is aqua-plus and the cycling bottle are good for cycling?
Answers:
99% of the time bacteria supplements are junk by the time they hit the shelves of a pet store. Such supplements have strict date codes on them and must also be stored correctly. Even if the store is willing to store them properly, odds are high the shipping company that delivered them did not. Also, often when I see these in stores, the date label has been removed, telling you it's out of date and the store is trying to sell it anyway. I wouldn't waste a penny on any of these type products ever.
If you are looking into cycling a tank and need some help, please fee free to email me.
MM
I don't think anyone can stress enough that cycling will always take time and buying things that 'speed up' the cycle really won't cut much time off of it.
You need time to build up the required amount of bacteria to process the waste of the fish and products you buy that claim to have the bacteria needed won't have anywhere near the amount you need to establish a tank. At best, you'll take a week off the cycle, but you'll still risk losing fish if you try to rush it.
No the answer above is not necisarily true. There are products that contain nothing but fish feces that help add bacteria into your tank. The bacteria is what cycling all about. Aqua Plus is just a water conditioner, meaning it removes chloramines. Cycle is actually a good brand to help get your tank started. This doesn't mean that your tank will automatically be good but it helps to get it along. This can help decrease the death of your fish because it will speed up the process of changing nitrites to nitrates. Establishing a tank takes time; period. It's not meant to mature your tank instantly, it is to promote the health and ecosystem of your tank.
The best way to cycle a tank is to do it without fish. This can be done two ways. One is to get filter media from an existing cycled tank. This transfer will introduce bacteria very quickly and will usually allow you to put fish right in. The other method is to do it with ammonia drops, fish food, or any other organic item that can decompose. When you cycle a tank without fish, there is no risk of your fish dying from ammonia or nitrite. Email me if you have any questions.
No. Nothing is good for cycling but time and patience. You cannot buy a good cycle out of a bottle. I gave a detailed explanation of exactly what is involved in order to properly cycle water in your previous question. That is all you need to do to get perfectly cycled water.
Aqua-plus is okay generally, it does cause some bubbles to form on the surface of the water at times but it's not a problem.
You can forget about the cycling bottle as MM mention they're not worth the money and there's probably no bacteria in the bottle by the time you buy it off the shelf.
A way of speeding up the process is to get some filter media from friends who have "healthy" established tanks. With enough media, you could dramatically cut down the time required for cycling.
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