"cycle" The Bacteria Solution

[krazie2004]

the bacteria in Cycle doesn't become active until oxygen is introduced. Theres some kind of weird thing with bacteria which won't allow it to live unless it has direct contact with the air. So long as the bottle remains sealed, and the bacteria isn't introduced to the air, your bottle of cycle is safe.

However, this just furthur proves the point that Cycle is crap... once opened, it dies what a waste...

Where did you hear it needs to be in contact with air? These are waterborne bacteria we are trying to cultivate. The problem is that the bacteria need ammonia as a food source. Without the food source the bacteria will begin to starve. To prevent this the decent ones (bactinettes or bio-spira) are refrigerated to slow down the process.

I also seem to recall that most of the cycle products use the wrong bacteria; Nitrosomonas spp and Nitrobacters spp rather than Nitrospira spp.

I was just revising for my microbiology exam (in 2 weeks ahhhhhhhhhh ), what i know is that most if not all nitrobacter are anaerobic bacteria, meaning that they live without the presence of oxygen. ie. they dont need oxygen to respire and so live without it, this is why these types of nitrogen fixing and decomposing bateria are found where oxygen is not present, ie under water, in soil etc... please correct me if im wrong.

 

[andywg]

I was just revising for my microbiology exam (in 2 weeks ahhhhhhhhhh ), what i know is that most if not all nitrobacter are anaerobic bacteria, meaning that they live without the presence of oxygen. ie. they dont need oxygen to respire and so live without it, this is why these types of nitrogen fixing and decomposing bateria are found where oxygen is not present, ie under water, in soil etc... please correct me if im wrong.

Aaah. The first thing is to note what I said about the species used: Nitrospira spp is most likely the bacteria we culture, and they do require aerobic conditions. However, they do not utilise oxygen from the air, but from water. It appears they utilise air in a wet dry filter, but they are in fact utilising the oxygen rich thin surface layer of water (which flows over the media).

I am not sure on whether Nitrobacter spp require aerobic or anoxic conditions, so you may be right on that front.

 

[doresy]

Well, reading all the threads gave me a warm glow! Usually i post something and I get hammered but this time it seems that what I feel about something is shared by others (whom are probably a lot more "up" on these things than me)

Nice to see the biology technos flexing their muscles


So I reckon it can be said then, "Cycle Solution" is about as useful as.......(answers on a postcard!)

 

[Araxen]

Bio-Spira is the only thing on the US Market that works.

 

[loachman]

Some bacteria will form protective spores that are great at keeping them "alive" in harsh conditions such as extreme heat, radiation, toxic chemicals, etc. and they can come out and propogate like normally at a later time. Not all bacteria can do it though.

Is this what the nitrifying bacteria do?

. . . Hell if I know. I'm no bacteria expert. My guess is they probably don't as I don't think they're of the correct genus/family/whatever.

 

[rdd1952]

"Nitrifying bacteria do not form spores and cannot survive drying."

"Most liquid type bacterial products available in the pet industry contain little or no true nitrifying bacteria. Instead, they rely on their ability to maintain tolerable levels of ammonia until naturally occurring Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter bacteria can become established. Both of these liquid and dry products should be considered as biological aids to nitrification."

These 2 quote are from this site which has pretty good info on nitrifyiing bacteria.

I think what the second one is saying is that when you buy these products and put them in your tank, all you are adding is ammonia to feed the bacteria when they form. Hmm, sounds like what you do during a fishless cycle except a bottle of ammonia cost 49 cent as opposed to $5 for the cycling aids.

 

[WILDER]

I think what the second one is saying is that when you buy these products and put them in your tank, all you are adding is ammonia to feed the bacteria when they form. Hmm, sounds like what you do during a fishless cycle except a bottle of ammonia cost 49 cent as opposed to $5 for the cycling aids.



I agree with that rdd1952, rip off at the price cycle charge.

 

[dirtydog]

well seeing as I bought cycle before i knew anything and have loads left! should i use it instead of ammonia until I can find some?

 

[rdd1952]

You might want to try filling a 5 gallon bucket with water, adding the prescribed dosage and then testing for ammonia to see if there is any in the bottle. It would be interesting to see as I've never tried that.

 

[WILDER]

I will try that tonight rdd1952 have some cycle in the cuboard and ammonia test kit.

 

[WILDER]

rdd1952 when should I test the water straight away after adding the cycle, or a few hours later.

 

[rdd1952]

I would think all you needed to do was stir it up a little to make sure it was mixed and then test.

 

[WILDER]

Ok will do it now then.

 

[dirtydog]

ok if you dont i will! or maybe in the morning when i do my water change

 

[WILDER]

The test for ammonia on the cycle product was not quite 0 was bigginning to move up to the next colour 025.