# is there a little trick to make the bacteria grow fast



## bud......weiser (Feb 12, 2007)

is there a way to make the bacteria grow faster and no i cant get bio-spira.


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## bud......weiser (Feb 12, 2007)

i have a ammonia problem thats why i ask and how long can i not feed my 6''red bellies (2 of them)..i dont want to feed them because its not going to help my ammonia situation and please tell me roughly how long they can go without food ,please dont say they can go long time without food.


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

Well, they feed on ammonia, so the more ammonia the more food there is which would make them reproduce. But, you obviously wouldn't want to put ammonia in your tank if there are fish in there.
~Taylor~


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## sun (Jun 5, 2006)

did you put in the bio spira? if you havent you should buy a packet of bio spira, do a 50% water change (decholorinate the water first before putting it in, and let it sit for an hour before putting it into your tank), and add in the bio spira. You should see a significant or complete elimination of your amonia levels within 24-48 hours. if you see that your amonia has gone down and your nitrites go up, that means your bio spira is doing it's job. bio spira is not known to eliminate the nitrite spike, so youre going to have to let the nitrite spike go through its cycle. make sure you have plenty of biological media to accomodate the massive amount of bacteria needed to handle the amonia produced by your fish. while your tank is going through the nitrite spike, you can use a product called fritz-zyme which will help expediting the nitrite spike. Hang in there bro, you'll be okay. piranhas are hardy fish, so you'll be just fine!!

link to fritz-zyme:

http://www.fritzpet.com/nitrifying_bacteria_lab.html

oh, and remember to get the fritz-zyme #7 or Turbo Start 700 (more concentrated version). They are both made by the same manufacturer.


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## bud......weiser (Feb 12, 2007)

sun said:


> did you put in the bio spira? if you havent you should buy a packet of bio spira, do a 50% water change (decholorinate the water first before putting it in, and let it sit for an hour before putting it into your tank), and add in the bio spira. You should see a significant or complete elimination of your amonia levels within 24-48 hours. if you see that your amonia has gone down and your nitrites go up, that means your bio spira is doing it's job. bio spira is not known to eliminate the nitrite spike, so youre going to have to let the nitrite spike go through its cycle. make sure you have plenty of biological media to accomodate the massive amount of bacteria needed to handle the amonia produced by your fish. while your tank is going through the nitrite spike, you can use a product called fritz-zyme which will help expediting the nitrite spike. Hang in there bro, you'll be okay. piranhas are hardy fish, so you'll be just fine!!
> 
> link to fritz-zyme:
> 
> ...


i can not get bio spira so thats a problem,i cant find it nowhere siriously nowhere


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## Badrad1532 (Apr 15, 2006)

Just do some water changes. Um 2 a day for a week, One at night and one in the morning. Check out your water parms in a week. If your tank is cycled but Ammonia is just high.

check that, mis read your thread problem


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## bud......weiser (Feb 12, 2007)

Badrad1532 said:


> Just do some water changes. Um 2 a day for a week, One at night and one in the morning. Check out your water parms in a week. If your tank is cycled but Ammonia is just high.
> 
> check that, mis read your thread problem


how big of water changes and i fixed the thread.


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## sun (Jun 5, 2006)

WAIT! do not do water changes! Especially when your tank is cycling itself. It needs to cycle so if you cant get any biological additives, then you'rejust going to have to tough it out. Just leave it alone, and in a few weeks you'll be fine. buy some Nitromax (freshwater), Cycle, or Fritz-Zyme #7 if you can and let it sit for a few days. people tell me that nitromax does the same thing as bio-spira but just takes twice as long (3-9 days). just remember DO NOT do anymore water changes! contact me if you have any questions. better yet, you can call me and use me as your emergency hotline. hahahaha! you got a PM!


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## SAFETYpin (Feb 1, 2004)

sun said:


> WAIT! do not do water changes! Especially when your tank is cycling itself. It needs to cycle so if you cant get any biological additives, then you'rejust going to have to tough it out. Just leave it alone, and in a few weeks you'll be fine. buy some Nitromax (freshwater), Cycle, or Fritz-Zyme #7 if you can and let it sit for a few days. people tell me that nitromax does the same thing as bio-spira but just takes twice as long (3-9 days). just remember DO NOT do anymore water changes! contact me if you have any questions. better yet, you can call me and use me as your emergency hotline. hahahaha! you got a PM!


