Bacteria Products (one & Only, Cycle, Stabilty)

[CountryLovah]

Hi guys! I planned on an experiment recently using my 29 gallon tank and 39 gallon tank. (Which I talked about it in THIS thread:)

http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...showtopic=71059

As some of you know, I got a bit sidetracked when I purchased my two new babies Kahlua & Malibu. I've been busy with daily water changes for them, and between that and my other tank regular maintence I just haven't made the time. They have just completed their 14 days of salt at 0.3%. Typically I've noticed that once the salt is removed, the cycle becomes more stable, which gives me more time for OTHER things. I have changed my plans for my "experiment" however. I think it's actually better than before. (I explained it before in great detail in a thread Amy posted to me, so if any of you read that, this is just the same thing worded differently lol)

Before the plan was to cycle a 29 gallon tank fishless using One & Only Bacteria and cycle my 38 gallon (or whatever size the thing is LMAO) fishless without any bacteria supplement and see the comparison.. New plan is better I think..

I will take 4 buckets of equal size and equal volume of water. Each bucket will be treated with the same number of drops of prime. Each bucket will be given an identical mesh baggy filled with equal numbers of Fluval BioMax. The buckets will be placed in my spare bedroom. Tanks in this room average about 78 degrees right now. (Too warm for me, but wonderful for a cycling experiment).. I will add an airstone to each bucket to give a little agitation. Then I will add an equal amount of ammonia to each bucket raising it to approx 5 ppm.

THEN. Bucket one gets NOTHING.. Just regular ammonia feedings once the ammonia starts to decrease. Bucket two gets One & Only Bacteria according to instructions and regular ammonia feedings once the ammonia starts to decrease. Bucket three gets Cycle (according to it's instructions and ammonia blah blah) and Bucket four gets Stability (and ammonia and ammonia and ammonia yes I am just being weird now LOL)

I may try to manage a fifth bucket for Stress Zyme.. We'll see..

What do you guys think? I am curious to see the results.. As soon as Kahlua & Malibu's cycle is totally safe I will begin setting things up. Its not so hard, but first I have to make time to clean out a spot in the bedroom. That's the hardest part LOL Once my daily tank maintence goes down, I will force myself to stay off koko's for a day (or most of the day???) and clean that room and start this up. I think this will actually prove to be even more useful than the original experiement, and in the end I will have four (or five) baggies of filter media that I can place it my spare 5 gallon tank and feed like Daryl does and always have spare media laying around. It's a win win for everyone. Now I get to go carefully explain all these details to Shane while he pretends to care, then tells me what a dork I am : )

[Desiree]

Hey Sue! I think this is a great idea! I really look forward to hearing the progress and comparisons of the cycling. I've used Cycle and Stability, personally, I liked Stability better... but can't wait to see how this turns out!

One thing I'm curious about... since there's no actual filter just media would this cause a different effect than in a fish tank? I mean, because there is media present, would the bacteria grow there, in lieu of growing on the media within the filter?

That's probably a really obvious question... Hahah! It's been a long day and I'm afraid I'm delirious.

[CountryLovah]

Hey Desiree! Glad you like the idea.

One thing I'm curious about... since there's no actual filter just media would this cause a different effect than in a fish tank? I mean, because there is media present, would the bacteria grow there, in lieu of growing on the media within the filter?

As far as I know, it would work the same.. If not, someone stop me before I waste a whole lotta time! LMAO I know everyone always talks about Daryl keeping media in a bucket, and as far as I know, I never hear actual filters mentioned. I would think it would be okay. I decided to add the airstone just to have movement in the water, different parts of the water coming in contact with it.. IF a filter is needed (if so, please let me know people lol) I think I can rearrange some things and use Whisper Internal Power Filters.. Right now I have 5 of them (they came with those little tanks I have) and I am using most of them on smaller tanks, but I could probably figure out a way to shift things around!

[Acupunk]

I think the key will be to hang the media bags above the airstones so that water is constantly passing through the media, the same way it would in a filter. Keep us posted!

[CountryLovah]

Excellent idea Kristen!!! Thanks soo much!!

[cometgirl]

Wow, Sue! This sounds like a really interesting idea. I can't wait to read how it turns out!

[jyoti411]

Oh wow...thts a lot of records to be maintained... ..have fun with the experiment...and let us know the results..can't wait to see which of these is really effective...

[Desiree]

Hey Sue! Have you started up the experiment yet? I can't wait to hear how this goes...

