What bacteria do you use to cycle your aquarium?

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Seachem Stability, but I am bias towards them.

Biased towards Seachem? Some of their products do not do what they claim.

 

[Spare time]

I think most tanks I have set up for myself used fritz zyme 9. I have also used biospira and dr tim's. I would include mb7 but I have never cycled a tank solely with it nor do I think it is a good idea anymore.

 

[Pickle_soup]

Biased towards Seachem? Some of their products do not do what they claim.

Perhaps, but I am satisfied with the products that I have used. I will stop using their Buffer thou. Although it keeps my tank steady at 8.15, I can't get it to 8.3. With that said, maybe that's just the best my tank can do without raising alk too much.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Perhaps, but I am satisfied with the products that I have used. I will stop using their Buffer thou. Although it keeps my tank steady at 8.15, I can't get it to 8.3. With that said, maybe that's just the best my tank can do without raising alk too much.

Well, it’s a poor chemical for pH raising, and the whole discussion by Seachem about pH 8.3 is misleading to reefers.

Not as bad as some other Seachem products, however, I guess you've just been lucky to not use the losers.

 

[PizzaIan339]

by day 15 after dosing, what difference does it make what kind of bacteria anyone uses

long game is post day fifteen: fish disease. what bacteria a reef uses to start has 0% impact on that reef's life arc/trajectory in the long game I think all the relays of best practice should be centered around fish disease.

current standard of cycling in reefing: all the bottle bac carry a light fish load day 1 if we want them to, a couple clowns isn't 2 ppm workload and any decent bottle pulls it off we see in searches, the thing never discussed is disease preps as the real hidden need for the system

result-note how busy the disease forum is today/ we are causing a throughput belt in reefing that leads right to dead fish in a bucket. the cycle is given without much effort, all sampling and study and prep need to be around fish disease prevention steps. a new cycling article should state as much, to free up people from the concern of which bac to use. the cycle part is the .01% concern. the market is designed to make it seem like the choice matters.

even the longest most prepared cycle has nothing to do with disease prevention, cycling is about simply carrying bioload ammonia and not allowing a tipping point for the system. that can come quickly nowadays, for cost, by any of the brands.
see latest studies in the research forum.

the steps for real true disease prep are detailed, arduous, and way more dedicated than the average tanker will agree to, its far harder than selecting just a brand

Ok thank you then I will probably just got the cheapest one!

 

[brandon429]

add it along with a pinch of fish food ground up into powder

circulate, heat the tank, let it all stew for fifteen days. do a partial water change and begin/that will cycle your tank if it's a common brand for reef tank cycling.

then hit the disease forum for fallow, qt practices...that's the most updated cycling choice you can do in reefing in my opinion

check this thread out, handy disease prevention trick

Has anyone done coral/inverts only and no fish at first?

Fish seem to be the main cause of disruption in a display tank, given the current circumstances in the hobby with pests (ich, velvet, parasites, etc.). I have been in this hobby for 18 years, and the amount of pests that are showing up lately is much more (could also be the fact that we have...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[PizzaIan339]

add it along with a pinch of fish food ground up into powder

circulate, heat the tank, let it all stew for fifteen days. do a partial water change and begin/that will cycle your tank if it's a common brand for reef tank cycling.

then hit the disease forum for fallow, qt practices...that's the most updated cycling choice you can do in reefing in my opinion

check this thread out, handy disease prevention trick

Has anyone done coral/inverts only and no fish at first?

Fish seem to be the main cause of disruption in a display tank, given the current circumstances in the hobby with pests (ich, velvet, parasites, etc.). I have been in this hobby for 18 years, and the amount of pests that are showing up lately is much more (could also be the fact that we have...

www.reef2reef.com

Thanks so much this was my plain exempt no qt because space is very limited and it’s my first tank.

 

[Kfactor]

i did dr tims on my new build and worked great

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Fritz Turbo Start!

 

[KrisReef]

I knew nothing when I started (and not too much now) but:
I never even purposely added nitrifying bacteria.
Cycle happened anyway and completed around 1-1.5 months.

*I wonder if proximity to the real ocean comes into play here at all

Do you surf?
Do you put your hands in the tank?

 

[KrisReef]

by day 15 after dosing, what difference does it make what kind of bacteria anyone uses

long game is post day fifteen: fish disease. what bacteria a reef uses to start has 0% impact on that reef's life arc/trajectory in the long game I think all the relays of best practice should be centered around fish disease.

current standard of cycling in reefing: all the bottle bac carry a light fish load day 1 if we want them to, a couple clowns isn't 2 ppm workload and any decent bottle pulls it off we see in searches, the thing never discussed is disease preps as the real hidden need for the system

result-note how busy the disease forum is today/ we are causing a throughput belt in reefing that leads right to dead fish in a bucket. the cycle is given without much effort, all sampling and study and prep need to be around fish disease prevention steps. a new cycling article should state as much, to free up people from the concern of which bac to use. the cycle part is the .01% concern. the market is designed to make it seem like the choice matters.

even the longest most prepared cycle has nothing to do with disease prevention, cycling is about simply carrying bioload ammonia and not allowing a tipping point for the system. that can come quickly nowadays, for cost, by any of the brands.
see latest studies in the research forum.

the steps for real true disease prep are detailed, arduous, and way more dedicated than the average tanker will agree to, its far harder than selecting just a brand

Just for discussion, would you expect better results for "disease prep" from a bottle, dry rock, live rock, live sand, or some combination, not including any discussion on QT or no QT options that may follow a simple tank set up?

 

[EricR]

Do you surf?
Do you put your hands in the tank?

Ha ha... have kinda wondered about that.
I haven't actually gone surfing or SCUBA diving in quite a few years but still get in the water at the beach and am not the most conscientious when it comes to washing up after.