Stress Zyme Or Cycle

[DJ_$ure$hot]

So...

Im just wanting to find out which 1 of these products you think is better for the cycling process of a new aquarium & why??

 

[stormy78]

Hi! Im fairly new too but from what I understand both products are practically usless due to the conditions the bottles are kept in e.g varying temps, transport etc which means there is very litle beneficial bacteria at all if any. Most people on here tend to not use these at all and just wait for the bacteria in your water to develope using Ammonia as per the fishless cycle. If you have not done so already I would read the pinned article about fishless cycling at the top of the forum. I may be wrong but I'm sure someone like Waterdrop or Miss Wiggle will let you know if these are worth using.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yup, stormy is quite correct, neither of them are any good.

the vast majority of these 'bacteria in a bottle' products are useless. Half of them contain the wrong species of bacteria to start off with and in all reality you can't just stick some bacteria in a bottle and expect it to stay alive indeifinatley. Because bacteria is a living creature it also needs care to maintain it's life.

What you can look for is a product called Bactinettes, it's not available everywhere by any stretch of the imagination but it does actually work. It's kept refrigerated and it has a shelf life which means you've a much higher chance of the bacteria surviving. If you can get some of that then that will definatley help your situation out, but only buy it if it's been kept cold.

Don't waste your money on cycle or stress zyme.

another alternative to speed things up is to get some mature media from another member of the forum, there's a pinned topic in the new to the hobby section with details of members willing to donate/sell media. Look for someone local and drop them a pm.

 

[waterdrop]

Agreed. Very good summary by MW.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[DJ_$ure$hot]

another alternative to speed things up is to get some mature media from another member of the forum, there's a pinned topic in the new to the hobby section with details of members willing to donate/sell media. Look for someone local and drop them a pm.

Man oh man, would that be the hugest help ever

Unfortunately, I had a quick scan through that pinned topic, but couldnt see anyone in Auckland, New Zealand

 

[Miss Wiggle]

ah no i can't think of a single member from new zealand i'm afraid, most of us are UK or USA based.

don't even know if bactinettes is sold in new zealand.

however i'd stick a topic up in tropical chat asking and make sure you put auckland, new zealand in the title to catch the attention of any members over there.

You could also try to find a local aquarium society or something like that where you may find someone willing to donate some media. Some fish shops will even sell you it.

 

[waterdrop]

I think bastables is in Auckland NZ. He was extremely helpful in my research of eheim filters.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Fruba]

I cant find ammonia for the life of me

 

[stormy78]

I cant find ammonia for the life of me

Where are you from?

 

[Bastables]

ah no i can't think of a single member from new zealand i'm afraid, most of us are UK or USA based.

don't even know if bactinettes is sold in new zealand.

however i'd stick a topic up in tropical chat asking and make sure you put auckland, new zealand in the title to catch the attention of any members over there.

You could also try to find a local aquarium society or something like that where you may find someone willing to donate some media. Some fish shops will even sell you it.

No it's not. who ever imported it would have to pay a bucket load to MAF for a license (ministry of agriculture and fisheries) and have it tested before they would let it off the boat/plane. NZ and Australia have a very shall we say iron heel idea of border protection when it comes to meds and in this case micro organisms.

Licensing costs approx $3000 per item
3yr trials are done before releasing to the market here so it's prohibitive considering the small market.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

One of the best ways to give your cycle a "jump start" is to get filter media from another established tank. Depending on how much bacteria is transferred it should reduce the amount of time required for a proper colony to form. Keep in mind that the bacteria needs to kept moist, and will require a food source (ammonia) with 24 hours.

If you can't find a clean liquid ammonia source (i.e. ammonia that doesn't have surficants or other harmful chemicals mixed in), there are some less accurate sources...decaying fish food for example. If you choose to go this route you'll need to be patient (it can take a day or two for the food to start breaking down), don't allow the food to mold, and be cautious not to let the ammonia levels get too high.

 

[sic0198]

The other day I was reading a bottle of cycle and I noticed swomething, it made no claims to cycle the tank. I saw no where on it that it said it had beneficial bacteria in.

You really don't need either.

 

[OldMan47]

The ammonia is usually sold as a glass cleaner so you will more likely find it in a hardware store than in a fish store. You just don't want any with surfactants / detergent in it. As Aphotic_ Phoenix said you can also generate your own ammonia by allowing organic matter to decay in your tank. One of the "tried and true" methods to do that is to put a prawn in the water. It smells bad while its working but will provide ammonia that's needed. To jump start your filter, your beast bet short of biospira or bactinettes is to get some used filter media from another hobbyist and put some of it in your filter. The sample of correct bacteria will seed your filter and then all you'll need to do is culture that bacterial colony with ammonia.