Bactinettes, Fishless Cycling...

[DJC1]

I am thinking of trying this product, but am a little wary of it's effectiveness so have some questions about the cycling process in general.

I am about five days into a fishless cycle, I've just checked the ammonia levels and they have gone up to around 5ppm from 3ppm the previous day (nitrites are at around 0.5), having added nothing to the water (except for a 1ltr top up with some dechlorinator), so I want to try and speed things up a bit.

Firstly, if I add Bactinettes I will need to do a full water change - if this Bactinettes doesn't actually work, will it have a negative effect on the current cycle, as the filter will still be at the stage as it was previous to this?

I believe you are able to add fish within 24 hours of adding Bactinettes, but I would rather leave it at least a few days to make sure all the water levels are fine - would I need to start adding ammonia again to ensure the bacteria from the Bactinets don't die off as I think I read in this forum somewhere that you MUST add fish after 24 hours to stop the bacteria dieing when using Bactinets - which I would rather wait a while first? And if so, how would I calculate how much the bacteria is able to handle?

 

[TubbyLaLa]

You can continue a fishless cycle with bactinettes as long as you keep adding ammonia I would advise this as I used bactinettes on our 300L and due to a lack of nitrifying bactieria developing had to do daily water changes to prevent any harm coming to the fish as the nitrite levels were unstable for some time. It will definately speed up your cycle but I would advise doing so without fish to avoid a lot of hassle for the fish and you. Some people say bactinettes work and they do to an extent in my experience but if you are doing so with fish only a very light stocking initially to give the nitrifying bacteria time to develop. Good luck

 

[Miss Wiggle]

with bactinettes weather they will work is largely dependent on how they have been stored and transported to the store. obviously this is something you can only ever have limited knowledge off so therefore buying it is always a gamble. However if you buy them from a trustworthy source then I think it's a risk worth taking.

it's true that the bacteria need an ammonia source within 24 hrs, be it fish or ammonia. personally i would add some then continue to add ammonia up to 5ppm, you should find within a few days your cycle completes and you can add fish in full confidence that the tank can support the bio load

 

[DJC1]

Cheers all.

I've raised my concerns with the fish store and have been assured that the product is sent to them by fast delivery in polystyrene containers and then fridged on arrival - I obviously don't know if this is 100% accurate, but as I am unable to find out one way or the other, I will take him at his word...for now.

The only thing is, he said that at my current ammonia levels of 5ppm, it is too high, and that before I add the Bactinets the ppm needs to be nearer 0.25 - easily done with a 100% water change, but then I'm concerned about what the maintenance dose of ammonia should be until I buy some fish, if he is saying 5ppm is too high anyway and at that level will likely kill off all of the baceteria?

Thoughts?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

hmmm i've not heard that, a level of over 5ppm may kill off the bacteria but 5 should be absolutely fine.

the bacteria in bactinettes is the same you develop when doing a normal fishless cycle, that can easily cope with 5ppm so therefore the bactinettes should as well.

your bacteria will only grow to the point they can handle the level of ammonia you add, there is no food source to support a larger colony so one does not develop. therefore if you only add 0.25ppm of ammonia that will be all your colony can handle, if you then add fish which produce more than 0.25ppm then there will be a mini cycle while it catches up. 5ppm of ammonia is more than a full tankload of fish should produce, which is why if you develop your bacteria to cope with this level you can fully stock the tank with no problems. if you want to just cycle the tank to 1/2ppm then this will be fine and it will work, however you will only be able to add a small number of fish and risk a mini cycle.

 

[Dark Wolf]

correct me if i'm wrong, but shouldn't the ammonia have been dropping rather than rising?

If he's doing a fishless cycle, and didn't add anymore ammonia, then surely it shouldn't have risen by 2ppm?

 

[DJC1]

correct me if i'm wrong, but shouldn't the ammonia have been dropping rather than rising?

If he's doing a fishless cycle, and didn't add anymore ammonia, then surely it shouldn't have risen by 2ppm?

Yes, that's what I thought, although I do find the colours pretty hard to distinguish between at the higher levels.

Anyway, I have bought the Bactinettes. I plan on doing a 100% water change, at which stage I am adding some plants aswell.

If the Bactinettes kicks of the cycle as I hope, I will monitor it for a few days while adding ammonia, and if all seems good I can then think about getting some fish.

 

[mark.w.jones]

Plants will use up some of your ammonia and nitrite so you should avoid having them in a cycling tank. They also don't always cope well with the higher temp. + get covered in loads of algae which inevitably appears when cycling. Add them just before your fish.

 

[DJC1]

Ah, only just come back to this post...one hour after planting my tank.

Well I'm not taking them out, it was hard enough getting tham all in.

Can someone give me a detailed step by step run through on how to use Bactinettes, as I've just realised I don't have any instructions.

Do I drain the pearls and add them 'into' the filter?

Exactly how long after adding should I should start testing?

How long after should I start adding a maintenance dose of ammonia until I decide to add fish?

I;ve actually read somewhere else that it only cuts out the ammonia spike, not the nitrite one - anyone confirm this either way?

Anything else...?

 

[TubbyLaLa]

I cycled using bactinettes and it did cut the ammonia spike but there was a nitrite spike.

Drain the pearls and add them into your filter, I put mine between each layer of foam.

I tested every 12 hours to check how they were doing

Ammonia needs to be added within 24hrs (preferably less) of the ammonia hitting 0 I guess.

Hope this is helpful