Expectations with adding bacteria to partially cycled system

[Aaron Mueller]

So I have a 70 gallon tank that I “cycled” for three weeks before adding anything. Problem was though that I had dry live rock and live sand so I guess the only bacteria was in the sand and I rinsed it. Never saw a spike in any category so I assumed I had so much bacteria that it skipped the cycle. Two months in and I have a chromis, conch, snail, fire shrimp, warder goby, and longspine black urchin.

I do water changes 1-2 times a week as I don’t have a filter or protein skimmer yet. I’ve had brown diatom algae for a couple weeks now. Maybe three weeks and it hasn’t gone away. My friend said I needed to dose bacteria because he feels I don’t have enough.

I went and got some right away at Petco the ADI brand since I didn’t want to wait to get a different brand at a lfs. What can I expect after dumping in this bottle today. Will it take long to see results? My ammonia levels are always between 0 and .25 with no nitrates nitrites

 

[Sailfinguy21]

That atuff isnt enough.

Go on amazon and get this stuff. Ive used 3 times.. each time was sucessfull.. i bought the gallon for my 55g hexagon. 30g breeder and 135g tank.. i poured the entire gallon in the 55g and 135g and in 2 days my ammonia went from 2ppm to 0 skipped the nitrites.. and i had 10ppm nitrates.

I put fish and some corals in and 0 issues. Some people online will get extremeky hostile i noticed when it comes to bacteria in a bottle. I asked the same question you did once and i got attacked by people on one of the other forums.

They havent used it though i bet you a million bucks.. I did and it works great.. the issue is you need alot of it.. and the stuff from API is usually crap, itll say for fresh and sslt watee.. that isnt possible to have bacteria for fresh or salt together.. you have one or the other.. and those bottles arent big enough anyway.

Trust me get this stuff you wont regret it... no idea why amazon always has such looong links.. but the product is called fritzzyme 9


https://www.amazon.com/Fritz-Aquatics-Fritzzyme-9-Saltwater-Nitrifying/dp/B0002DGK9A/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?adgrpid=52834791981&gclid=Cj0KCQjwrpLoBRD_ARIsAJd0BIVmhC3G_Apzny3ipQSigjdW-LeGaBiwdyon6OERW_HMGBUF64oRK80aAleyEALw_wcB&hvadid=274740222457&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=9008160&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=6274605516760902806&hvtargid=aud-649564993678:kwd-300463090947&hydadcr=14307_9785106&keywords=fritz+zyme+9&qid=1560665337&s=gateway&sr=8-1

 

[brandon429]

Don't buy anything your tank is cycled.

The reasons for your test error are in this thread below.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-microbiology-of-reef-tank-cycling.214618/

The specific reason you don't need bac is your tank would be dead in 12 hours from that bioload if it wasn't already cycled. it's already been alive more than half a day

Rinsing live sand never ever sterilizes it
This is a sand rinse thread showing harsher rinses than yours with no recycle:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/t...ead-aka-one-against-many.230281/#post-2681445

If you read those two threads you'll never doubt bacteria ever again or wonder if they need your help

The sole cause of doubt for you is the .25 we cover than well in the thread, it means you have zero ammonia.

 

[Aaron Mueller]

Don't buy anything your tank is cycled.

The reasons for your test error are in this thread below.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-microbiology-of-reef-tank-cycling.214618/

The specific reason you don't need bac is your tank would be dead in 12 hours from that bioload if it wasn't already cycled. it's already been alive more than half a day

Rinsing live sand never ever sterilizes it
This is a sand rinse thread showing harsher rinses than yours with no recycle:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/t...ead-aka-one-against-many.230281/#post-2681445

If you read those two threads you'll never doubt bacteria ever again or wonder if they need your help

The sole cause of doubt for you is the .25 we cover than well in the thread, it means you have zero ammonia.

 

[Aaron Mueller]

Thank you all very much. I’ll read up on the thread

 

[Brett S]

The bacteria that colonizes in your tank when it cycles processes ammonia and nitrite. This is necessary because ammonia and nitrite are toxic and high levels of either will kill fish and inverts. If the ammonia levels are staying low after you have added fish then you know the tank has cycled. If ammonia levels are rising, then it hasn’t cycled and you will have big problems.

But the bacteria and whether the tank has cycled or not has nothing to do with nuisance algae. That is a whle different topic altogether and you often do see more nuisance algae on a new tank. That is totally normal.

Adding more bacteria certainly won’t hurt anything, but it’s not going to provide any benefit either and it definitely won’t solve your nuisance algae problem.