[CountryLovah]

Hey Des! I have a spot set up for everything.. I've got the buckets ready, but I didn't have enough mesh bags and biomax.. I found the biomax last night but I need one more mesh bag, so I am going to the store in a few hours and I hope to have everything started tonight.. I'm making sure everything is exactly the same... Down to which mesh bag I use!! Kristen's idea to hang the bags is going to work PERFECT with the buckets I think.. I am so excited. I was completely ready to start last night but they didn't have the stupid baggie..I'll take a picture of my wacky little set up later : ) I think I AM going to do Stress Zyme. Just out of curiousity : )

[amynmitchell]

Trust me...I will be watching this closely, Sue. I just tested my water again last night and so far nothing is happening with nitrates. My husband keeps asking when we can go pick out a fish. And he is usually the patient one!

[CountryLovah]

Come on nitrates!!! Come on!!!!!

It really does feel like it's been forever!! LOL You must be soo ready for a new fish. COME ON!!!! lol

[amynmitchell]

I am...in fact I'm headed to the fish store in just a few minutes to get a few plants and look at what they have...it can't hurt to look, right? How many times have we said that before...

I am trying to be patient and then when I am finally able to get my fish it will be hard to pick just one. That is why I am looking so hard for an affordable larger tank. Of course, that means more cycling and more waiting for those darned nitrates.

[vickielm]

Good luck, Sue! I've said before that you are the Queen of Multitasking!! It will be interesting to see how this comes out!

[daryl]

Kriten is right, Sue. You do need to have the water travel through the media to acheive the most efficent and reliable platform for the beneficial bacteria. I, actually, use a filter in my bucket, but that is not necessary. I drop bags of media into tanks that need that extra pop of help in the cycle. When I do this, I always drop the baggie over an airstone.

There may be one problem with this.... depending on the type of baggies you use. If you use mesh bags that have fairly tight weave and place them over an air stone, the air bubbles can become trapped in the baggie, making it float upwards. This is annoying and inefficiant for bacteria transfer. A very open weave baggie will work well for this method. If you have a tighter weave, it helps to keep the algae off it - so algae does not plug the weave - and to weigh it down with a generous amount of media!

Do you have a Bio-Spira test bucket? That is the only one that I think actually does anything at all. And it only does it with patience and in a fishless cycle......

I am impressed. Make sure you write this up and submit it for a Research Award.

[Acupunk]

Do you have a Bio-Spira test bucket? That is the only one that I think actually does anything at all. And it only does it with patience and in a fishless cycle......

Bio Spira is no longer being made. The scientist that developed Bio Spira left Marineland and started his own company and is now making a product called One and Only (which Sue is including in her experiment).

[CountryLovah]

OKay guys!!! It's all set!! The only thing I haven't added is the actual bacteria products..

I just now saw your post Daryl. I came on here and saw this AFTER I set this up.. The good news is, everything you covered I think I took care of.. I hope??

FIVE BUCKETS. 3 Gallons of water in each. All set up in the same location right next to each other in the same warm bedroom. 10 drops of prime in each bucket. Then, mesh baggies, all 5 of the exact same brand (had to go to two stores to get enough but I wanted to make sure they were the EXACT same ones so nothing could be considered a factor).. They are each filled with 17 pieces of biomax (that's how many divided equally). The bags are hanging from the handles of the bucket so that the biomax is underneath the water but close to the surface of the water. Luckily, because I didn't know this might be a problem, the baggies are NOT floating at all!! There is a air pump connected (says up to 60 gallons) and it is attached to a gang valve with 5 places, so that all the air is coming from the same place, and should be pretty equal amounts it it. All are connected to the same length of airline, and the same brand of airstone, and secured with the same brand of little suction cup. Everything is IDENTICAL in every way possible. I placed the air stone at the bottom of the bucket, directly under the mesh baggie, in the center of the bucket so that the water should be flowing directly into the baggies. (Trust me, I wanted to do filters, but that would add way too much cost to this, that I can't afford.) I added 30 drops of ammonia to each which brought all the buckets up to a nice equal level between 4ppm-5ppm.. I even got a brand new test kit. The colors match perfect and the readings were all taken at the same time. (I filled 5 test tubes with water, then added 8 drops of bottle #1 to each, then added 8 drops of bottle #2 to each, then shook each, so they all developed at the same time.)

