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Do These Really Help The Cycling Process?

FishHelper101

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Hi everyone, I just had a quick question and it's really important before I take any actions to the 10 gallon. So my question is, Does the API quick start and the API stress zyme really help the cycling process? If so, should I abort my current cycling process and start new, or continue just using these products? Thanks, please answer fast I don't want to make any more mistakes! =)
 
Api Quick start will aid cycling but it wont give you a full cycle. The only true way of doing a cycle is by using ammonia over 4-6 weeks. There's no rushing it and there's no product out there that will do it for you.
 
Oh yes I know there's no instant way my go to was will it "help" as the title says. Thanks though!
 
The QuickStart is really good, providing you give it a food source (hence it implies its possible to use fish on the bottle >.<) but a few flakes of fish food will do the job :)
 
If you have a friend with a mature tank you could get some media from their filter which could go in a new filter. This would speed the process up a bit.
 
Thanks for all the replies, but my main question has yet to be answered. Do I restart the current cycle with just the meds I have, or continue the current cycle and use both the meds and the fish food? Thanks!
 
Api Quick start will aid cycling but it wont give you a full cycle. The only true way of doing a cycle is by using ammonia over 4-6 weeks. There's no rushing it and there's no product out there that will do it for you.
 
The above statement is 100% false. It is not worth dragging out the scientific evidence that proves it is false yet again.  I can personally attest to the fact that it is 100% wrong by the very fact I have cycled tanks in a week or less using the proper products.  In addition, can do anything I want to cycling times naturally. Add enough material with bacteria on it combined with live plants and one can set up a new tank in under two hours, stock it fully and never have an issue with ammonia or nitrite,
 
That said do not not believe that the API products are the correct ones. For one, API will not identify what is in their starter product. The more important consideration comes from their own literature on the product:
API® launches groundbreaking nitrifying bacteria QUICK START™ Chalfont, PA, December 1, 2011-- Mars Fishcare, North America is excited to introduce QUICK START™ to the API® family of water treatments. QUICK START isa breakthrough in the aquatics industry; allowing for the safe and immediate introduction of fish to the aquarium by immediately starting the biological filter. Containing live nitrifying bacteria with a non-refrigerated shelf life of 2.5 years, the all natural QUICK START limits toxic ammonia and nitrite which helps prevent fish loss.
From http://www.apifishcare.com/cms/uploads/FINAL%20QUICK%20START%20Science%20Sheet.pdf
 
If you believe the generally accepted researched on what bacteria do the actual work in fw tanks and then one the products based on that research, they tell you:
Nitrifying bacteria can live in a bottle for a while. Many think that nitrifying bacteria cannot live in a bottle and will say the reason is because nitrifying bacteria don’t form spores like other bacteria. This is a half-truth. Nitrifying bacteria don’t form spores, but that doesn’t mean they can’t last in a bottle (think about it – if nitrifying bacteria could not survive poor conditions, how would they have survived for millions of years?) They can live in a bottle but under optimal conditions, and the time period is about one year. The nitrifying bacteria don’t die in the bottle; their activity level drops and eventually it becomes so low that there is little measurable positive effect when they are poured into the aquarium water. Provided the nitrifying bacteria in the bottle were not subject to bad environmental conditions (see the next paragraph), they can last about one year in a bottle.

No special preservation chemical or substance has been demonstrated to extend this time period. Refrigerating the bacteria is the only thing
that has been shown to measurably extend their shelf life.
From http://www.drtimsaquatics.com/nitrifying-bacteria-mixtures-work-provided
 
You do not need to "go back and start again". If you wish to provide bacteria to seed your tank to facilitate and speed up the cycling process you can either add cycled material from an established tank or I would suggest you purchase either Tetra's Safe Start or DrTim's One and Only. Just add either of these products and follow the directions. By follow I mean do not try to out-think the directions, do not deviate from the directions and do not accept advice from posters suggesting that you do so.
 
