Mixing bacteria when cycling

[reefinginBD]

Hey there, this seems like a dumb question but I will be setting up a 160 gallon tank. So, I want to cycle the tank with a turbo start 900 and MicroBacter7. What do you think? And then after the tank is cycled I want to dose the tank with FritzZyme9 and MicroBacter7 and or MicroBacter Clean (although I am not 100 percent sure what it does, so I will have to do some research before deciding on to add this or not. So please let me know what this is used for). This should keep the population of bacteria high and also increase the biodiversity and keep the tank stable right? What do you think is this a good idea or not?

 

[William Mumford]

I would just use the turbo alone and allow the tank to mature.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Any live rock involved? That'll put a lot more towards diversity than every bottled bacteria combined...

 

[reefinginBD]

Any live rock involved? That'll put a lot more towards diversity than every bottled bacteria combined...

I plan on using artificial rock.

 

[reefinginBD]

I would just use the turbo alone and allow the tank to mature.

I am just curious, why do you suggest I use fritz over microbacter? If you could tell me that would help.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I plan on using artificial rock.

Using multiple bacterial additives certainly isn't a bad idea then and at the very least can't hurt...if it's stability and biodiversity you're really looking for though can I ask why you're opposed to live rock

 

[reefinginBD]

Using multiple bacterial additives certainly isn't a bad idea then and at the very least can't hurt...if it's stability and biodiversity you're really looking for though can I ask why you're opposed to live rock

I will add some copepods and will try to get my hand on some sponges which I can put in the sump. But, I do not want to use liverock just because of pests and algae and all.

 

[mtraylor]

You can get some live rock rubble for the sump. Small pieces of rock with other bacteria that will eventually spread. Mixing the bacteria is no issue

 

[reefinginBD]

You can get some live rock rubble for the sump. Small pieces of rock with other bacteria that will eventually spread. Mixing the bacteria is no issue

But won't that cause the pests from that tank to come to my tank? If not, then I will take old ceramic media from several tanks and add them to mine. And the bacteria will eventually find its way to the display tank from the sump right? How long might that take? Any idea or is that a dumb question -_-

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

But won't that cause the pests from that tank to come to my tank? If not, then I will take old ceramic media from several tanks and add them to mine. And the bacteria will eventually find its way to the display tank from the sump right? How long might that take? Any idea or is that a dumb question -_-

Live rock rubble is just small pieces of live rock... ideally it wasn't previously in another tank...not that trying to change your mind on the live rock decision but what gave you the idea that bad pests are so common? I actually posted a couple pretty lengthy threads on here and by far a majority of the people who used live rock didn't experience any major pests

 

[William Mumford]

I am just curious, why do you suggest I use fritz over microbacter? If you could tell me that would help.

No reason just used that one myself in the past and had good results.

 

[stoney7713]

But won't that cause the pests from that tank to come to my tank? If not, then I will take old ceramic media from several tanks and add them to mine. And the bacteria will eventually find its way to the display tank from the sump right? How long might that take? Any idea or is that a dumb question -_-

I'm fairly new to this but read a lot about the process. Really you're going to get pests from somewhere eventually. Your tank is not going to be sterile one you add fish/coral/inverts. I wouldn't add rock if you knew it was full of pests though.

You WILL get algae anyway, live rock in the sump helps add biodiversity to fight it better than most starting cultures.

What I did was build my aquascape, I added brightwell start and dosed ammonia. I added live rock to the sump a week later.

 

[Garf]

I will add some copepods and will try to get my hand on some sponges which I can put in the sump. But, I do not want to use liverock just because of pests and algae and all.

just because of pests and algae and all.

I may have some bad news for you, lol

 

[reefinginBD]

Live rock rubble is just small pieces of live rock... ideally it wasn't previously in another tank...not that trying to change your mind on the live rock decision but what gave you the idea that bad pests are so common? I actually posted a couple pretty lengthy threads on here and by far a majority of the people who used live rock didn't experience any major pests

I just heard from many people and saw YouTube videos that say that live rocks have this problem. Don’t want to take the risk.

 

[reefinginBD]

I'm fairly new to this but read a lot about the process. Really you're going to get pests from somewhere eventually. Your tank is not going to be sterile one you add fish/coral/inverts. I wouldn't add rock if you knew it was full of pests though.

You WILL get algae anyway, live rock in the sump helps add biodiversity to fight it better than most starting cultures.

What I did was build my aquascape, I added brightwell start and dosed ammonia. I added live rock to the sump a week later.

I wanted to use Brightwell start but the thing is I will most probably use the rocks that are covered in bacteria. So then won’t that be a problem? They said not to use that with rocks if that kind.

 

[reefinginBD]

I may have some bad news for you, lol

Could you please tell me why? I’m kinda confused.

 

[stoney7713]

I wanted to use Brightwell start but the thing is I will most probably use the rocks that are covered in bacteria. So then won’t that be a problem? They said not to use that with rocks if that kind.

Their reasoning is you could end up with multiple stains of bacteria competing for the same nutrients. They "claim" their strain will cycle faster if there is no competition.

Personally I didn't have luck with Brightwell, maybe it did help, but after a week I was still 0 nitrates and 1.5ppm ammonia which is why I added the live rock. Almost immediately my numbers started shifting.

If you're using seeded rock, it should be enough, a lot of people here use microbacter7 to help cycle the tank and get through the ugly stage.

If you want to use Bacteria in a bottle, just pick one and go with it. I really don't think there's that many different strains that manufacturers use anyways. They are not all capable of survival long term in a bottle.

 

[reefinginBD]

Their reasoning is you could end up with multiple stains of bacteria competing for the same nutrients. They "claim" their strain will cycle faster if there is no competition.

Personally I didn't have luck with Brightwell, maybe it did help, but after a week I was still 0 nitrates and 1.5ppm ammonia which is why I added the live rock. Almost immediately my numbers started shifting.

If you're using seeded rock, it should be enough, a lot of people here use microbacter7 to help cycle the tank and get through the ugly stage.

If you want to use Bacteria in a bottle, just pick one and go with it. I really don't think there's that many different strains that manufacturers use anyways. They are not all capable of survival long term in a bottle.

I see thanks!

 

[Garf]

Could you please tell me why? I’m kinda confused.

Your gonna get algae’s, and a variety of other pests, if you add enough things to the tank over time. It’s pest prime time when the rock and sand is bare with no other competing organisms. You may even get a crab, I did, although it remained in my quarantine tank.

 

[reefinginBD]

Your gonna get algae’s, and a variety of other pests, if you add enough things to the tank over time. It’s pest prime time when the rock and sand is bare with no other competing organisms. You may even get a crab, I did, although it remained in my quarantine tank.

I see thanks!