Fritz Turbo 900 questions

[Venzzla]

So I will have the live sand, water, Marco rock in tank tomorrow hopefully. Turbo 900 and ammonium chloride will arrive tomorrow. Will the ammonium or Turbo 900 hurt live sand ?

 

[Venzzla]

Also talking to the guy at LFS today he was against using straight ammonium chloride and Turbo start. He said I should use clownfish as my ammonium source and maybe the turbo 900. I don’t agree with this. Thoughts? I have read where after the ammonium is gone and cycle is complete then add fish so pretty quickly so there will be a source of ammonium for tank or else the nitrofying bacteria will die off.

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

I used the Turbo Start 900 after following a post on this forum that tested all the "quick start" bacteria in bottles against each other. That said I was moving from one tank to another. I'd pass on the ammonia chloride and just ghost feed the tank. Less harmful to the fish and works just as well. The turbo start will not hurt the live sand, it's basically bacteria that you are hoping to have populating in it.

 

[steelwrap]

Also talking to the guy at LFS today he was against using straight ammonium chloride and Turbo start. He said I should use clownfish as my ammonium source and maybe the turbo 900. I don’t agree with this. Thoughts? I have read where after the ammonium is gone and cycle is complete then add fish so pretty quickly so there will be a source of ammonium for tank or else the nitrofying bacteria will die off.

Id find another LFS, cycling with live fish could harm the fish and is not recommended any more. Use the ammonium chloride and turbo start

 

[Venzzla]

I used the Turbo Start 900 after following a post on this forum that tested all the "quick start" bacteria in bottles against each other. That said I was moving from one tank to another. I'd pass on the ammonia chloride and just ghost feed the tank. Less harmful to the fish and works just as well. The turbo start will not hurt the live sand, it's basically bacteria that you are hoping to have populating in it.

Any reason why you skip on the much faster addition of ammonium? I’m not arguing I’m just curious on the why.

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

Myself... I prefer natural methods over chemically enhanced. I really didn't need the turbo start 900, but moved from a 40g to a 150g without much time and wanted to make sure my live rock was enough to keep things in good condition. Plus, nothing good happens fast in this hobby.

 

[Saveafish]

Also talking to the guy at LFS today he was against using straight ammonium chloride and Turbo start. He said I should use clownfish as my ammonium source and maybe the turbo 900. I don’t agree with this. Thoughts? I have read where after the ammonium is gone and cycle is complete then add fish so pretty quickly so there will be a source of ammonium for tank or else the nitrofying bacteria will die off.

Dump that LFS. going that way with fish is really harmful to them. That tells me he will lead you down the hard road and try to sell you every thing to chase problems he got you to make. Big circle and lots of money in his pocket.

 

[Venzzla]

O

Myself... I prefer natural methods over chemically enhanced. I really didn't need the turbo start 900, but moved from a 40g to a 150g without much time and wanted to make sure my live rock was enough to keep things in good condition. Plus, nothing good happens fast in this hobby.

Ok thanks for your input

 

[Venzzla]

Dump that LFS. going that way with fish is really harmful to them. That tells me he will lead you down the hard road and try to sell you every thing to chase problems he got you to make. Big circle and lots of money in his pocket.

Agreed. I’ll either go the ammonium route or just use the food. I don’t like the idea of using fish to seed the tank

 

[IslandLifeReef]

Agreed. I’ll either go the ammonium route or just use the food. I don’t like the idea of using fish to seed the tank

Go with the ammonium. The purpose of feeding the tank is to get the food to break down into ammonia. If you are already adding the bacteria with the Turbo Start, a good idea IMO, then why not just give the bacteria what they want.

What is the purpose of the cycle?

To establish a sufficient bacteria colony to process ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and other waste that accumulates in our tanks. You've added the bacteria, now give it what it needs to grow.

Another way to look at this is with dosing ammonia, you know exactly how much is going into your tank. You can monitor the ammount of time it takes to convert a known quantity of ammonia into nitrite, and then nitrate. If you just ghost feed the tank, how much ammonia are you adding? If in three days you get a reading of 0 ppm of ammonia, did the bacteria already consume the ammonia, or is the food still in the process of breaking down? You just don't know.

