Beneficial Bacteria in a bottle?

[lovebuzz]

So while going through my local wal marts fish section I noticed a bottle of "Cycle", claims to be beneficial bacteria in a bottle. How it survives without an ammonia source, I don't know. Can someone clear this up for me? I would be SO happy if this actually worked.

I am planning to make my betta happy in a ten gallon w/ 4 pygmy cories and 4 or so white clouds and his snail buddy thats living with him in his 2.5 gallon. This betta is real nice and swims around a lot and is active. So I have almost all the equipment, the only thing thats stopping me is cycling! So if someone can clear up this "Cycle" product for me, it will be greatly appreciated

 

[Tempestuousfury]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...60361&hl=tender

This should help, I think...

 

[gale]

From what I understand the only kind that really works is Bio Spira which has to be kept refrigerated. I have some now but haven't gotten my fish yet so it's still in my fridge. I'll be sure to report when I do use it.

 

[CFC]

Bio spira has a use by date so make sure you check it is still good before you use it.

Products like cycle and bacterlife claim to house benefitial bacterias in suspended animation which when added to your tank become active again and start bactrial colonies in the tank. However neither of the manafacturers of these products have or can provide any data recorded from tests with these products and tests done by independant sources have shown that they do not speed up the cycling process one bit.
As said Bio spira is the only product which actually contains real live bacteria which has a food source provided and must be kept refridgerated to slow down its life cycle, it also has a use by date after which the bacteria will die off.

 

[Gourami Lover88]

I have done a sort of Independant test with Cycle not on a large scale though. Over 10 days after intialt readings in a test tank at 6ppm NH3 4ppm N02- and 80ppm NO3- the cycle was added at the recomended dosage the Nitrite and Nitrate where lowerd to 0ppm Nitrite and 10ppm Nitrate but Ammonia only droped to 4ppm.

So it is possible that it will worker but I wouldnt count on it with any real Fish in the tank.

 

[Whiskerz]

stuff works great i used it when i set up a new tank and it's good to go in about 12-24 hours, but i may have better water then most, i test weekly for a few weeks after to make sure everything's good and it always is

 

[freddyk]

My past tests with cycled showed it isn't worth the bottle it comes in. If you try it, keep the stocking levels low enough that if it doesn't work the fish won't be harmed.

 

[gale]

Bio spira has a use by date so make sure you check it is still good before you use it.

I looked all over the packet and can't find the use by date. Is it hidden somewhere? I have the little plastic packet thing-30 gallon size.

eta: i looked again and stamped on one edge it says 2874A 15D. Any idea how to decipher that?

eta again: The site I bought it from says this: Another "quick" point... Some have been told that Bio-Spira has an expiration date. Not true....The batches that are made up at Marineland are indexed and recorded by numbers, as they produce it. The six month shelf life is only a "guide" for retailers to use. There isn't any firm data available yet on "time in pkg vs. reduction in viability". This is one of the "key" reasons Marineland ships product direct to the retailer (to avoid un-necessary delays in warehousing the product; as well as keeping it in cool & stable temps)!

Either way I am planning to use it tomorrow if it's not too snowy. LFS is an hour drive.

 

[Def]

I always use cycle and find it to help speed up the cycling process. It's not miracle stuff like bio spira (which apparently will cycle your tank in 24 hours), but it does speed things up.

 

[gale]

I read that what cycle does is create optimal conditions for bacteria to grow, so that they grow a lot faster than in non-cycle conditions.