Reply With QuoteI've had Ocean Free kill my fish before...
So, how many people in this forum using commercial beneficial bacteria for shrimp or any freshwater tank setup ? please share your experience or opinion as listed below:
1) brand of product
2) effectiveness ( how long it starts to work)
3) Price
4) Tank Size
5) Amount of plant ( in percentage to the tank size)
How about Seachem stability or Ocean free A to Z? Anyone have tried this in freshwater tank ? effective ?
Regards,
Last edited by benny; 19th Apr 2007 at 09:53. Reason: merge posts
I've had Ocean Free kill my fish before...
Originally Posted by XnSdVd
you mean ocean free A-z ? could you have use a expire product ? did you use the dosage as recommended ?
i use ocean free battle bacteria with no problems
Dont try if you are not sure of it.
That my advice.
did it cut short your cycle time?
not sure how long people usually cycle, but my tank was successfully stocked in under 2 weeks using ocean free battle bacteria 8000. got my 4x2x2 tank filled with 200+ tetras, some cories and some juv discus
clap clap clap clap
Achievement, usually 4-6 weeks !
So not much cauaslty huh ?
Never create what you can't control
There are always plenty of ways to circumvent a fully cycled tank.
For example, have lots and lots of well growing plants, doing very frequent water changes or dose off the shelf prodcuts to reduce the toxity levels, introducing hardy faunas and having low bioload, very little feeding for your faunas and so on.
It is a matter of understanding what the risks are and how you manage them.
That said, a fully cycled tank presents a stable environment and hence less risks. For someone who is new, it is therefore recommended for the full cycle to complete before introducing the faunas, especially so for the more sensitive creatures.
Back to the point, I have used Nutrafin Cycle and Seachem Stability before. But I cannot guarantee their effectiveness.
Remember, these are NOT miracle products that you add in the tank and can proceed to introduce fishes immediately. They merely aid in the cycling process, and there are other factors involved in a newly setup tank that affect water quality: feeding regime, bioload, water changes etc.
So even with these dosages, I will try to cycle them for as long as possible.
If I remember correctly, I require more dosage of Seachem Stability for the same tank size compared to Nutrafin Cycle, so Nutrafin Cycle may be more cost effective.
Nutrafin Cycle. Reasonable price (compared to ADA) & excellent result. I always add it after I wash my filter, just in case I upset/kill the BB.
Cheers,
U.K.Lau
Hi quixotic
I hope you can enlighten me on the following points
1) have lots and lots of well growing plants => I intend to heed your advice and add more plants, probably upto 60% of the tank size with well growth plants. Presently, i think i have about 40% of very well growth plant/hardy type in the tank( have been adding very small dosage of C02 tablet ). I suppose a lot of plant mean => safely environment for Live stock although i have no idea what are the roles of the plant in the cycle process.
2) doing very frequent water changes => But i thought our purpose is to allow more good bacteria to reproduce, if we keep changing the water, will it reduce the population ?
3) dose off the shelf prodcuts to reduce the toxity levels => meaning to buy those product that reduce ammonia and nitrite ?
4)having low bioload, very little feeding for your faunas => i have just put 4 little 1.5cm young guppies ( 1 time feeding/day) for my 1.5ft tank
5) can recommend some good reliable testing kit. I will be going to NA later, hopefully i can get a good product.!
Regards
Loh
Never create what you can't control
60% is a good ratio. Not just during the cycle process, but throughout after the tank is established. Plants need nutrition and ammonia is one of them. Basically, they act as purifiers for the tank, getting rid of things that could be toxic to faunas.1) have lots and lots of well growing plants => I intend to heed your advice and add more plants, probably upto 60% of the tank size with well growth plants. Presently, i think i have about 40% of very well growth plant/hardy type in the tank( have been adding very small dosage of C02 tablet ). I suppose a lot of plant mean => safely environment for Live stock although i have no idea what are the roles of the plant in the cycle process.
Don't need large water changes, say about 10% if the ammonia level gets too high. This may reduce some population of bacteria but ammonia level is increasing at a much faster level than the bacterias, and this is dangerous to faunas. So a minimal water change will reduce the ammonia level to a not so dangerous level, but these things can be tricky for large water changes.2) doing very frequent water changes => But i thought our purpose is to allow more good bacteria to reproduce, if we keep changing the water, will it reduce the population ?
Yes, there are products that you can dose to reduce them.
Low bioload = less waste = waste can be taken up easily by existing bacteria/plants
The thing is, these factors are interconnected, so they are not mutually exclusive.
I did use Tetra test kits some time ago, these are generally okay but then, I dislike the hassle of test kits. See if others have other recommendations, start a new thread if you wish to and I am sure NA would be able to recommend some as well.
Hey Quixotic
Thanks to you with a big smile !!!
My shrimp tank, although now is only with 2 cherry and 4 malayan but they seems happy and have been swimming around and searching algea food on my moss at the moment. So i think i am moving towards the right road !
Also i spoke to the NA boss yesterday, and he share with me some pointers which i find it very useful. He also gave me some kepatang leave haha ! He suggested to me that after the tank matured, i should add some carbon to absorb the chemical which is toxic to my shrimp( he did that to his display tank too). But dont add it during the initial cyling when good bacteria is trying to multiply. Then i suddenly remm that all these 4 things happened the night where my shrimps died 1) introduction of shrimp at the 6 days of cycling 2) lead strip rust 3) new plants added ( some fert residual maybe added in the tank and 4) i added carbon in the filter....so...everything adds up = diaster !
Regards
sky
Never create what you can't control
Yeah, sometimes it may not be just a single factor but multiple of things that are corelated to each other. Good that things are going in the right direction. Happy fish keeping.
Personally i still believe in just getting some old filter media from someone else's tank to get my cycle going.
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks