Do Bacteria Bottles Work?

[superschan]

I'm reading about cycling new tanks in the forum and everyone here seems to suggest doing a fishless cycle with ammonia but I have also read elsewhere that there are bacteria bottles which supposedly allow you to add fish to your new tank immediately. I see Tetra safestart and seachem stability are the most commonly suggested ones, has anyone here used them? Do they really work?

 

[Dav]

As far as people on this site are concerned the bacteria in a bottle type products are just rubbish, but I'm not speaking from experience as I've never used the bacteria in a bottle, but the vibe on this site is that are a no no and a waste of your money.

 

[This Old Spouse]

It's not possible to keep live bacteria in a bottle for more than a day. So by the time it even gets out the door from the supplier it's already dead. It needs to have water circulation and food to survive, and that doesn't happen.

 

[fidjet2]

Dav is right....people on the site think they don't work, but i not sure if they have tried it or not

 

[fidjet2]

Dav is right....people on the site think they don't work, but i not sure if they have tried it or not

 

[Dav]

I do wonder if anyone has done any test to see if they do work or not.

 

[ghent_3rd]

I used them when I first got into fish keeping but the easiest way to get cycled is to clone a tank. I think from memory that in 7 years I have only ever cycled 2 tanks!!! The rest have all been cloned.

 

[andyjw1]

Lots of research seems to have been done over the years, with the upshot that some are claimed to work. Check it out on google:
Google

 

[Aqua Tom]

Like ALL living things, bacteria need food to survive. In this case that food is ammonia.

If the bacteria are sealed in a bottle, where do they get their food from?

Tom

 

[ian]

If reading the research, remember to critique it well and don't take everything at face value. A lot of the research done, is actually done by the companies who own the products, which instantly makes the research nul and void. I would also go against Wiki articles as they also are written by Joe Bloggs.

just some of the threads that have been brought up about this

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/368560-beneficial-bacteria/page__p__3078231__hl__%2Bbacteria+%2Bbottle__fromsearch__1#entry3078231

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/358564-bacterial-additives/page__p__2987670__hl__%2Bbacteria+%2Bbottle__fromsearch__1#entry2987670

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/356899-my-mistakes-for-your-viewing-pleasure/page__p__2972817__hl__%2Bbacteria+%2Bbottle__fromsearch__1#entry2972817

 

[StandbySetting]

It's not possible to keep live bacteria in a bottle for more than a day. So by the time it even gets out the door from the supplier it's already dead. It needs to have water circulation and food to survive, and that doesn't happen.

Yes it is.

Bacteria can live dormant for months, they can encase themselves in a shell which will sustain them.

Try Dr.Tim's products if you can find them, follow the instructions to the letter and it will work.

 

[Miles_hot]

sadly Standby at least two people (from my ageing memory) have tried Dr Tim's stuff and found that it didn't work and certainly didn't cycle in the time frame promised. Which is a #41#### shame as Dr Tim's work is brilliant and after a 100 day cycle I'd have bought anything at significant cost if I thought is would have brought the #41#### cycle to a close!!!

Miles

 

[Hermithall]

I would steer clear, if they really worked we'd all be using these magic bottles by now.

 

[StandbySetting]

sadly Standby at least two people (from my ageing memory) have tried Dr Tim's stuff and found that it didn't work and certainly didn't cycle in the time frame promised. Which is a #41#### shame as Dr Tim's work is brilliant and after a 100 day cycle I'd have bought anything at significant cost if I thought is would have brought the #41#### cycle to a close!!!

Miles

They can't have followed the instructions to the word, miss one thing and it will fail, if kept outside of the temperature requirements of the product it will become useless, it does have an expiry date too, there are numerous sources out there backing up its credibility including many public aquariums with huge systems.

The President of DrTim's Aquatics is Dr. Timothy A. Hovanec who, for 17 years, was the Chief Science Officer of Aquaria Inc., the parent company of Marineland Aquarium Products, Aquarium Systems (Instant Ocean) and Perfecto Manufacturing.

Dr. Hovanec's groundbreaking research on nitrifying bacteria led to him discovering and developing BioSpira®.

This is the guy behind biospira, another product which did work.

 

[CrazyCichlaMomma]

i used to use the bio-spira by marineland before Tetra bought them.. i believe it worked. we added the bio-spira, waited 24 hours tested the water and added fish, no problem. i don't trust Tetra's version as well because they no longer keep the stuff refrigerated which to me means that the bacteria is able to be exposed to heat, which i know kills it.

i know lots of guys that swear by seachem stability, but i know nothing about it and i've never used it. it has been recommended to me by many fishkeepers that i trust though, so it can't be all bad..