Cycling with Bottled Bacteria

[Geebs19]

Hey Reefers,

So I went with what my LFS recommended and got the FritzZyme 9 bottled bacteria. He stated to dose half the bottle and then the 2nd half a week later. I poured the bottle in yesterday afternoon and checked for Ammonia about an hour ago and nothing was showing up. New to this whole bottled bacteria thing and want to make sure im not missing anything. Will it take a few days for Ammonia to show up?

 

[Phelipe's Ocean]

I have never heard of that brand but im a huge fan of bottled bactetia I use Seachems and fluvals since i start all my tanks with dry rock and dry sand(im a huge pest freak so i take all precautions) you shouldnt be expecting ammonia if you havent added anything else. I always throw in some brine, frozen foods, whatever so something can start decomposing and start the cycle or else the bacteria cant really feed on much.

 

[Phelipe's Ocean]

My cycles range in about the 3-4 week time frame, I add fish around the 3 week mark but i dont add coral the first 6 weeks. I like to be positive my nitrates and phosphates have stabilized and that all the algae cycles are done.

 

[Geebs19]

So this stuff should just cycle the tank and I dont need to test for Ammonia, Nitrate, or Nitrites? And then just assume its good to go after 3-4 weeks?

 

[KrisReef]

Hey Reefers,

So I went with what my LFS recommended and got the FritzZyme 9 bottled bacteria. He stated to dose half the bottle and then the 2nd half a week later. I poured the bottle in yesterday afternoon and checked for Ammonia about an hour ago and nothing was showing up. New to this whole bottled bacteria thing and want to make sure im not missing anything. Will it take a few days for Ammonia to show up?

The bacteria eat ammonia, I do not think any bacteria in a bottle will come with ammonia in the bottle. You need to "feed" the tank (lots of folks start with a chunk of frozen shrimp) that supplies the bacteria the food to kick start the bacterial colonization cycle.

 

[KrisReef]

And you test along the way for Ammonia, nitrite, and ultimately nitrate, the end products of the bacterial consumption of food and waste products in the system. When nitrates are present, the bacteria that produce ammonia and nitrite are presumed to be present.

 

[Phelipe's Ocean]

So this stuff should just cycle the tank and I dont need to test for Ammonia, Nitrate, or Nitrites? And then just assume its good to go after 3-4 weeks?

I never test initially because I think its a waste of time and product. Make sure you have something that is fedding the bacteria throw in some frozen food or something like that. I already know the average time so I just test at the 3 week mark. If everythint is good I add my fish, and then a few weeks later I started adding my frags

 

[Geebs19]

Might have to swing and get 1 uncooked shrimp as I only have pre cooked shirmp in the freezer. Will I only need to do 1 shrimp to begin with and that should be enough? Sorry, I have read a ton on this and still confused.

 

[Phelipe's Ocean]

Might have to swing and get 1 uncooked shrimp as I only have pre cooked shirmp in the freezer. Will I only need to do 1 shrimp to begin with and that should be enough? Sorry, I have read a ton on this and still confused.

No apologies necessary the more questions the better. How big is your system? It really depends I have never used the whole shrimp method before. But until it is completly gone or eaten I wouldnt add another.

 

[Geebs19]

Its a 100 gallon. I dosed about 16 oz of the nitrifying bacteria. Lets say I never added ammonia to test, the bottled bacteria producers ar saying that your tank should be cycled in the given timeframe and ok to add fish? Is the only reason to add the shrimp to watch how quickly the ammonia is being turned?

 

[beaslbob]

I'm not a fan of any bottled stuff and most especially those things designed to cycle a tank.

From the name it sounds like some type or enzyme which would aid the bacteria while the bacteria builds up. So with no ammonia source you should not see any ammonia at all. But then perhaps that stuff works differently.


