Bacteria Supplements

[unknowntbeast]

There are many different bacteria supplements out there and I want to know which is the best and your opinions on the ones you have used.

 

[waterdrop]

Nearly all the accounts of using "bacteria in a bottle" over the last couple years have resulted in reports of almost complete frustration on the part of members, often accompanied with disappointment that they had ever spent the money for the substance.

In one account a member figured out that in fact, without saying it outwardly, one of the products was intended to simply be organic material that would rot in the tank, be broken down just as if it were fish waste or plant debris and would result in ammonia!

One product we've been hopeful about recently is the new startup product "DrTims One and Only" from Tim Hovanec's new company out in the California area. One member here has a thread about trying it. He didn't have much success but got a response from the company with some directions to change the approach. So there's still not a positive track record that we've seen. Nothing seems to be nearly as effective as mature media can be.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[drobbyb]

I have to agree with waterdrop. After spending a fair amount of money on them myself, I came to the conclusion that they did nothing. They didn't shorten my cycle times nor did they cycle the tank overnight. The only one that did have any effect was Bio-Spira, but sadly they don't make it anymore.

 

[OldMan47]

The only thing that I have found that actually helps cycle a new tank is a nice dirty filter from a well established tank. I have read all of the claims by the manufacturers of the bottled stuff and even tried a few but have never found any that did much more for my cycle than plain water would have done. WD and I respond almost daily to the tales of woe of people who have either relied on one or more of the bottled bacteria products or, worse yet, relied on the idea put out by their local fish store that no cycle was needed and found themselves in trouble because of it. Please do not join the ranks of those in trouble in the middle of a fish-in cycle. A fishless cycle can be conducted with great results from scratch or even better with the help of some donor material from an established filter.