best way to cycle a tank is with live rock and patience. Let your tank fully cycle, and this way, you know that you will be fine when you begin to add live stock.q
drakken
Member
I have skipped the cycle on many tanks both freshwater and saltwater tanks.
One product that REALLY works is BioSpira. I used this in an African cichlid tank and never had any ammonia or nitrite whatsoever. The problem with BioSpira is it needs to be refrigerated and sometimes it has gotten warmed up in shipping. This kills it and it doesn't work. There is no way to tell if you have a good or bad batch until you use it. If it's bad then you find out when it's too late.
The best way to skip the cycle, which I've done in a few SW tanks, is to get filter media and sand from an established tank. A friend of mine has a 105 gallon tank with a fuge that has been running for 2 years. He gave me a filter pad and sand from his fuge and the tank never had any ammonia or nitrite.
One product that REALLY works is BioSpira. I used this in an African cichlid tank and never had any ammonia or nitrite whatsoever. The problem with BioSpira is it needs to be refrigerated and sometimes it has gotten warmed up in shipping. This kills it and it doesn't work. There is no way to tell if you have a good or bad batch until you use it. If it's bad then you find out when it's too late.
The best way to skip the cycle, which I've done in a few SW tanks, is to get filter media and sand from an established tank. A friend of mine has a 105 gallon tank with a fuge that has been running for 2 years. He gave me a filter pad and sand from his fuge and the tank never had any ammonia or nitrite.
1journeyman
Active Member
Originally Posted by Drakken
The best way to skip the cycle, which I've done in a few SW tanks, is to get filter media and sand from an established tank. A friend of mine has a 105 gallon tank with a fuge that has been running for 2 years. He gave me a filter pad and sand from his fuge and the tank never had any ammonia or nitrite.
... That might work. The only way you would know for sure, however, would be to start adding livestock and hope the tank can handle it.... if it can't you just killed your livestock. What this does is adds bacteria to your tank... Of course bacteria will naturally grow in your tank without this introduction so... You really roll the dice with this method. you're adding some bacteria and livestock at the same time and hoping that you've achieved equillibrium.
As others posted, the best thing to do is a natural cycle... if you can't wait a month in this hobby for a cycle then ya really are in trouble. Patience is a key to a successful tank.
The best way to skip the cycle, which I've done in a few SW tanks, is to get filter media and sand from an established tank. A friend of mine has a 105 gallon tank with a fuge that has been running for 2 years. He gave me a filter pad and sand from his fuge and the tank never had any ammonia or nitrite.
... That might work. The only way you would know for sure, however, would be to start adding livestock and hope the tank can handle it.... if it can't you just killed your livestock. What this does is adds bacteria to your tank... Of course bacteria will naturally grow in your tank without this introduction so... You really roll the dice with this method. you're adding some bacteria and livestock at the same time and hoping that you've achieved equillibrium.
As others posted, the best thing to do is a natural cycle... if you can't wait a month in this hobby for a cycle then ya really are in trouble. Patience is a key to a successful tank.
1journeyman
Active Member
Why pay for Prime though when fish food or an uncooked shrimp will do the same thing?
xdave
Active Member
Originally Posted by Drakken
I have skipped the cycle on many tanks both freshwater and saltwater tanks.
One product that REALLY works is BioSpira. I used this in an African cichlid tank and never had any ammonia or nitrite whatsoever. The problem with BioSpira is it needs to be refrigerated and sometimes it has gotten warmed up in shipping. This kills it and it doesn't work. There is no way to tell if you have a good or bad batch until you use it. If it's bad then you find out when it's too late.
The best way to skip the cycle, which I've done in a few SW tanks, is to get filter media and sand from an established tank. A friend of mine has a 105 gallon tank with a fuge that has been running for 2 years. He gave me a filter pad and sand from his fuge and the tank never had any ammonia or nitrite.
Hmmmm... according to the majority here, you sir are obviously pure evil
Check out the thread (and the we hate xDave club) I started I dont need no stinking cycle Although I did say to get used filter media from their LFS, apparently people trust the livestock to be healthy but not the filter media.
I have skipped the cycle on many tanks both freshwater and saltwater tanks.
