Nutri-seawater?

[wrs]

I see an advertisment in my TFH magazine for Nutri-Seawater, which is says is actual live sea water. It says you don't even need to cycle the tank if you use it, and it helps to use its live aragonite sand as well for best reults. I am wondering if this is true, that it would come cycles. It says just add fish. It doesn't seem like its realistic, but TFH seems to be trustworthy, though I cant stand that Jack Wately section- he is rude as they come.

And can sea water actually be alive?

 

[Lynden]

The only small things I know that can be alive in seawater are free-swimming parasites and free-floating algae, neither of which you want. Water does not hold cycling bacteria; the rocks and other surfaces around it do.

Physically speaking, this water cannot do what it says it can. No product can instantly cycle the tank.
However, you can help by using cured live rock, and by adding fish slowly.

-Lynden

 

[SkiFletch]

Yeah, thats a crock. There are 3 ways to add bacteria to your tank for cycling purposes, and one of them is a waste of money. The 3 ways are: LR, LS, and bio-spira (frozen bacteria). Live water MAY contain a bacterium or two, but when you need multiple colonies of millions of cells, you're no better off than starting a cycle from scratch. Also, other non-frozen "cycle" products that claim to have live bacteria in their tubes stored on the shelf are really just full of dead bacteria by the time you buy them. Bio-spira is the only one I know of that is chilled from production to sale and thus still contains LIVE bacteria.

Live Sand (LS) is a marketing gimmick and waste of money. A dead sand bed will be seeded from Live Rock within a month. ANd since you need live rock for filtration anyways, why bother spending more than two times the $$ on live sand?

 

[wrs]

I never knew that about live sand, and I was thinking of getting some too! I definetly thought it was odd about it being cycled by water. I know that in FW tanks that doesnt happen.

 

[SkiFletch]

Yeah, listen to that intuition, it was right

 

[bunjiweb]

All of these "live" products are an absolute farse.

Think to yourself, how long has this bag or bottle been on the shop's shelf....? And what does it really contain that could still be live? The answer is, nothing. The whole concept of "live sand" or "live water" to me is completely false and very missleading.

The only "live" bacteria culture you could buy, comes included free with any good quality cured Live Rock.

Ben