The problem with not changing the water is two fold. One his piranhas are in there suffering and two ive read ammonia over 2ppm decreases the effectiviness of the bacteria colonies and there ability to reproduce. I would try to get your ammonia down 2ppm or slightly less and maintain it there with waterchanges, daily if need be. My only other suggestion since Bio-spira is out of the question is to try and get a hold of as much establish filter media as you can. Do you have another tank thats cycled already? How about a friend or the LFS?


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## bud......weiser (Feb 12, 2007)

SAFETYpin said:


> WAIT! do not do water changes! Especially when your tank is cycling itself. It needs to cycle so if you cant get any biological additives, then you'rejust going to have to tough it out. Just leave it alone, and in a few weeks you'll be fine. buy some Nitromax (freshwater), Cycle, or Fritz-Zyme #7 if you can and let it sit for a few days. people tell me that nitromax does the same thing as bio-spira but just takes twice as long (3-9 days). just remember DO NOT do anymore water changes! contact me if you have any questions. better yet, you can call me and use me as your emergency hotline. hahahaha! you got a PM!


The problem with not changing the water is two fold. One his piranhas are in there suffering and two ive read ammonia over 2ppm decreases the effectiviness of the bacteria colonies and there ability to reproduce. I would try to get your ammonia down 2ppm or slightly less and maintain it there with waterchanges, daily if need be. My only other suggestion since Bio-spira is out of the question is to try and get a hold of as much establish filter media as you can. Do you have another tank thats cycled already? How about a friend or the LFS?
[/quote]
all i can do is maintain it at 2ppm try to get some established filter media but my filter media look like they have way more becteria then about a week ago and also i got a emporer 400 a couple of days ago and the filter pads look like theres bacteria growing fast ,so thanks for the advice safetypin...and i cant do anything about putting my piranhas elsewhere.


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## Kemper1989 (Feb 14, 2005)

Sorry man, but there is really no way out of this one unless you get some bacteria from another cycled tank.


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## bud......weiser (Feb 12, 2007)

Kemper1989 said:


> Sorry man, but there is really no way out of this one unless you get some bacteria from another cycled tank.


ya i know







its just most pet stores dont care and wont give me bacteria from there filters,they allways just try to sell me useless jubk


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## nomoneyx (Feb 14, 2007)

Go into Petsmart or Petco and buy a gold fish and ask the worker if they will put a handful of gravel in the bag with the fish and just explain why you need it. Or ask to talk to the manager and explain to him your situation and ask him if there is anything he can give you or that you can buy from them. If that does not work I will ship you some from my tank if you pay for shipping. Probably would need to be overnighted.


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## redpiranhas4 (Feb 23, 2003)

its gonna take more than a handful of gravel


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## Kemper1989 (Feb 14, 2005)

redpiranhas4 said:


> its gonna take more than a handful of gravel


A handful of gravel placed in the right spot would still drastically decrease the amount of time it would take to cycle the tank.


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## bud......weiser (Feb 12, 2007)

nomoneyx said:


> Go into Petsmart or Petco and buy a gold fish and ask the worker if they will put a handful of gravel in the bag with the fish and just explain why you need it. Or ask to talk to the manager and explain to him your situation and ask him if there is anything he can give you or that you can buy from them. If that does not work I will ship you some from my tank if you pay for shipping. Probably would need to be overnighted.


ill go talk to the manager or someone and really try to get somn and i could also ask him if he could get me biospira some how and if that dont work ill pm you and see if you could send me gravel....thanks man


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## bud......weiser (Feb 12, 2007)

nomoneyx said:


> Go into Petsmart or Petco and buy a gold fish and ask the worker if they will put a handful of gravel in the bag with the fish and just explain why you need it. Or ask to talk to the manager and explain to him your situation and ask him if there is anything he can give you or that you can buy from them. If that does not work I will ship you some from my tank if you pay for shipping. Probably would need to be overnighted.


and why would i get a goldfish,whats that going to do....fill my piranhas stomachs?????....:laugh:


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## nomoneyx (Feb 14, 2007)

Well I just think they would be more likely to help you out if you are buying something. If you just go in and ask for some gravel out of their tanks they are probably going to say no. But if you ask them to put a handful of gravel in the bag they are about to put the fish you are buying in, I think they would probably do it. Just my two cents. I put two handfuls of gavel from an established tank in my cycling 55-gallon and it cut the cycling time down to 13 days. Also you can buy any fish you think your Ps might like that day.


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## nomoneyx (Feb 14, 2007)

You can also get bio spira overnighted from:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod...=2004&Nty=1

good luck with the cycle.


