Cycling Or Tap Safe You Decide

[BornSurvivor]

Recently a new formula has been made available in fish stores "Tap Safe" This takes away excess amonia and dechlorinates the water to make it safe and soft water for your fish check this outhttp/cgi.ebay.co.uk/KING-BRITISH-SAFE-GUARD-MAKES-TAP-WATER-SAFE-FOR-FISH_W0QQitemZ250099222389QQihZ015QQcategoryZ20756QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem


But is this better than cycling or not and does it hav the same affect as cycling ?

let me know with your views

 

[Miss Wiggle]

no way is it better than cycling, cycling you do once and it's done, it's a healthy natural way to maintain an aquarium. adding chemicals that you have to keep adding is no good, it'll cost a small fortune in the long run and you'll never be able to leave the tank as when the effects die off it'll start to cycle, you'd probably come back from holiday to a dead tank.

there is no alternative to cycling your tank.

 

[rdd1952]

I agree. Once you start with chemical, you are dependent on them. And unlike chlorine which is immediately removed when the dechlorinator is added and won't come back, ammonia will start to build from the point you add the chemical and won't be removed until you add it again so your tank will almost always have ammonia in it.

 

[andywg]

there is no alternative to cycling your tank.

Be careful with absolutes.

I can think of two possible alternatives:

1) Cloning

2) Constant water changes

If you have a system that changes 100% of the water in the aquarium two to three times a day through constatnly adding water then there is no need to cycle as the waste will be dealt with by bringing in new water.

Likewise, bringing in filter media with bacteria already on it (or importing in the shape of bactinettes or bio-spira) will spare you from cycling.

However, in the vast majority of cases your statement is true.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

hmmm ok i'll give you the second one although it's really impractical and i don't think it's a good idea at all to run a tank like that (and i'm sure you're no suggesting that people should)

however for the first one, if you clone the media from another tank, the media becomes part of the new set up, it was still cycled at some point and the tank is still cycled rather than an uncycled tank running on chemicals or constant water changes.

 

[Jazzyc]

I use tapsafe!?!?...... I did so on the advice from the shop.... so if I stop using it I can pretty much say goodbye to my stock???

Oh Crap!

This would explain my dodgy water test results I guess.... >> http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...=0#entry1579830

 

[Miss Wiggle]

looking at it closely it's just dechlor but it say's it removes ammonia given off by breaking up the chloramine bond (a by product of getting rid of chloramine is ammonia for those who don't know) not that it's removing all ammonia from the tank.

it's just a fairly avergae dechlorinator and in no way will it replace cycling

 

[andywg]

hmmm ok i'll give you the second one although it's really impractical and i don't think it's a good idea at all to run a tank like that (and i'm sure you're no suggesting that people should)

I certainly am suggesting that people can run on that method.

a number of large projects work on very similar techniques. The giant Okinawa Aquarium (the 7.5 million litre whale shark tank) has 10% of its water imported from the sea every hour (with a corresponding amount being put back in the sea). By maintaing your tank water with a constant supply of fresh water you are getting closer to nature with its perpetual water change.

There are obvious problems with being able to secure such a supply of water (especially with meters and water restricitons), but the tank would have no problems with nitrates; the curse of a filtered tank.

Many people set up an auto water change system on large setups (If I ever have a fish room it will run on a constant water change system) and this is exactly that, just with a larger amount of water flowing through it.

It is not a system available to most hobbyists, but is certainly a good way to control levels in the tank.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

ok fair enough, sorry for mis interpreting you

you've said yourself though it's not something for most hobbyists