Bacteria Booster Reviews/Comments

[alweek]

Hi,

I'd like your opinions on these products. I'm trying to cycle my new tank and i recently purchased Ocean Free Super Battle Bacteria 8000 (for $10) Been using it for quite a few days now and there don't seem to be results.

what other products have you guys tried and seem to work?

I'm curious if any micro-biologist types out there can shed some light on this... is it possible to put bacteria in a bottle, somehow make it dormant, survive through shipping, storage, etc and finally give good results for the end user? or are there products some kind of bacteria "food"? maybe it only benefits you if you already have existing bacteria? dunno....

a lot of these products are quite expensive ($20-30 range) and i only want to spend my hard earned money on something that actually works....

[art]

My opinion is this,
Save your money, just be patient, give the tank some more time to run in.

Btw, how do you know they arent any results ?

[alweek]

i was expecting a product that claims it contains "xxx billion bacteria per ml" to have some kind of quick, readily seen effect. so far, i've added quite a few overdoses and there does not seem to be anything different... :(

[mervin]

dn't be upset la.

like wht ARt said, be patient la.
cycling do take some time bro......

bet alot of us has spent money on those products n results are..........
hey, i even bought ADA ones.......

[alweek]

no worries... not that i kan-cheong about the cycling (well.. a bit... ehehehehe)

but just wanna find out if out of the many products out there, do any genuinely work? i'm not a microbiologist but i'd imagine bacteria would have a very limited shelf life and special needs to keep alive in a bottle. i'm guessing the so-called BB boosters are simply nutrients for existing colonies? which may be a prob if there aren't any existing colonies in the first place... dunno.

my $0.02

thanks for the advice Art and Merv, i do know that bacteria WILL establish given time, BUT i'm asking for people's comments on BB boosters and whether they work, personal experience with BB boosters, etc. i'm curious to see what others have to say ;)
(sounds a bit rude... but no offence intended ah! :)

[mervin]

well.....when i 1st setted up, i did indeed use these so call "beneifical bact in a can". just followed instructions n didn't even bothered to test for no3, no4 n whatever one is suppose to test. put in a few guppies to help or add the bb to est.

water was cloudy initally but it cleared up after a few days, add in the more fishes after 2 weeks n WOW LA !!!!

thats the story bro.
sorry i couldn't help you wth your question cos me also not a mirco-biologist or scientist.
but i believe that bact do indeed hibernate or go into supended animation thoug it doesn't take much to kill them.

on the other hand, bact can also be very hardy. cos the r everywhere except in space.

[anarchy]

if you really need to speed up cycling, i recommend Biozyme.

[viper3381]

What about the brand Nutrafin?

[Goondoo]

Hi,
Personally, I had tried Bio-31 (working but expensive, won't get it again) and my friend had swore by Cycle. How did you use it is what I really wondered... how to you know there ain't any difference?

Please bare in mind that such kits' bacteria are not able to survive without any "food", so you could see it works only when there are a "considerable" amount of fish load.

Example, I got a friend who owns a 2ft tank with a bioload of more than 30 fishes. He rescape few months back, change the gravels, base ferts, filters and even filter medias. Infact, nothing is new besides the fishes. He add the recommended amount of Cycle and it seems working fine....

How did I know? There ain't any casualty in three months at all, weekly 20% water change is all he did. Despite the "booster's bacteria", you will still need some time for the "natural bacteria" to be cultivated. So, you will probably see some mini ammonia spike and nitrite spike over a week or two.

PS: We normally use only 2-3 dose per week for the first two week. My friend whom swore by the Cycle, use once only.

Hope this helps....

[new2planting]

I juz custom made a euro-bracing 3ft tank. Put in gravel & gravel fert then add water. Didnt even fix up my Eheim Canister Filter, juz put in my Plants, Cardinals, Ottos, S.A.E & Yamato. Switch on my Co2 System & plants bubble straight. Only thing i add is NutraFin Cycle & Anti-Chlorine. No livestocks lost in e process, cos i trust Nutrafin Cycle. It's gd stuff. Juz my 2cents of comments & experiences.

[markyen]

I use the Nutrafin also. it is made by Hagen, a Canadian Co. So far so good.

[art]

Which brings me back to the same question i posed earlier.

How do you folks who use these bacteria boosters 'see' if results are achieved ?

It is back to the fundamentals of tank cycling and water testing.

[lyvz]

just a suggestion next time instead of buying the ex products, just "borrow" some filter media from an established tank and put in your filter to speed up the process.

i use the ocean free a-z super beneficial bacteria when nitrite spike but then still have to change some water everyday so like no point.

[hmph]

i am using sera nitrivec