Adding bacteria to a qt tank

[Lee belk]

Would it be ok to use a biological enhancer to an already cycled qt tank to control any ammonia spikes if any inbetween waterchanges while using antibiotics like metroplex and kanaplex I have outbreak and fluval biological biological cycle in a bottle that I don't use on my main tank

 

[DxMarinefish]

I always use Seachem Prime in my QT for water top ups. Deals with ammonia.
Never used bio enhancers, not sure what you may want to achieve with them.

 

[brandon429]

bottled bac additives are designed to implant on surfaces, agreed adding them after a cycle is counter productive and wasteful of oxygen and pocket cash. there isnt anywhere new for them to stick...adding more surface area would be the recommend to handle sustained ammonia control issues and for brief ones in qt agreed they use binders mentioned/amquel prime etc.

 

[Lee belk]

As I do water changes I squeeze the life out of my sponges because if I clean them lightly nothing really comes out only until I squeeze it hard it all comes out and I mean it make the water go black I didn't realise this because I was lightly cleaning them a few water changes ago tge sponge felt full of muck so I gave it a few more squeezes and then realised I've not been cleaning it properly and in general there is no such thing as too much bacteria so I thought as I have them laying about ill just use them bud

 

[brandon429]

its still a waste, you cleaning the filter in that way is what makes its resident adhered bac work better, you arent killing them with that squeeze rinse even if you use tap as they're well insulated. (filter backflushing opens channels, expands surface area, resident bac adhere anyway since you didnt burn or dislodge them with a cleaner)

use them if you want, lots of people give money to bb sellers its the new thing. bottle bac are not going to help you in a surface area restricted system, post cycle. they're a feel good product, and they're good at establishing initial colonization if someone doesnt want to wait the timeframe it takes to cycle free of charge (no feed, no bottle bac, no ammonia dosing) which is sixty days or less. (tested on seneye)

 

[Lee belk]

See what you mean bud I was just worried about how many time a week I clean it that it would all be gone because putting it in drained qt water and squeezing it untill all the much is out is a bit worrying since people on forums say dont clean them too I do 25 percent waterchenges every 2 days to keep it as clean as I can and just long enough for the antibiotics work thewater goes cloudy quick