Biomax

[Xavier]

I just bought an Aquaclear filter that came with the Biomax. lfs told me that over time bacteria will grow on the Biomax if i just leave it in water. Said I didn't have to get any bacteria to add to the water, but I thought it was just a surface for nitrifying bacteria to grow ON. Am I wrong? was he bsing me? and if so where can I get some bacteria..Does Biozyme work because I think I might have some

 

[bitteraspects]

bacteria will develop over time, just like with any other bio media. the plus side is, bio-max pellets have 100x more surface area than the next media (maybe not exactly 1oox, but you gewt the idea. i believe it says on the box what the SA is per pellet)
are you putting it in an established tank, or setting up a new tank?

 

[Xavier]

bacteria will develop over time, just like with any other bio media. the plus side is, bio-max pellets have 100x more surface area than the next media (maybe not exactly 1oox, but you gewt the idea. i believe it says on the box what the SA is per pellet)
are you putting it in an established tank, or setting up a new tank?

completely new tank, thats why when the guy said I don't have to add anything but declorinated and the biomax to begin the bacteria growth I was like and he was like

 

[bitteraspects]

you would still start your cycle (fish in/ fishless, however you do it) the same way. i dont believe the bio-max pellets have any sort of quick cycle or ammonia start on it. it was probably a miscommunication thing. he may have thought you were adding it to an established filter or something...

... or hes just dumb. lol.

 

[Xavier]

you would still start your cycle (fish in/ fishless, however you do it) the same way. i dont believe the bio-max pellets have any sort of quick cycle or ammonia start on it. it was probably a miscommunication thing. he may have thought you were adding it to an established filter or something...

... or hes just dumb. lol.

what's the next best thing to taking bacteria from an established tank?

 

[bitteraspects]

it really depends on how you want to do it.
generally the suggestion is use fish food, or the MP method (using a piece of shrimp in the empty tank to provide the ammonia). alternatively you could use feeder fish as a fish in cycle. they are cheap and generally used for food anyway, so its not a big deal.
there is also the quick start/ bottled ammonia option. i personally never suggest using this method, but other people may feel differently. i dont use bottled chemicals in my tanks (with the rare exception of medications such as melafix/etc.)
whatever route you go, you will want to make sure you g=have a good liquid test kit (cant go wrong with API) to test your water parameters regularly.

 

[raptorrex]

it really depends on how you want to do it.
generally the suggestion is use fish food, or the MP method (using a piece of shrimp in the empty tank to provide the ammonia). alternatively you could use feeder fish as a fish in cycle. they are cheap and generally used for food anyway, so its not a big deal.
there is also the quick start/ bottled ammonia option. i personally never suggest using this method, but other people may feel differently. i dont use bottled chemicals in my tanks (with the rare exception of medications such as melafix/etc.)
whatever route you go, you will want to make sure you g=have a good liquid test kit (cant go wrong with API) to test your water parameters regularly.

even though its the best way to, accurately, measure the amounts of ammonia you use? it also speeds up the cycle, because you dont have to wait for the "shrimp" to rot. bottled ammonia is the same stuff that rotting food makes. but each to their own.

many "quick" start products, dont! whether you use flake/shrimp or ammonia, as bacteria food. unless it comes form a "cold box", and is liquid, it has no chance of working (many are bags of powered). if you check threads on cycling (on this forum). you will see quite a few, dealing with so called "quick start" cycle products. whilst opinions differ, even when they do work, the effect is not that marked. i would go as far as to say the "DON'T WORK".

 

[bitteraspects]

it is absolutely NOT the "best way".
while some swear by measuring ammonia, and all this other crap to start a tank. its really not necessary. it may speed up the process, but if you dont have the time to do something properly, then IMO, you dont have the time for a tank, period.
using established media is by far the best method, however, this still requires you to provide enough time for the bacteria to grow into the media of the new filter. but what it does not require is harmful chemical additives.
for every potentially harmful/lethal chemical additive, there is an effective natural substitute.
there are not bottled chemicals in the wild. think about it.

 

[raptorrex]

it is absolutely NOT the "best way".
while some swear by measuring ammonia, and all this other crap to start a tank. its really not necessary. it may speed up the process, but if you dont have the time to do something properly, then IMO, you dont have the time for a tank, period.
using established media is by far the best method, however, this still requires you to provide enough time for the bacteria to grow into the media of the new filter. but what it does not require is harmful chemical additives.
for every potentially harmful/lethal chemical additive, there is an effective natural substitute.
there are not bottled chemicals in the wild. think about it.

Ammonia is ammonia bottled or not. and using ammonia is "doing it properly", well as "properly" as any other method. baring in mind you do a 100% water change at the end of a "fishless" cycle, there should be none of your "imaginary" harmful chemicals left. true if you are so unsure of you ability to read, perhaps it better not to use bottled Ammonia. but for the rest, its as safe, if not safer, than any other method. Ammonia does not "speed" up a cycle, its THE vital chemical for it to work at all. perhaps you misunderstand what bottled ammonia, actually, is. last time i checked, it was ammonia (and possibly, water), which, kinda, makes sense really.

