Regular Member stech Posted March 9, 2015 Regular Member Share Posted March 9, 2015 Starting new tank and looking for fastest cycling product. I found these two Microbe-Lift Super Start Bead Filter BacteriaPure Pond Gel Do they work or do you have recommend something else? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Daniel Posted March 9, 2015 Regular Member Share Posted March 9, 2015 Transferring some media from an already established tank if you have it is probably the best. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member stech Posted March 9, 2015 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 9, 2015 Transferring some media from an already established tank if you have it is probably the best. Thanks but I don't have established tank and media. Just getting back to fishkeeping. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member GoldenSpoiledRotten Posted March 9, 2015 Regular Member Share Posted March 9, 2015 I've never found a cycling product to actually work. A few have found that it has helped, but a lot of that was back when an older product was on the market. The best way to cycle that I know of is to do a fishless cycle. This is by no means fast, but it beats trying to use a cycling product and winding up having to do a fish-in cycle because it doesn't work. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member shakaho Posted March 9, 2015 Regular Member Share Posted March 9, 2015 Generally, cycling products don't work. People who have had microbiological labs analyze these products find that they contain no live autotrophic nitrifiers. I can't explain this properly without giving a major lecture on microbiology, but basically they contain bacteria that can oxidize ammonia/nitrite as a sideline, but if there are organic substances available to eat, will no longer bother with the ammonia/nitrite. Two products that some people claim work are Dr. Tim's One and Only Live Nitrifying Bacteria and Seachem Stability. The claims of Dr. Tim's product make sense in terms of microbiology. When I read reviews of the product, they are all either raves or rants. It either worked perfectly ( the majority) or did absolutely nothing. The people for whom it didn't work could get no help from customer support. The microbiology claims of Seachem Stability sound like snake oil unless they are using genetic engineering. Reviews of the product were more positive than those of Dr Tim's, but there were plenty of people for whom it didn't work. Some of these said that it worked only as long as you continued to add the product, which is what I would expect if Seachem's description is true. The problem with reviews is that they ask for them immediately after you buy the product. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member stech Posted March 9, 2015 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 9, 2015 I found out about Pure Pond Gel Balls from Discus keeping forum (I had discus but retired from it). Discus vendor used it with their DIY k1 moving medias. She used it same day as she was adding fish to a new tank. I just ordered Pure Pond Gel balls 500 ml and will test it out as I just setup a small 10g with two baby Ranchus (2 inch) with a DIY k1 moving bed filter bottle. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member GoldenSpoiledRotten Posted March 9, 2015 Regular Member Share Posted March 9, 2015 I would have to wonder if it is indeed the fish cycling the tank and not the product a lot of the time. Let us know how it goes. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member stech Posted March 9, 2015 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 9, 2015 Bad news out of stock for month will have look elsewhere 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member shakaho Posted March 10, 2015 Regular Member Share Posted March 10, 2015 You can likely cycle a tank in a month if you put one small fish in it, feed lightly, and change water every day or two. The important thing is that the fish be small enough that the tank volume will dilute ammonia and nitrite to very low levels. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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