The other thing is not to dose as much ammonia as most will suggest. dosing 1-2 ppm is fine and 3 is really the max. And do not dose ammonia daily. I suggest you read here and follow these instructions rather than the cycling sections found on most sites. http://www.drtimsaquatics.com/resources/fishless-cycling/how-to-start
 
One caveat if you decide to go with the above , when he states:
Also, if you decided not to use our Live Nitrifying Bacteria in the beginning and now want to add some to speed up the process, you need to
make sure the ammonia and nitrite concentrations are under 5 mg/L-N before adding the One & Only Live Nitrifying bacteria.
He is using a different measurement scale than that used on API (and similar) kits. 5 ppm of ammonia-n will read about 6.5 ppm on the API kit. The API nitrite kit is almost useless as on it the 5 ppm-n would read 16.5 ppm and the kit only goes up to 5. You normally need to dilute samples to get usable results. There are instructions for doing this on this forum I am sure. basically you use 1/2 tank water and then add 1/2 deionized water and then multiply the result by 2. You can use a 1 to 2 mix and multiply by 3, etc.
 
As for the Stress Zyme it is not a direct aid for cycling. What it claims to do is help control the breakdown of organics that also cause ammonia. However, most ammonia created by fish is released during respiration from the gills. I would assume the bottle contains spores rather than live bacteria.
 
wow thanks for that post! Extremely helpful! My only issue is there is no way to get anymore products to help cycling these tanks. Can anyone give me a DIRECT answer to my question!?
 
The only way to restart your cycle would be to remove your media and get new. Why would you want to restart your cycle?
 
+1 for twotankamin, i agree, i used a product similar during a nitrite spike and it solved within hours and i mean it was a huge spike, they are very good as long as you stick to what it tells you on the bottle i have never done a full cycle but the noobst trick of sticking fish in and wondering why they die :S but in the future i dont think i will go down the route of cycling the tank before adding fish, i will use these products along with plants, ive herd carbon is good at reducing ammonia in the tank for a few week's stick that at the end of the filter process and it will minimize the ammonia coming out that if it is true and works i have not tested it :) would be nice if some one can tell me if its right or not :) but yes use it :) just keep an eye on the fish reactions aka breathing and swimming if something if wrong they will tell you :) 
 
also do you have any fish with the products you are using?
 
OK straight and simple.Flush that stuff. Its useless imo. Continue from where you are without them, There is no reason to go backwards.
 
If you can not find the products I know to work, then the next best option is to get anything from a cycled tank, especially filter bio-media.. If you can not do that, then do the slow fishless cycle. Do not dose ammonia to over 3 ppm, 1 or 2 ppm is just fine as well. Do not redose ammonia until it drops back close to zero and then dose 1/2 the amount it took you to get to your initial level.
 
Once you get a nitrite reading, reduce the ammonia dose in half again. Do not dose more than about every 3 days until nitrite drops to 0. When nitrite drops to 0, you can do the final test. Dose to get 2 ppm, wait 24 hours and test. You should test 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite. If so its time to do a large water change and add fish. If not wait for not, wait for the numbers to his 0 and repeat the test .
 
if you use pure aquaruim balls they are excellent.
i have gave yp on bottle bacteria and i always use pure aquaruim yes they do work including crystal clear water like if the fish are floating on air.
 
I used a cycling aid product (Tetra SafeStart) and although of course it didn't completely cycle the tank it really helped.  My 37 gallon was completely cycled in 2 weeks.  So I would say they aren't entirely a money waster although they don't do what some of them claim.
 
Pure stuff us good too :) I agree, though found it very slow to use in cycling a tank and bit more hit and miss. Given the choice of all products, i'd use Quickstart in cycling and Pure Balls frequently.
 
Thankfully TTA, the product you seem to like so much is as hit and miss as the rest of them are. Dont be so quick to dismiss other products and tell people to waste their money pouring it down the drain when there is nothing to say for sure it wont work.
 
Can everyone stop suggesting products? There's no way that I can buy any other thing so PLEASE stop suggesting as it resolves nothing. I still don't know do these help and no one's helping me out here! Please answer my questions with no product suggestions, straight up yes or no. Thanks
 

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