The only thing left to do is add the bacteria products. But I wanted to post this to make sure everything looked okay before doing so. And make sure I hadn't left something crucial out. I will post a picture so you guys can see the set up!! Oh and a video too! : )

[daryl]

Oh, what FUN!!!! This looks like a load of fun. I look forward to your daily (weekly?) updates!!!! Look out for evaporation!!!!!

(with my luck, the cats would drink from the buckets, the baby would dump one or my hubby would borrow one for washing his car and then reset it without telling me! )

[lantern567]

This is a fantastic experiment, and I can't wait to see how it goes. It will be interesting to see which product gets the nitrites going fastest, which gets the nitrates first, and which works best overall. Let the race begin!

[CountryLovah]

Oh, what FUN!!!! This looks like a load of fun. I look forward to your daily (weekly?) updates!!!! Look out for evaporation!!!!!

Umm have you met me?? You know for sure I will be updating the second I find ANY information!! : )

Thanks for the tip on evaporation! I thought about that earlier, and thought If I need to top them off I will just make sure to add equal parts from the same water source!!

I am so excited. Tanya & Shane went with me to the pet store today to get the extra baggies and Tanya said "why do you need this stuff?" Shane said "She's doing an experiment". They think I am nuts.. which we have established already that I am LOL Only kokonuts would understand LOL (Again, great term Vickie LOL)..

(with my luck, the cats would drink from the buckets, the baby would dump one or my hubby would borrow one for washing his car and then reset it without telling me! )

No one is allowed in mommy's fish room! LMAO The door stays shut and they are advised to knock only if important. Do they listen when it comes to the knocking? NO.. But they DO stay OUT!!!! LOL

This is a fantastic experiment, and I can't wait to see how it goes. It will be interesting to see which product gets the nitrites going fastest, which gets the nitrates first, and which works best overall. Let the race begin!

Thanks! I am glad it has gotten such positive feedback! It makes it so much more worthwhile!! I know, I am all curious as to how it all turns out!!! I'm gonna go through sooo many test kits it's not even funny LMAO

Here we GOOOOOOOOOOOOO! : )

[Desiree]

This is so cool!

[vickielm]

Weekly updates????!!!! We all know nothing will happen in those buckets that Sue doesnt give us a DETAILED explanation!!

[CountryLovah]

Weekly updates????!!!! We all know nothing will happen in those buckets that Sue doesnt give us a DETAILED explanation!!

Oh Vickie you know me soooo well! : )

Speaking of.. LMAO The bacteria products are added. I am going to follow the directions on the bottle and see what happens. I also made sure to get 5 different droppers. That way I am not using the same one and possibly mixing them. Now we have to wait.. UGH..LOL

[CountryLovah]

Day 1: August 7, 2008: everything set up BUT bacteria... Ammonia in all buckets 4ppm

Day 2: August 8, 2008: Bacteria added.

Bucket 1: One & Only Bacteria. Directions on bottle: Minimum Dose 10 ml per 10 gallon. Added 3ml to the 3 gallon bucket.

Bucket 2: Nothing.

Bucket 3: Cycle. Directions on bottle: Setting up a new aquarium use 10 ml per 10 gallon. Repeat every 7 days for two weeks, then switch to weekly maintence dose, 5 ml per 10 gallons weekly. Added 3ml to the 3 gallon bucket.

Bucket 4: Stability. Directions on bottle: Use 5ml per 10 gallons on the first day of starting a new aquarium. Then use 5ml per 20 gallons DAILY for 7 days. Then add 5ml per 20 gallons once a month, when changing water, or adding new fish. Added 1.5ml to the 3 gallon bucket.

Bucket 5: Stress Zyme. Directions on bottle: On the 1st, 7th, and 14th days add 10 ml per 10 gallon. Then add 5ml per 10 gallons weekly. Added 3ml to the 3 gallon bucket.

Day 3: August 9, 2008: Ammonia in all bucket still at 4ppm. No nitrite showing up yet in any of the buckets. Nitrite in all buckets is at 0

Bucket 4: Stability. Added 0.75 ml to 3 gallon bucket.

[amynmitchell]

Hey Sue,

Do you want to take a little trip and come help me cycle my tank, get a new one and cycle that and pick out fish. I promise I will make sure there aren't any earthquakes and you will be the world's best and fastest cycle completer after this!

Amy

[CountryLovah]

Hey Sue,

Do you want to take a little trip and come help me cycle my tank, get a new one and cycle that and pick out fish. I promise I will make sure there aren't any earthquakes and you will be the world's best and fastest cycle completer after this!

Amy

Oh yeah! Oh yeah! California here I COME : )