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## bud......weiser (Feb 12, 2007)

nomoneyx said:


> You can also get bio spira overnighted from:
> 
> http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod...=2004&Nty=1
> 
> good luck with the cycle.


thats only good if you live in the us


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## myles (Feb 27, 2005)

One thing that will help is to maintain atleast some Kh and Ph One thing i notice at work(lfs) is that when the bacteria is doing its job, especialy with a large bioload it will depleat your Kh and thus your Ph. Now constant little waterchanges will help bring it up. The thing with nitrtifying bacteria is it clings to things so little waterchanges shouldnt take you back. also be careful your ammonia doesnt get too high because the bacteria canot work properly, remember people use ammonia as a disinfectant. also see if you can buy any producs that can raise your Kh there is one called KH booster that is calcium carbanate that works well to increase KH. or some crushed coral in the filter can help but if you have atleast a few degrees of it in your tap water waterchanges should be suficiant. an expample to you is the feeder goldfish sytem at my work, it is well cycled, but the kh drops drasticly, when this happens i must maintain the hardness otherwise the bateria canot work efficantly and i get ammonia or nitrite spike, aslong as i keep a few degrees of hardness in the water im usualy jsut fine. in other words add a biological product of some kidna like "cycle" about everyday and try to maintaine a hardness of atleast 2degrees or so, and you should be on your way.
Myles


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## bud......weiser (Feb 12, 2007)

myles said:


> One thing that will help is to maintain atleast some Kh and Ph One thing i notice at work(lfs) is that when the bacteria is doing its job, especialy with a large bioload it will depleat your Kh and thus your Ph. Now constant little waterchanges will help bring it up. The thing with nitrtifying bacteria is it clings to things so little waterchanges shouldnt take you back. also be careful your ammonia doesnt get too high because the bacteria canot work properly, remember people use ammonia as a disinfectant. also see if you can buy any producs that can raise your Kh there is one called KH booster that is calcium carbanate that works well to increase KH. or some crushed coral in the filter can help but if you have atleast a few degrees of it in your tap water waterchanges should be suficiant. an expample to you is the feeder goldfish sytem at my work, it is well cycled, but the kh drops drasticly, when this happens i must maintain the hardness otherwise the bateria canot work efficantly and i get ammonia or nitrite spike, aslong as i keep a few degrees of hardness in the water im usualy jsut fine. in other words add a biological product of some kidna like "cycle" about everyday and try to maintaine a hardness of atleast 2degrees or so, and you should be on your way.
> Myles


thanks for the advice but at what level of ammonia dose the bacteria stop growing and lets say its 2.0ppm and i got 5.ppm and i do a water change and it dosent go down to the level where the bacteria can grow,do i keep doing water changes till i get it to the right ppm(ammonia) so the bacteria can grow?


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## CROSSHAIR223 (Jan 17, 2005)

Still dealing with this problem? Why don't you pm me your address and I'll buy and ship some bio-spira too you then you can pay me back okay?


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## myles (Feb 27, 2005)

im not sure wht the highest is, i would aim for 1-2 ppm jsut waterchanges my friend and a biologivcal product. jsut do a 1/3 wc everyday and ul get in ion a few days i betcha jsut but the stuff ion after the waterchange and preffibly in your filter.


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## ICEE (Feb 3, 2007)

well not to derail but i hope u learned something from this big mess


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## bud......weiser (Feb 12, 2007)

CROSSHAIR223 said:


> Still dealing with this problem? Why don't you pm me your address and I'll buy and ship some bio-spira too you then you can pay me back okay?


i have the money its just i dont know where to get bio spira and my filter pads look like they have way more bacteria


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## bud......weiser (Feb 12, 2007)

is it okay to only feed my 6'' piranhas 2-3 times a week? just so i dont get the ammonia to grow even worse.


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## bud......weiser (Feb 12, 2007)

CROSSHAIR223 said:


> Still dealing with this problem? Why don't you pm me your address and I'll buy and ship some bio-spira too you then you can pay me back okay?


 its been cycleing for 3 weeks now itll be ready any day.and thanks for helping me if it was the first week or somn then i say ship the bio spira but the cycle is almost done so...


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## Cal68 (Mar 23, 2007)

if you have an extra tank thats been running for awhile... you can use that filter and use some of that aged tank water also..u can try that...


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## bud......weiser (Feb 12, 2007)

Cal68 said:


> if you have an extra tank thats been running for awhile... you can use that filter and use some of that aged tank water also..u can try that...


i knew about that a llllloooooonnnnnnggggg time ago....but thanks for tryn to help tho


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