DEBATE - Cycle products, Do they work?

SKAustin

DEBATE - Cycle products, Do they work?

Most of us have tried them. Products like Cycle, Stress Zyme, ect.

So the topic is, DO THEY WORK?

I'm going to keep my arguements to myself for the time being. I want to see what the rest of the community thinks first.

And the rules are, Keep on topic, and Keep it nice!

**Note: This topic was created and moved by SKAustin in effort to keep a shadow topic in "Off Topic Discussions".

girlofgod

i guess i'll be the guinea pig...lol....i dont really know if they work or not...i mean, the idea of being able to walk into a store and buy dormant bacteria and just place it in your tank and have a fully seeded tank is a little weird to me...how do they get the bacteria to remail dormant? and how does the bacteria know when to wake up? is it a "just add water" thing? and how can it be pure bacteria and NOT include any chemicals? and i know that i dont need any more chemicals in my tank...

but then again LOTS of respected fish keepers and aquarists swear by the stuff and recommend that you use it to seed your tank, and they have gorgeous tanks themselves, so you cant go wrong with it, right? or wrong? who really knows? i dont...maybe someone else does...

all i can say if before i joined this forum, i bought cycle and used it in my first tank....and AFTER i have been a member of this forum for months now and have received advice and read others thoughts on these products, i DID NOT use the products to seed my new tank. i used media and substrate from my established tank and definitely noticed that my tank cycled very quickly and efficiently.

those are my thoughts

girlofgod

i also have one more thing to say...it seems to me that the art of fish-keeping is a very "trial by error" learning process...it seems to me that what works for one person does not necessarily work for another in some cases...so i think its safe to say that some will say that it works, and others will say stay away from it...but what it really all comes down to is what works for you and your tank and your conditions...

bri

firefiend

Wow, this is my first post on these forums. Glad to be here.

I vote no, not necessarily because they don't work but rather because there are more effective, quicker and cheaper methods available.

As Bri state, culture from an existing aquarium is an awesome way to cycle a tank. IMO, its by far the best way.

I've only tried a cycle product once, cant remember which, and I didn't notice any significant benefit. but the culture gravel or sponge "shakings" of filter media have always increased the start time.

And cultured gravel is always free from your LFS, or at least it should be, if it isn't then time to find a new LFS, hehe.

crazie.eddie

First of all, the Nitrogen cycle consists of this...
1. Ammonia is created from fish waste, fish respiration, decaying food/plants/dead fish.
2. Nirosomonas bacteria feed on the ammonia and produce nitrITES.
3. Nitrobacter bacteria feed on the nitrITES and produce nitrATES.

I did research a long time ago regarding Cycle and similar products. I had found out that these products do not contain typical nitrifying bacteria from what is found in a typical established tank (Nirosomonas and Nitrobacter). They don't easily multiply as quickly as the typical nitrifying bacteria in a tank, so they must be added artificially using these products.

I have heard about Bio-spira being more closely related to what is typically found in an aquarium and that allot of Discus breeders swear by it. There is also allot of research information on Marinelands website on Bio-Spira here. Unfortunately, I may have ADD, because I don't like reading so much information. LOL

Anyway, in regards to the above products, they may or may not work. Unfortunately, bacteria need to live and thrive. Therefore, they must survive in water, have a source of food, and oxygen. Unless the manufacturer can guarantee a "live bacteria" guarantee or maybe a direct packaging to home for the shipment of the products, they would be such a waste. Also, allot of these products sit on the store shelves for who knows how long.

When I first did the research, allot of these products did not have any experation dates, but from what I understand, they do now. Of course, I never bother, since I don't even look at them anymore.

Amphitrite

Personally, I don't believe they work.

I have heard of one product (stress zyme) available in the US which has reportedly worked for some people (I believe it has a short shelf life and must be kept refridgerated), but this isn't available in the UK so I can't really comment on it.

joeshmoe

nope they never worked for me

dprUsh83

I'll go against the grain here. I'm not convinced it's the best route to go if that's all you're doing. But I'd vote yes because I do feel that it helps to cycle a tank faster. When I started up my last tank I used about 3 gallons of already cycled water from an existing tank, 27 gallons of fresh water, and Cycle. My tank was cycled in no time.

I don't think I'd rely on it alone, but for the price I absolutely stand behind it. Now, if somebody asked if they could throw that in a tank then add fish the same day, I'd absolutely disagree. But, use it or not? I say for sure!

Nick

IMO they do not work. They do start your tank with bacteria. But then the bacteria will die off because it doesnt have any feeding source so then where do you go after that ? Exactly. So it will work for a limited amount of time but then its just crap.

Nick

Tracy

I believe in them. Have used them to start many aquariums, and/or upgrade, and have never had fish loss due to "new tank syndrome". Since joining this forum and seeing that the cycling products are referrered to as "chemicals" I have not used them, though.