 

[bitteraspects]

and if "accidently" or otherwise dosed improperly, ammonia levels will kill everything in your tank. bottled concentrated ammonia is easy to over dose, however natural methods do not allow for this.
again, there is absolutely no reason for using bottled chemicals.

 

[raptorrex]

and if "accidently" or otherwise dosed improperly, ammonia levels will kill everything in your tank. bottled concentrated ammonia is easy to over dose, however natural methods do not allow for this.
again, there is absolutely no reason for using bottled chemicals.

Fish in a tank you are cycling? you don't dose a tank with fish in with ammonia! as i stated, its for "FISHLESS" cycling.
"accidentally" overdose? can you not use a syringe? but i now understand your reticence to use Bottled Ammonia, you clearly have no confidence in your ability to read or make careful measurements. that, however, is not a problem for most of us. and, anyway, is irrelevant to a Fishless cycle.

if you have fish in the tank, you don't need ammonia. people use it to avoid "stressing" the fish used for the cycle. the hobby as a whole, seems to be moving to the "fishless" cycle method using bottled ammonia. even if just for "humane" reasons. you may feel its too dangerous, but many, if not most, people use the system, with no, apparent problems. so i will stick with their, and my, experiences.

for the record, i pee in my tanks, add a handful of "good" garden soil,. and 14-18 days later, bingo cycled tank!
just an aside. urine is, to all intents and purposes, sterile. it doesn't even carry DNA! and breaks down to ammonia, in the tank. its not for everyone, but it works.

 

[bitteraspects]

did i say fish?
maybe its you who needs to learn to read.

 

[OldMan47]

The specific technique is not the OP's question. The biomax is a biological media just like so many others, Xavier. You have found one of the few honest pet shop employees that I have heard of. He is right. The bottled bacteria products are worthless and will do nothing but empty your pockets. In order to cycle a tank, you need a source of ammonia that does not contain artificial coloring, scents, soaps or surfactants. I see there is an argument going on about the right method of getting it but any source of pure ammonia will work fine. Please read through the posted article on fishless cycling that you can reach from the Beginners resource center post at the top of this section of the forum. It will tell you the essentials to how to go about fishless cycling.

 

[Bignose]

for every potentially harmful/lethal chemical additive, there is an effective natural substitute.

arsenic, lead, and chlorine are all found in nature and are pretty harmful/lethal. Not to mention the many, many toxins and poisons and venoms that ntural creatures create and use every day. Nature does not automatically = good as you are trying to imply.

there are not bottled chemicals in the wild. think about it.

Chemicals don't change simply because they are bottled or not. Ammonia is ammonia whether it is "free" in the nature or in your bottle.

Household ammonia concentrations are going to be between 5 and 15% ammonia, most closer to 5%. If you bought a bottle of ammonia from a chemical supply store, you can get stronger, but that is going to be very atypical. Not that it really matters because unless you know what the concentration is, you add a known amount, let it mix with the tank volume and use your test kit to find out what the concentration is after you've added that known amount. Then you scale up or down as necessary so that you add the same "right" amount to the tank each day, typically 5 ppm is about right.

If you accidentally add too much, you can simply do a water change to dilute out that too much. The bacteria won't like the higher concentration, but they don't instantly die either. Neither will plants. And since this is a fishless cycle, they aren't any fish to harm.

Compare this to adding food or a piece of shimp or prawn to a tank. How much ammonia is that actually going to produce? It is going to vary quite a bit, depending on exactly the mass of stuff you put in, what the temperature is. And, the food or shrimp or prawn isn't going to break down into pure ammonia. If you are so concerned about "other things" in your tank, why would you let that food break down into things other than just ammonia? You are going to have urea, and trimethylamine, and hypoxanthine and I am sure that there are many others in addition to ammonia. These aren't exactly benign chemicals, either, but they aren't tested for in our kits because in general, there shouldn't be much if any of these chemicals in the tank. So, if you are so worried about introducing other chemicals, which method only introduces 1 chemical, and which introduces several?

Also, let me put on my moderator's hat here, and just simply say to everyone: Regarding comments like "maybe its you who needs to learn to read.", please be more respectful of the members of the forum. I am singling this one quote out because I think it is the harshest, but this goes for everyone participating in the entire thread. Everyone keep it civil here or else repirmands will be given out.

Thanks, Bignose

 

[bitteraspects]

Ammonia is ammonia bottled or not. and using ammonia is "doing it properly", well as "properly" as any other method. baring in mind you do a 100% water change at the end of a "fishless" cycle, there should be none of your "imaginary" harmful chemicals left. true if you are so unsure of you ability to read, perhaps it better not to use bottled Ammonia.