If you want to go the natural method, skip the bacteria and ammonia, buy a shrimp at the grocery store and toss it in and in about 30-45 days you'll probably be cycled.

Edit: Neither the Turbo Start or ammonium chloride will hurt your live sand. Also, you wouldn't add fish to the tank until it is cycled, so the ammonium chloride won't hurt them either.

 

[Venzzla]

Go with the ammonium. The purpose of feeding the tank is to get the food to break down into ammonia. If you are already adding the bacteria with the Turbo Start, a good idea IMO, then why not just give the bacteria what they want.

What is the purpose of the cycle?

To establish a sufficient bacteria colony to process ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and other waste that accumulates in our tanks. You've added the bacteria, now give it what it needs to grow.

Another way to look at this is with dosing ammonia, you know exactly how much is going into your tank. You can monitor the ammount of time it takes to convert a known quantity of ammonia into nitrite, and then nitrate. If you just ghost feed the tank, how much ammonia are you adding? If in three days you get a reading of 0 ppm of ammonia, did the bacteria already consume the ammonia, or is the food still in the process of breaking down? You just don't know.

If you want to go the natural method, skip the bacteria and ammonia, buy a shrimp at the grocery store and toss it in and in about 30-45 days you'll probably be cycled.

Edit: Neither the Turbo Start or ammonium chloride will hurt your live sand. Also, you wouldn't add fish to the tank until it is cycled, so the ammonium chloride won't hurt them either.

Awesome. Thanks so much for your input.

 

[Venzzla]

Ammonium is getting lower, nitrites and nitrates are rising the cycle is going well. Question, should I not clean out my aquaclear 110 from all the dust from the sand? I'm thinking no but I am not sure. I just didn't want to rise any benefical bacterial that might be collected on that foam filter. Thoughts on this would be appreciated.

 

[Venzzla]

Does adding more turbo start 900 speed up the process? I used what’s recommended but I see where you can add 5X the amount

 

[lapin]

Ammonium is getting lower, nitrites and nitrates are rising the cycle is going well. Question, should I not clean out my aquaclear 110 from all the dust from the sand? I'm thinking no but I am not sure. I just didn't want to rise any benefical bacterial that might be collected on that foam filter. Thoughts on this would be appreciated.

I say; clean it out. It is dust and sand. You dont want that in your filter. Plenty of bacteria will grow in your rock and sand. Once established bacteria is hard to rinse off a sponge. I would not worry about it.

Does adding more turbo start 900 speed up the process? I used what’s recommended but I see where you can add 5X the amount

You can add more. But if you use what it recommends for your tank size it will cycle. Adding more does not equal faster cycle. Adding more ammonia than what is recommended will not speed your cycle. The bacteria need to grow deep in your rocks and in the sand. It takes time. The ammonia to nitrite bacteria grow faster than the nitrite to nitrate. If you want you can still add a dead table shrimp for a few days to add a a few different strains of bacteria.

 

[Venzzla]

Thanks so much for your input!

 

[bckey]

Dump that LFS. going that way with fish is really harmful to them. That tells me he will lead you down the hard road and try to sell you every thing to chase problems he got you to make. Big circle and lots of money in his pocket.

Maybe he talked to a newbie at the fish store. Talk to the owner or whoever runs the store and bring it to their attention. If they tell you the same thing then drop them. If not then they can correct the employee that gave the wrong info and then everybody benefits and the local reef store still has your business.

 

[LilElroyJetson]

Like others have said, I’d skip the ammonium chloride and just go with the Turbostart 900. I used it and it worked like a charm. Definitely will not harm anything. You will eventually need an ammonia source if your tank doesn’t have any for the bacteria to feed off of to live and continue to multiply.

Here is a very valuable thread by @Dr. Reef on using bottled bacteria to cycle your tank:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bacteria-in-bottle-busting-myth-seneye-style.456820/