Liquified Beneficial Bacteria

**elwaynetan** · 11th Sep 2012, 01:32

Hello...

If you use liquid Beneficial Bacteria solution to cycle your tank, can you share what is/are the brand(s) you use?

I am currently using PSB which directed that it should be added into your tank every alternate day.

Here is the query; I understand that for those who uses ammonia powder or any sort of ammonia form to grow Beneficial Bacteria naturally, there will be no need to top it off because at the end of the day, when the livestock are added into the tank, their ammonia output will feed the Beneficial Bacteria naturally. But, if you use the liquid version, will it still be the same? Or you will have to follow the directions and add the solution into your tank every alternate day?

I have been following the direction since Day 1.. So far, my ammonia and nitrite issues have been kept in control. Nitrate is under very good control as well since I have some water lettuce and frogbits in the tank.

Expert advices please...

**Cyberkinetic** · 12th Sep 2012, 13:58

Hi, I think it is still subjective on the effectiveness of those beneficial bacteria additives.

If you search around on the web, there'll be those who swears by it and there's also another camp which says it's nothing but a gimmick.

Just if... let's say your ammonia and nitrite levels are kept in control due to adding of the liquid, how long do you intend to continue dosing your tank with it? Logically at most, it should be a booster for the colonies of beneficial bacteria in your tank to establish themselves. It doesn't make sense if you have to constantly for long term add them into the tank(except during significant water change).

So far, after finishing my bottle of Seachem Stability during initial cycling of my tank, I got another bottle where I will just add a little weekly(more "add for the sake of adding") even though I am not sure if it helps since it took me 2 months or more to have the tank cycled. Maybe what I used wasn't effective, or there's also a whole bunch of other variables involved so it's hard to pinpoint.

What I had experienced though is "patience"... that's the key message I got from cycling of the tank.

**barmby** · 12th Sep 2012, 22:31

I have never once used it. Patience goes a long way.

**felix_fx2** · 14th Sep 2012, 09:02

It will still come with time, something addational is ok so long as it's good and does not flip the tank balance.

**VSGenesis** · 15th Sep 2012, 15:06

I've used it before for my three feet. (Not the same brand) Result? Hard to say. I won't go much in depth about it but what the members above said is true. Just be patient on cycling. down the road, you'll find that its a waste of money buying this "Liquified BB"

I stopped using once the parameters are where it should be. 2 months is pretty long time to cycle actually.

**elwaynetan** · 15th Sep 2012, 15:44

Originally Posted by VSGenesis

I've used it before for my three feet. (Not the same brand) Result? Hard to say. I won't go much in depth about it but what the members above said is true. Just be patient on cycling. down the road, you'll find that its a waste of money buying this "Liquified BB"

I stopped using once the parameters are where it should be. 2 months is pretty long time to cycle actually.

So... How do you kick start your cycling? Do you do fishless cycling or with fish? Or what are the alternatives you deploy to kick start the growth of beneficial bacteria with ammonia? I read that some people ammonia powder or other forms of ammonia. But I don't think it's feasible to get these in Singapore, unless you are in this field or you extracted it out from your excretion.

**VSGenesis** · 15th Sep 2012, 16:31

Originally Posted by elwaynetan

So... How do you kick start your cycling? Do you do fishless cycling or with fish? Or what are the alternatives you deploy to kick start the growth of beneficial bacteria with ammonia? I read that some people ammonia powder or other forms of ammonia. But I don't think it's feasible to get these in Singapore, unless you are in this field or you extracted it out from your excretion.

Planted tank; ADA Amazonia soil itself has ammonia. So yes, I do fishless cycle.

I have 4 tanks right now going through cycling. (Day 15 now)
Planted Tank (Fishless cycle) - Ammonia Day 7,14: 8,4
Fine Sand Only Tank (Fishless cycle) - Ammonia Dat 7, 14: 4,2
2x Bare Tank (Fishless cycle) - Ammonia Day 7,14: 4,2

Planted Tank uses ADA soil. Ammonia is alrady present. No adding of fish food, pure ammonia or fish to kick start cycling.
Fine Sand Only Tank. Apparently, ammonia is present in the sand I use. So again no adding of fish food, pure ammonia or fish to kick start cycling.
2x Bare Tank. Fish flakes. I've stopped adding on the 7th day. Did a bit of house keeping. Ammonia is still present but is now lower than day 7.

Nitrite and Nitrate is present as well on 2nd test on day 14.

There's no need to add those Liquified BB. As long as there's ammonia, your tank cycle starts on its own.

You can refer to a sticky done by Moderator Vinz on Fishless Cycle. There he explains the different method hobbyist can deploy. Having old media and adding it to your filter to cycle the new tank helps.

I don't use fish to cycle for fear the fish becomes sick and then there's diseases in the water. You can add those prawns you buy from market and put it in. De-shelled and all. Or you can use fish food. Food rots, you get ammonia.

And no, I don't believe any of the hobbyists here will pee into their tank to start the cycle.

Can share what's your setup? If you are using soil, ammonia is already present. I'm not sure if you can purchase ammonia of the shelf and I have never done research into finding it.

PS: Ammonia is also present in tap water. Last check, my tap water (Sengkang) shows 0.5

**elwaynetan** · 16th Sep 2012, 01:15

Originally Posted by VSGenesis

Planted tank; ADA Amazonia soil itself has ammonia. So yes, I do fishless cycle.

I have 4 tanks right now going through cycling. (Day 15 now)
Planted Tank (Fishless cycle) - Ammonia Day 7,14: 8,4
Fine Sand Only Tank (Fishless cycle) - Ammonia Dat 7, 14: 4,2
2x Bare Tank (Fishless cycle) - Ammonia Day 7,14: 4,2

Planted Tank uses ADA soil. Ammonia is alrady present. No adding of fish food, pure ammonia or fish to kick start cycling.
Fine Sand Only Tank. Apparently, ammonia is present in the sand I use. So again no adding of fish food, pure ammonia or fish to kick start cycling.
2x Bare Tank. Fish flakes. I've stopped adding on the 7th day. Did a bit of house keeping. Ammonia is still present but is now lower than day 7.

Nitrite and Nitrate is present as well on 2nd test on day 14.

There's no need to add those Liquified BB. As long as there's ammonia, your tank cycle starts on its own.

You can refer to a sticky done by Moderator Vinz on Fishless Cycle. There he explains the different method hobbyist can deploy. Having old media and adding it to your filter to cycle the new tank helps.

I don't use fish to cycle for fear the fish becomes sick and then there's diseases in the water. You can add those prawns you buy from market and put it in. De-shelled and all. Or you can use fish food. Food rots, you get ammonia.

And no, I don't believe any of the hobbyists here will pee into their tank to start the cycle.

Can share what's your setup? If you are using soil, ammonia is already present. I'm not sure if you can purchase ammonia of the shelf and I have never done research into finding it.

PS: Ammonia is also present in tap water. Last check, my tap water (Sengkang) shows 0.5

Well, u can see my set up under Aquascaping ~ sharing my set up!

yes, I do use soil. But it's a mixture of used soils mixed with bacteria powder and fulvic grains~ bought from one of the members here. It's kind of a cool experiment from him, and so far so good!