mark.w.jones
Fish Herder
Thought you might be interested to see the reply I received from Matt Clarke, the web editor of Practical Fishkeeping. As there is so much debate and dispute as to the effectiveness of different cycling techniques and products I sent him the following e mail:
Subject: Filter maturation products
I read with interest your review of tank maturation treatments. On the tropical fish forum http
/www.fishforums.net/ there is always much debate as to the effectiveness of these "bacterial boosting" products. Has there ever been any scientific studies carried out to test whether they actually speed up the cycling process? The only one really supported by members seems to be one called Biospira. I would be very interested to hear of a comparative study of different products as I am currently unconvinced and rely on fishless cycling with ammonia solution to cycle my tanks.
Thanks
Mark Jones
He replied with:
Hi Mark,
Thank you for your email. Timothy Hovanec et al. have undertaken some studies on these products - Hagen's Cycle is mentioned by name in the paper. This study (which others have disputed the accuracy of) claims that Nitrospira is of greater importance than realised, so Cycle is based on the wrong types of bacteria.
A comparative test of cycling techniques and supplements in a peer-reviewed journal would be most welcome to the aquarium literature!
The fastest way to cycle a new tank, in my experience, is to add a small amount of mature media from a similar aquarium and then cycle using an ammonia-based chemical. We normally recommend Waterlife's BioMature, which is a nitrogenous supplement designed for use in a fishless environment, rather than pure ammonia. It's easier to obtain, safer to use and works perfectly acceptably.
Cheers,
Matt
Matt Clarke
Editor, Practical Fishkeeping magazine website
(mod edit to remove private information)
So i'm none the wiser really. As far as I can see, no-one yet has done a compartive study of different techniques and products so there's a niche there for someone who's feeling enthusiastic. It's probably beyond the financial means of any one of us but if you could get funding who knows.
Subject: Filter maturation products
I read with interest your review of tank maturation treatments. On the tropical fish forum http
/www.fishforums.net/ there is always much debate as to the effectiveness of these "bacterial boosting" products. Has there ever been any scientific studies carried out to test whether they actually speed up the cycling process? The only one really supported by members seems to be one called Biospira. I would be very interested to hear of a comparative study of different products as I am currently unconvinced and rely on fishless cycling with ammonia solution to cycle my tanks.Thanks
Mark Jones
He replied with:
Hi Mark,
Thank you for your email. Timothy Hovanec et al. have undertaken some studies on these products - Hagen's Cycle is mentioned by name in the paper. This study (which others have disputed the accuracy of) claims that Nitrospira is of greater importance than realised, so Cycle is based on the wrong types of bacteria.
A comparative test of cycling techniques and supplements in a peer-reviewed journal would be most welcome to the aquarium literature!
The fastest way to cycle a new tank, in my experience, is to add a small amount of mature media from a similar aquarium and then cycle using an ammonia-based chemical. We normally recommend Waterlife's BioMature, which is a nitrogenous supplement designed for use in a fishless environment, rather than pure ammonia. It's easier to obtain, safer to use and works perfectly acceptably.
Cheers,
Matt
Matt Clarke
Editor, Practical Fishkeeping magazine website
(mod edit to remove private information)
So i'm none the wiser really. As far as I can see, no-one yet has done a compartive study of different techniques and products so there's a niche there for someone who's feeling enthusiastic. It's probably beyond the financial means of any one of us but if you could get funding who knows.
