Cycling & Interpet Filter Aid

[elliotuk]

I got my tank and started doing a fishless cycle with the "add & wait" method as recommended in this forum.

Have spent the last week or 2 doing it but I went in my local fish shop today and told them about the fishless cycle i was doing, the owners of the shop raised their eyebrows a little when I explained it was to build up the bacteria in the tank to make it ready before I add fish.

They said that there is no point and its a waste of time as you can use something called "InterPet Filter Aid" which basically adds bacteria to the tank which is more than sufficient to deal with the fish waste on a temporary basis until the tank filter begins to build up its own bacteria.

Do you guys have any experience with this "filter aid" or do you not agree with it?
i dont really wanna carry on for weeks with this fishless cycle if there is no need and i can simply buy bacteria to add to the tank....

thanks

 

[mattlee]

stick with the fishless add and wait method. the bacteria in a bottle is a waste of money and wont help a single bit im affraid. lfs will tell you different to sell you more products and gain more profit.

you have done the correct thing with your choice

 

[SlyPolak]

One question I always ask when this "instant cycle" babble comes up is How does the bacteria stay alive with no food source and oxygen sealed in a bottle for weeks on end??

Like Mattlee said thats just crap, lots of stores will tell you anything to get a profit...
If you still have questions about it have a look at this topic that is still ongoing in discussion --> Cycle "Boosters"

 

[Aqua Tom]

It is a load of garbage. the lfs just want you to buy a product, then some fish, which will probaly pass away so you have to buy again.

Or you can just buy a bottle of ammonia & a test kit.

 

[elliotuk]

ok thanks, will carry on with the cycle then

also just wondering how long the bacteria that you do build up would survive if you stopped putting ammonia in?
so at the end of the cycle the ammonia levels reached zero and you put in the fish say 3-4 days later would the bacteria have survived ok?

cheers

 

[JoshuaA]

One question I always ask when this "instant cycle" babble comes up is How does the bacteria stay alive with no food source and oxygen sealed in a bottle for weeks on end??

The main question which comes to my mind is, if it works why aren't the sales pushed much harder on them or why don't all responsible tank builders chuck a bottle in. I think we know the answer...

Although some bacteria can stay dormant for thousands and thousands of years, just as long as it takes some fishless cycles to complete!

 

[hillmar77]

I always wonder why no LFS think about maybe putting a huge community tank together with healthy fish they've raised for a long time, have it hooked up to a huge canister filter and give out free filter media for people buying a whole set up including fish. Everytime they sell a whole set up they throw in another filter pad into the mix and so on and so forth! They would gain a real good rep in the community and make real good money with alot of customer loyalty. Heck they can sell the filter media for 20 bucks a pop and people would buy it!

 

[waterdrop]

One question I always ask when this "instant cycle" babble comes up is How does the bacteria stay alive with no food source and oxygen sealed in a bottle for weeks on end??

The main question which comes to my mind is, if it works why aren't the sales pushed much harder on them or why don't all responsible tank builders chuck a bottle in. I think we know the answer...

Although some bacteria can stay dormant for thousands and thousands of years, just as long as it takes some fishless cycles to complete!

Yes, I think the thing that clouds the issue is that our particular two types of chemolithoautotrophs are indeed among the types that can become dormant and stay alive very effectively for quite a long time. The papers that led Hovanec and others to become re-interested in the possibilities are out there and these species present tantalizing possibilites I believe. But it is my feeling that even the best of the best (I'll put him in that category) have plenty of struggles I think with the overall process and how to make it come about in a way that will really help. So far, I don't think all the correct choke points and limitations or perhaps the right triggers have been really figured out.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[RustedKnight]

One question I always ask when this "instant cycle" babble comes up is How does the bacteria stay alive with no food source and oxygen sealed in a bottle for weeks on end??

The main question which comes to my mind is, if it works why aren't the sales pushed much harder on them or why don't all responsible tank builders chuck a bottle in. I think we know the answer...

Although some bacteria can stay dormant for thousands and thousands of years, just as long as it takes some fishless cycles to complete!

Actually every tank i've ever bought has came with a free bottle of bacteria booster...

 

[Uriel]

I agree with you himar. They wouldn't even need to run a tank with fish(Although it would make sense since they have a store full). They could just run a filter on a large bucket and top up the ammonia each night at closing giving it a good 16 hours overnight to replenish and consume the ammonia. It's hardly as if the ammonia is expensive. I bought a bottle which is enough to cycle my 500litre tank for 20days at 5ppm for £1.75 from boots.

 

[hillmar77]

One question I always ask when this "instant cycle" babble comes up is How does the bacteria stay alive with no food source and oxygen sealed in a bottle for weeks on end??

The main question which comes to my mind is, if it works why aren't the sales pushed much harder on them or why don't all responsible tank builders chuck a bottle in. I think we know the answer...

Although some bacteria can stay dormant for thousands and thousands of years, just as long as it takes some fishless cycles to complete!

Actually every tank i've ever bought has came with a free bottle of bacteria booster...

The bacteria booster they give you at LFS won't work. The best way is to get a solid filter media from a established tank. The funny thing is that my LFS has a huge 400 gallon empty tank surrounded with over 10 HOB and canister filters running to show the flow rate. I was telling them to add some fishes in there, and start giving out filter pads when they sell a complete system. But they insist in the bacteria in a bottle even after I mentioned it.

 

[Essjay]

Just to add, the OP said they were given Interpet Filter Aid to cycle the tank. This product isn't even a so-called bacteria booster, it's a flocculant, ie it sticks to small particles making them big enough for the filter to trap. The product name sounds like it should be a bacteria booster, probably what confused the shop.

 

[Skins]

Just to add, the OP said they were given Interpet Filter Aid to cycle the tank. This product isn't even a so-called bacteria booster, it's a flocculant, ie it sticks to small particles making them big enough for the filter to trap. The product name sounds like it should be a bacteria booster, probably what confused the shop.

Its a shame essjay it does not stick to A&N bac particles and make them bigger.

 

[waterdrop]

I think the idea of shops giving out or selling true mature media is just wishful thinking on our part. I mix a fair amount with LFS retailers at the conferences and sometimes between conferences and they are just in a completely different world than us. It may happen here and there but I just can't see it changing much for the most part. The bacteria in a bottle thing may get mastered some day, I'm open to that, but so far it just hasn't really stuck around in the few cases where it's worked. WD