Fishless Cycling With Bottled Starters

[vinylman]

The only silly question is the one that isn't asked. Ask away.

 

[jonnyf84]

D3m, forget all the next to useless produts that offer quick cycling. Stress Zyme is the only way to reliably speed it up, forget the instructions on the bottle. If your interested send me a message with your tank volume (litres) and i will tell you what you need to do, with the right care it should be cycled in two weeks.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

D3m, forget all the next to useless produts that offer quick cycling. Stress Zyme is the only way to reliably speed it up, forget the instructions on the bottle. If your interested send me a message with your tank volume (litres) and i will tell you what you need to do, with the right care it should be cycled in two weeks.

any evidence to support this jonny?

don't mean to sound harsh but i've heard no evidence anecdotal or otherwise to show that stress zyme does anything but dechlorinates the water, we often get asked which of the 'bacteria in a bottle' products works to start a cycle and the answer is invariably not many but a few have had some hit and miss sucess. If you have another method which is more reliable than what we currently use and recommend then we would be delighted to hear more about it so please can you provide some more details and evidence to back up your statement.

 

[jonnyf84]

any evidence to support this jonny?

don't mean to sound harsh but i've heard no evidence anecdotal or otherwise to show that stress zyme does anything but dechlorinates the water, we often get asked which of the 'bacteria in a bottle' products works to start a cycle and the answer is invariably not many but a few have had some hit and miss sucess. If you have another method which is more reliable than what we currently use and recommend then we would be delighted to hear more about it so please can you provide some more details and evidence to back up your statement.
[/quote]





Oh plenty, it has never failed for me and it is one thing i am always gob smacked by - the fact that people struggle for 5 - 8 weeks with cycling the tank just astonishes me.

OK, For the benefit of maths i will base this on a 100 litre tank.

Set up your tank: gravel/sand, plants, filter, heater, de-chlorinate and de-chloramines and leave it for 24 for hours to settle down (this isn't essential but i think it helps). I can't remember the last time i read the back of a bottle of stress zyme so i can't state what they say you should dose your tank with, if you do read it then just forget it again cos its about as useful as a chocolate tea pot.

So you've got your bottled gold, add three full caps once a day for 7-10 days - this depends on your finances and tank size cos its not the cheapest stuff around, although what is in this hobby!!!! (remember this is for 100 litres, adjust amount accordingly, 200 litre=6 caps etc).

This is where you can fork off in 1 of 2 different directions depending on your morals (fish or fishless).

For fishless fans. Stop dosing for 3 days then add 3 full caps once a day for three days then leave for 3 more days and repeat, do this until the tank is cycled. Time span = 25 days max

For less moralistic aquarists. Get yourself 2 or three baby goldfish (the idea been that they will not have totally acclimatised to certain water conditions) once added leave for three days then add 3 full caps once a day for three days and your tank should be fully cycled. Time span = 15 days (approx)
NB# I've used baby goldfish several times and have never noticed any ill affects as by the time i put them in the aquariums the majority of the cycling is done. Don't forget to reduce the temp if you plan to use goldfish, don't turn off the heater completely though, i always reduce from 79F to 66F then add the goldfish after slowly tipping water into their bag for a hour or so, for the next couple of days slowly raise the temp up to 74F. I have always returned the goldfish to my lfs and have never had any negative feedback on their condition.

Which ever route you take test your NH, NO2 & NO3 after 12-14 days and you will be gob smacked by the progress without using either fish or ammonia.

Miss W, i really hope you try this, I think you will be pleasantly surprised. As for all you pessimists out there, try before you judge.

I hope this helps......correction, i hope you appreciate once it has helped.

Jonny

 

[mark.w.jones]

I'll repeat what I said in your other post on this. Once you give us some stats to go on over the period of cycling and for the first few weeks of fish being in there then we will begin to back up what you are saying. However, as only you are backing this method at the moment I don't feel it is a good idea to go around recommending its use to a new member. You may well be on to something but i'd like to see a few other members saying that it works before we start saying its a viable cycling method.

 

[Corleone]

I've used the same product with no effect. By all means use it as part of a fishless cycle, just don't expect miracles.

Personally, if you're going to go this route, I strongly suggest Superbac if you can't find Bio-spira or Bactinettes. I've tried a dozen silver bullet products. Bio-spira is the only one that ever worked as intended, and Superbac did give me a shorter than usual cycle, but still took three weeks.

Even the best stuff, like Bio-Spira and Bactinettes, don't risk them in place of a fishless cycle, because at best they have around a 50-60% success rate.

 

[D3m]

I am using Stress Zyme to go with the fishless cycle im doing, theres no change in the ammonia levels yet which im not expecting for a few more days yet but PH has gone up a bit to about 8 which from reading on this forum is a good thing, added some deco today for everyone to have a look at, my background hasnt turned up yet and i have some mopani wood to add yet.

The only thing that concerns me is the gravel I bought online when I bought the tank, I never thought about the size of the peices and whever it would be suitable for corys and bottom feeders, anyone got any thoughts on this?

 

[vinylman]

IMO, I wouldn't risk Corys with that substrate. Trouble is, if you want real plants (assuming those you have are fake) you'll need a decent, small-ish substrate. Any large gravel will also trap bits of food; not so bad when it's around the base of any live plants, but anywhere else and it's not going to help the water quality. Live plants will benefit the water and the fish. If you wait until you've got your fish to change the substrate, it'll be a real pain in the backside to do.