FWIW I use and recommend macro algae. What happens is the algae consumes ammonia first then nitrates second for its nitrogen source. So during the initial cycle it is possible to see no ammonia spike as the macros are consuming the ammonia produced. With a possible and much safer nitrate spike. Meanwhile, consuming co2 and phosphates while returning oxygen and fish food. Bacteria will still build up and start consuming more and more of the ammonia until the macros switch to consuming nitrates. So nitrates will drop down. All with no ammonia spike and only a very short minor nitrite spike.

But that's just me and my .02

 

[beaslbob]

oh yea. to test your system try a live male molly.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

Its a 100 gallon. I dosed about 16 oz of the nitrifying bacteria. Lets say I never added ammonia to test, the bottled bacteria producers ar saying that your tank should be cycled in the given timeframe and ok to add fish? Is the only reason to add the shrimp to watch how quickly the ammonia is being turned?

I believe they are assuming that you provide an ammonia source of some type to help the bacteria population grow. I used Dr Timms ammonia and dosed my tank to 2 ppm of ammonia and then added the Fritz bacteria. Once that ammonia cycled to 0 ppm and nitrites spiked and went back down to 2 ppm, I dosed another 2ppm of ammonia and checked to see how fast the tank could cycle it to o ppm of ammonia. I continued that process until the tank could cycle 2 ppm of ammonia to 0 ppm in 24 hours. No smell from rotting food and never any questions about whether the ammonia was increasing or decreasing, because I was the one supplying it.

 

[Geebs19]

I believe they are assuming that you provide an ammonia source of some type to help the bacteria population grow. I used Dr Timms ammonia and dosed my tank to 2 ppm of ammonia and then added the Fritz bacteria. Once that ammonia cycled to 0 ppm and nitrites spiked and went back down to 2 ppm, I dosed another 2ppm of ammonia and checked to see how fast the tank could cycle it to o ppm of ammonia. I continued that process until the tank could cycle 2 ppm of ammonia to 0 ppm in 24 hours. No smell from rotting food and never any questions about whether the ammonia was increasing or decreasing, because I was the one supplying it.

Do you know how big of a bottle you got of the Ammonia? I see I can get a 2 oz for $5

 

[SloppyWalrus]

I believe they are assuming that you provide an ammonia source of some type to help the bacteria population grow. I used Dr Timms ammonia and dosed my tank to 2 ppm of ammonia and then added the Fritz bacteria. Once that ammonia cycled to 0 ppm and nitrites spiked and went back down to 2 ppm, I dosed another 2ppm of ammonia and checked to see how fast the tank could cycle it to o ppm of ammonia. I continued that process until the tank could cycle 2 ppm of ammonia to 0 ppm in 24 hours. No smell from rotting food and never any questions about whether the ammonia was increasing or decreasing, because I was the one supplying it.

^^ Doing the exact same process

 

[IslandLifeReef]

Do you know how big of a bottle you got of the Ammonia? I see I can get a 2 oz for $5

I bought a 2 oz bottle and have a 45 gallon tank. I only used about 20% of the bottle, so you should be fine with a 2 oz bottle for a 100 gallon tank.

 

[Katrina71]

Shrimp+ macro+ time. I was told don't bother testing for 2 weeks. Take the shrimp out after 2 or 3 days. It will start to smell.

 

[roberthu526]

MB7 and bio spira both worked very well for me. Now I stick with MB7 because it is much cheaper than other brands.

 

[SPR1968]

I’ve only ever used bacteria from a bottle to cycle a tank and in my case ATM Colony. I can’t fault it at all, you just pour it in and that’s it you’re good to go straight away. Cycle done.

It’s 2018 so I say embrace the modern methods, whichever brand you choose.

 

[Pennywise the Clown]

I’ve only ever used bacteria from a bottle to cycle a tank and in my case ATM Colony. I can’t fault it at all, you just pour it in and that’s it you’re good to go straight away. Cycle done.

It’s 2018 so I say embrace the modern methods, whichever brand you choose.

This is exactly how I cycled my new tank. Never had a ammonia reading at all.