I added a healthy dose of stability after a 25% water change
Random question but I saw one of my platys chasing a female relentlessly and rubbing against her. Did I just witness them mating in a cycling tank lol
Day 2 of cycling
- Thread starter coldreptiliancalculations
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Random question but I saw one of my platys chasing a female relentlessly and rubbing against her. Did I just witness them mating in a cycling tank lol
Does anyone know if seachem stability/api quick start products actually have any meaningful benefits? It seems implausible to me that a given solution can enhance the speed of bacterial growth.
On packaging, stability and QS claim to be a bottle of nitrifying bacteria, but I highly doubt they can live in a sealed container for more than a week without mass death.
My rule of thumb is that these products can be used as a booster when cycling, but I'm starting to doubt the validity of them as a whole. I might just be misunderstanding how it works, though.
I think they work as they've solved ammonia spikes etc in the past for me when I didn't have Prime
I know Dr Tim’s One & Only definitely works but is overpriced. I seeded my first 300g tank and it was cycled in 12 days. I used that to seed every tank since.
You're creating an ecosystem, so it's not a pour in once and everything is magically perfect. But I have used Dr Tims and think it helped significantly shorten the cycling period. From what I understand though you need to consider where you're sourcing these products from, because they are a bacteria in a bottle product, even if dormant or whatever, they may not survive spending a summer in a warehouse at 100 degrees F or a winter in a warehouse at under 40 degrees F, etc.
I just did a 50% water change after removing birch branches from the aquarium. Water was coming out brown, could the birch have been releasing tannins? Water just looks a bit cloudy right now after the water change
It’s called cycling for a reason, let the tank cycle through all its stages, tannins release (Boil the wood first) cloudiness (Bacterial bloom) white gel on driftwood and finally algae bloom. It will balance out if you do nothing except water changes.
Hello; First thing is you have been getting advice from some of the seasoned and knowledgeable members of this site. So far folks have been kind with respect to the harm being done to the live fish in the tank during a "fish in" cycling. Until colonies of bb (beneficial bacteria) are established the fish are being exposed to levels of toxins such as ammonia. Pretty much have to figure these first fish will be damaged and in a sense disposable. A hard-core way to consider it is to only have the sorts of fish you are willing to sacrifice for a couple of months. Wait until the water tests zero for ammonia and nitrites before buying fish you care about.
The bb are somewhat slow growing bacteria relative to many other sorts. This is one reason why "cycling" takes so long when doing so from scratch. Best way is to pull some bb colonies from an established tank. Speeds up the process a lot. As mentioned already buy some live plants or some such from an established tank at say a fish shop. I tend to agree that live plants and/or anything which has been in a tank for a few months ought to have some bb on the surfaces.
If you are a fan of snails, I consider them a decent source of bb although i do not have any sorts of proof of this notion. I figure the shells ought to have bb colonies on them. Of course, the snail shells may have features which prevent bb growth, but such is something i do not know of. I have thrown snails into my new setups for decades.
Last thing is this site has lots of threads about cycling you can look up. likely one of the more commented upon topics.
The bb are somewhat slow growing bacteria relative to many other sorts. This is one reason why "cycling" takes so long when doing so from scratch. Best way is to pull some bb colonies from an established tank. Speeds up the process a lot. As mentioned already buy some live plants or some such from an established tank at say a fish shop. I tend to agree that live plants and/or anything which has been in a tank for a few months ought to have some bb on the surfaces.
If you are a fan of snails, I consider them a decent source of bb although i do not have any sorts of proof of this notion. I figure the shells ought to have bb colonies on them. Of course, the snail shells may have features which prevent bb growth, but such is something i do not know of. I have thrown snails into my new setups for decades.
Last thing is this site has lots of threads about cycling you can look up. likely one of the more commented upon topics.