One product that REALLY works is BioSpira. I used this in an African cichlid tank and never had any ammonia or nitrite whatsoever. The problem with BioSpira is it needs to be refrigerated and sometimes it has gotten warmed up in shipping. This kills it and it doesn't work. There is no way to tell if you have a good or bad batch until you use it. If it's bad then you find out when it's too late.
The best way to skip the cycle, which I've done in a few SW tanks, is to get filter media and sand from an established tank. A friend of mine has a 105 gallon tank with a fuge that has been running for 2 years. He gave me a filter pad and sand from his fuge and the tank never had any ammonia or nitrite.
Hmmmm... according to the majority here, you sir are obviously pure evil
milomlo
Active Member
Originally Posted by 1journeyman
Why pay for Prime though when fish food or an uncooked shrimp will do the same thing?
He asked about a "product" out there that will jump start the cycle. I told him PRIME. I answered his question. I agree he doesn't NEED it, he can use shrimp. He asked for a product. PRIME adds pure ammonia to the tank.
I know cause by mistake I killed my entire tank.
If you add that stuff to water and test it, it adds ammonia. It says on the bottle that is "removes ammonia" but that is NOT the case. If you test some water and have 0 ammonia and you add a bit of PRIME to it and test again, you will see what I mean. 
I learned the hard way not to add things to your tank. Good old fashion water changes is the only way to go.
Why pay for Prime though when fish food or an uncooked shrimp will do the same thing?
He asked about a "product" out there that will jump start the cycle. I told him PRIME. I answered his question. I agree he doesn't NEED it, he can use shrimp. He asked for a product. PRIME adds pure ammonia to the tank.
I know cause by mistake I killed my entire tank.
I learned the hard way not to add things to your tank. Good old fashion water changes is the only way to go.
drakken
Member
Originally Posted by milomlo
He asked about a "product" out there that will jump start the cycle.
I learned the hard way not to add things to your tank. Good old fashion water changes is the only way to go.
BioSpira worked perfectly for me in a 55 gallon cichlid tank. I put 16 fish with an average size of 3" in a brand new tank and a 3oz packet of BioSpira. On the 3rd day I saw a tiny trace of ammonia and that was it. No nitrites either.
They have BioSpira for saltwater but I personally have not used it.
He asked about a "product" out there that will jump start the cycle.
I learned the hard way not to add things to your tank. Good old fashion water changes is the only way to go.
BioSpira worked perfectly for me in a 55 gallon cichlid tank. I put 16 fish with an average size of 3" in a brand new tank and a 3oz packet of BioSpira. On the 3rd day I saw a tiny trace of ammonia and that was it. No nitrites either.
They have BioSpira for saltwater but I personally have not used it.
boozzbro
Member
I used teh BioSpira stuff for a saltwater tank. It actually worked surprising well. My cycle took all of 24 hrs to finish. But you still need to do the testing. Within 6 hours or so my ammonia had spiked off teh charts and by the next night the ammonia was back down too low to read. The day after i was able to add in my 2 clowns and havent had a problem since.
The stuff is kind of expensive though. around 25 bucks for a packtet big enough to start a 55 gallon tank. When i did it again for my 75 gallon tank i just threw in a coctail shrimp and waited it out. That only took a little over a week or so. Waiting a week to enjoy fish for years to come isnt too bad if you think about it.
The stuff is kind of expensive though. around 25 bucks for a packtet big enough to start a 55 gallon tank. When i did it again for my 75 gallon tank i just threw in a coctail shrimp and waited it out. That only took a little over a week or so. Waiting a week to enjoy fish for years to come isnt too bad if you think about it.
chickadee
Member
booz's results aren't typical, though, by just adding a cocktail shrimp. It normally takes a few weeks to a month to fully complete a cycle.
You really don't want to "skip" your cycle, but there are some things you can do to speed it up: buy cured LR, and cured LS from an established tank. These already have the needed bacteria to process ammonia, so when you add your shrip to kick off the cycle, a whole colony doesn't need to grow from scratch (which is what takes so long) but the existing colony just needs to grow more. This is the best way to shorten your cycle without skipping corners.
