Bottled Cycling "helpers"

[arvlyn]

I'm very surprised to see that products like Cycle, Stress-Zyme, etc. used to help "jumpstart" the cycling process are so frowned upon here and thought to be useless. I've used them for years with great results and without problems.

Case in point...I'm currently redoing all of my aquariums, one at a time. I took my 29 gal. apart on Sept. 2, rinsed the aquarium and all the gravel out thoroughly with the hose in my backyard, scrubbed the filter out with warm water and my aquarium dedicated scrub brush. The plants and rocks took more effort since they were mostly covered by beard algae.

I set the aquarium up again, used the recommended amount of dechlorinator and Stress-Zyme, put one Bio-Wheel, one used filter and one piece of "seeded" filter material from my 37 gal. tank into the filter. I added the recommended amount of Stress-Zyme two more times.

Apparently the combination of of Stress-Zyme and the filter materials has worked well. I no longer have the test results from each test I took but as of last night, I considered my tank cycled. I'll probably move the fish from the 37 gal. back to the 29 gal. this weekend and start the process again with the 37 gal.

 

[mark.w.jones]

I have no proof to support this but the general feeling here is that had you not added the Stress Zyme at all and just used the mature media it would have cycled in exactly the same amount of time.

 

[arvlyn]

I have no proof to support this but the general feeling here is that had you not added the Stress Zyme at all and just used the mature media it would have cycled in exactly the same amount of time.

That fast though? 10 days?

Hmm...maybe I'll try that with the 39 gal. and report back.

 

[Musho3210]

yes that fast with mature media, stress-zyme i think contains a bacteria but its not the bacteria you want, it just delays it and stress zyme bacteria will die after a while. I heard that but i have no proof or anything else.

 

[rdd1952]

If you look carefully at the label of Stress Zyme and at their website, they don't even claim that it contains any nitrifying bacteria. Quote from thei website:

"Stress Zyme is a biological filter additive containing live bacteria that improves the development of the biological filter and helps clean a dirty aquarium. The build-up of organic pollution in the aquarium inhibits the growth of nitrifying bacteria. The bacteria in Stress-Zyme keep conditions in the aquarium right for the development of the biological filter by consuming harmful organic pollutants. This speeds the development of the biological filter in newly set up aquariums. A build-up of organic compounds also promotes the growth of disease-causing organisms in the aquarium. Stress Zyme keeps the biological filter working properly by keeping the aquarium gravel and filter clean. Water quality and living conditions are improved when Stress Zyme is used on a regular basis."

No where does it claim to contain nitifying bacteria. Only that the bacteria present keep the conditions right for the bacteria to develop. You can keep those same conditions right by simply doing water changes. Bottom line is that nitrifying bacteria much have food, either ammonia or nitrite, or they can't survive. How can the bacteria supposedly in any bottle survive without that food supply.

I would tend to agree that your tank recycled as a result of the seed bacteria and the plants.

 

[Musho3210]

why does stress zyme smell like grape soda?

 

[arvlyn]

If you look carefully at the label of Stress Zyme and at their website, they don't even claim that it contains any nitrifying bacteria. Quote from thei website:

"Stress Zyme is a biological filter additive containing live bacteria that improves the development of the biological filter and helps clean a dirty aquarium. The build-up of organic pollution in the aquarium inhibits the growth of nitrifying bacteria. The bacteria in Stress-Zyme keep conditions in the aquarium right for the development of the biological filter by consuming harmful organic pollutants. This speeds the development of the biological filter in newly set up aquariums. A build-up of organic compounds also promotes the growth of disease-causing organisms in the aquarium. Stress Zyme keeps the biological filter working properly by keeping the aquarium gravel and filter clean. Water quality and living conditions are improved when Stress Zyme is used on a regular basis."

No where does it claim to contain nitifying bacteria. Only that the bacteria present keep the conditions right for the bacteria to develop. You can keep those same conditions right by simply doing water changes. Bottom line is that nitrifying bacteria much have food, either ammonia or nitrite, or they can't survive. How can the bacteria supposedly in any bottle survive without that food supply.

I would tend to agree that your tank recycled as a result of the seed bacteria and the plants.

I see what you're saying, but I also see where that quote states "speeds the development of the biological filter in newly set up aquariums". So it wasn't the only reason my tank cycled, but it could have helped. I know there have been times I've done the same thing without the Stress-Zyme and it's taken a LOT longer to cycle. Anything that speeds the process along is worth spending the couple dollars on the bottle to me.

Oh...and too, there are no plants, live or plastic in my tank yet. The only things in it right now are the gravel, heater, filter intake tube and thermometer. And water.

 

[rdd1952]

That is them saying that it speeds the process. I have tried it and couldn't tell that it did anything at all.

 

[Underwurlde]

...and one piece of "seeded" filter material from my 37 gal...

Bosh. Near instant cycling of a tanlk. I'm slightly surprised it took as long a 10 days to cycle.

Try this perhaps to prove a point: Get a new or sterilized tank, a new filter, new gravel, new filter media.
Add Stress Zyme or Cycle or whatever.
Start cycling your tank as per the pinned topic / your tried & tested method.

The only addititive I've heard of that MAy, SOMETIMES work is BioSpira, but it is quite expensive I hear - I have never tried this product: I seed my filters with Mulm and I doubt anything will beat that (espcially at that price seeming as it's free ).

Andy

 

[Thirdfloor]

I used "Cycle" when I set up my tank as well, It had no effect at all on my ammonia levels. It was over 10 days after I used the last of the cycle before I started seeing nitrites.

 

[efish]

i set up a 60 litre tank with tetra safe start to try it out

day 1 water + dechlorinator in
day 2 safe start, bottle says add fish straight away i waited until..
day 3 added 15 fish (it says to fully load the tank) that was almost a year ago no fatalities, no algae problems and no sickess at all.

so IMO some of them definately work

 

[rdd1952]

i set up a 60 litre tank with tetra safe start to try it out

day 1 water + dechlorinator in
day 2 safe start, bottle says add fish straight away i waited until..
day 3 added 15 fish (it says to fully load the tank) that was almost a year ago no fatalities, no algae problems and no sickess at all.

so IMO some of them definately work

Did you test our water during that time frame? Are you sure that the product kept the ammonia and nitrite levels at 0 where they should be or did you just get lucky that the levels never killed your fish? Nitrifying bacteria can't live in a bottle without a food source. Put any living organism in an enclosed space without food and it will eventually die.

 

[Underwurlde]

It would be great to see some day to day test results for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate, for two tanks set up exactly the same, one with Cycle, the other without.
This should be logged against similar tests for tap water recorded when any water changes take place.

I have never used cycle so my mind is open on the subject of its effectiveness.

Andy

 

[rdd1952]

I am considering doing that. I have 2 identical 2.5 gallon setups (Whisper 10 filters). Those tanks are small but should yield a decent result. I just haven't figured out exactly how to do it so that everything is the same in both tanks except for the cycling aid. I know I can fill both from the same 5 gallon bucket so the water goiing in is the same. I can also add the ammonia to the bucket so they get the same amount of ammonia to start.

The variables would be getting the temperature set the same. With the type heaters I have, it's difficult to adjust them to a certain number. Also, I'm trying to figure out how to add the exact same amount of ammonia when I re-add it. Obviously, it wouldn't be scientific but would at least possibly shed some light on the subject.

 

[kittycat12]

does using RO/DI water help the cycling process?