NOW, the big thing you need to do before doing this is to ask the owner if they've ever treated with ANY medication in that tank. If so, the LR and LS could be contaminated with some sort of chemical, which could cause your tank to crash. So, if you want to take a short cut, make sure it's a safe road and not some dark back alley.
You really don't want to "skip" your cycle, but there are some things you can do to speed it up: buy cured LR, and cured LS from an established tank. These already have the needed bacteria to process ammonia, so when you add your shrip to kick off the cycle, a whole colony doesn't need to grow from scratch (which is what takes so long) but the existing colony just needs to grow more. This is the best way to shorten your cycle without skipping corners.
NOW, the big thing you need to do before doing this is to ask the owner if they've ever treated with ANY medication in that tank. If so, the LR and LS could be contaminated with some sort of chemical, which could cause your tank to crash. So, if you want to take a short cut, make sure it's a safe road and not some dark back alley.
chickadee
Member
and i agree that adding anything in a bottle to your tank, be it chemicals or "supplements" is a bad idea unless it's necessary: meaning you have a disease that can be treated no other way, or your water is missing calcium, magnesium, or something along those lines. Otherwise, it's just a waste of money and could end up killing your tank instead of helping it. Like someone said above, they added prime, which was meant to take ammonia away, and instead it added ammonia. you never know what kind of environment those bottles are sitting in before they get to the shelf... if it's been sitting in extreme temperatures, the chemicals inside may go bad, or deactivate, or something... and anything that was living inside the bottle (such as biospira) could die...
1journeyman
Active Member
Originally Posted by milomlo
He asked about a "product" out there that will jump start the cycle. I told him PRIME. I answered his question. I agree he doesn't NEED it, he can use shrimp. He asked for a product. PRIME adds pure ammonia to the tank.
Sorry if you misunderstood me. In your previous post you said:
Originally Posted by milomlo
I say use some PRIME
That's what I was posting in response to.
The original poster's question was: "Not sure of name or if this is true. Does anyone know what they are talking about?"
So I didn't really take that as them asking for a product so much as wanting an explanation on the whole thing.
He asked about a "product" out there that will jump start the cycle. I told him PRIME. I answered his question. I agree he doesn't NEED it, he can use shrimp. He asked for a product. PRIME adds pure ammonia to the tank.
Sorry if you misunderstood me. In your previous post you said:
Originally Posted by milomlo
I say use some PRIME
That's what I was posting in response to.
The original poster's question was: "Not sure of name or if this is true. Does anyone know what they are talking about?"
So I didn't really take that as them asking for a product so much as wanting an explanation on the whole thing.
scsinet
Active Member
Originally Posted by milomlo
I say use some PRIME....it adds ammonia to the tank
No it doesn't. Prime is a detoxifier for ammonia and nitrite. It is not used to cycle a tank, in fact it will slow down your cycle by neutralizing the ammonia and nitrite in your system that the bacteria need to grow.
There are lots of "miracle" products out there that have varying degrees of effectiveness. What none of these products address is the other factors surrounding tank stabilization. Diatoms, Cyanobacteria, and "new tank syndrome" are all things that generally will happen no matter what you do, all of which can detrimentally affect your livestock. It's best to let these things run their natural course through patience.
Trust me, I've cycled dozens of tanks and at some point a while back I tried to jump start it with one of these products and I killed off almost an entire system to new tank syndrome. Not worth it.
I say use some PRIME....it adds ammonia to the tank
No it doesn't. Prime is a detoxifier for ammonia and nitrite. It is not used to cycle a tank, in fact it will slow down your cycle by neutralizing the ammonia and nitrite in your system that the bacteria need to grow.
There are lots of "miracle" products out there that have varying degrees of effectiveness. What none of these products address is the other factors surrounding tank stabilization. Diatoms, Cyanobacteria, and "new tank syndrome" are all things that generally will happen no matter what you do, all of which can detrimentally affect your livestock. It's best to let these things run their natural course through patience.
Trust me, I've cycled dozens of tanks and at some point a while back I tried to jump start it with one of these products and I killed off almost an entire system to new tank syndrome. Not worth it.