# best way to get good bacteria in the tank



## jaceh14 (Jul 6, 2006)

hey all, my p's died back in february, and it has taken me this long to get back into the groove. just wondering what the best way is to get the tank all established is. i want to get these fish soon, but i also want them to be in good living conditions. any help would be appreciated. thanks much

jace


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## Guest (Jul 24, 2008)

jaceh14 said:


> hey all, my p's died back in february, and it has taken me this long to get back into the groove. just wondering what the best way is to get the tank all established is. i want to get these fish soon, but i also want them to be in good living conditions. any help would be appreciated. thanks much
> 
> jace


i prefer using ammonia, there is no risk for disease from the goldfish you buy, and it gets going fast if you dont overdose on the ammonia.
sorry to hear about your fish, i guess it gives you a chance to go bigger and better.


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## NegativeSpin (Aug 1, 2007)

You can pulverize food pellets and allow wild strains of nitrosonomas and nitrifying bacteria to settle in your tank from the air or you can buy a laboratory cultured strain online or from the pet store. I should be able to name a couple but I had a lobotomy.


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## jaceh14 (Jul 6, 2006)

what's the name of the stuff you have to keep frozen? i can't seem to find it on here

jace


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## Big-Kev (Mar 29, 2008)

jaceh14 said:


> what's the name of the stuff you have to keep frozen? i can't seem to find it on here


I don't think there is a frozen kind, the refrigerated stuff is bio-spira which has been changed to tetra safe start and nolonger needs refrigeration they say.
There is also Dr.Tim's Aquatics One and Only.

These are good if you want to have fish in the tank right away, but you can only start with a few smaller fish to get the proper result.

The best way to get bacteria in your tank IMO is to grab a handful of gravel from a established tank and toss it in yours. Then toss in like 10 zebra danios.


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## jaceh14 (Jul 6, 2006)

sounds good, i'll try the gravel... sounds cheaper. thanks for the info

jace


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## philbert (Mar 8, 2007)

last time i had to cycle i tank i just borrowed a dozen convicts from a friend that breeds them. i prefer fish for the cycle bc it gives you something to look at besides an empty tank.


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## Guest (Jul 25, 2008)

philbert said:


> last time i had to cycle i tank i just borrowed a dozen convicts from a friend that breeds them. i prefer fish for the cycle bc it gives you something to look at besides an empty tank.


as long as you know they are parasite and disease free thats good, it would have been nice to look at some fish when my tank was cycling, because it sure did get boring looking at any empty tank for 3 months (caribas didnt come in for a while).


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## jaceh14 (Jul 6, 2006)

just bought me some tetra safe start, so when that comes, i'll pick up some fish to put in there to help the cycling process. thanks for the help
jace


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

jaceh14 said:


> just bought me some tetra safe start, so when that comes, i'll pick up some fish to put in there to help the cycling process. thanks for the help
> jace


If tetra safe start works as advertised you wont need fish to help with the cycle. You should be able to add your prized fish in the tank and the safe start at the same time.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

IMO the easiest way is to use gravel from an existing tank or put the new filter for the tank on an existing tank then put the established filter on the new tank (provided they are similar sized filters) Once the new filter is established from the established tank you can swich back the filters. By then there should be some bacteria in the gravel.


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## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

^^^same here...thats what I have done...
I have always wanted to try the pure ammonia way though.


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## swack (May 29, 2007)

I did the pure ammo and it worked well...just watch the dosing


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## Guest (Jul 26, 2008)

swack said:


> I did the pure ammo and it worked well...just watch the dosing


yup if you add too much you can screw everything up and it will take forever to cycle.


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## Guest (Jul 27, 2008)

philbert said:


> last time i had to cycle i tank i just borrowed a dozen convicts from a friend that breeds them. i prefer fish for the cycle bc it gives you something to look at besides an empty tank.


Yup. That's the way i do it.

Then, as soon as I have a detactable level of ammonia, I add some filter media or an entire filter cartridge to the tank. The tank usually cycles quickly for the bio load provided by the 'cycling fish'.

Sometimes I leave the 'cycling fish' in the tank to get chomped by the new arrival.


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## jaceh14 (Jul 6, 2006)

just tried the tetra safestart last night, seemed to work. before i used it, ammo was at .5, and nitrates were at near 0. added it to the tank last night, and checked this morning, ammo was 0, and nitrates were 10. and no nitrites... seemed like it worked. i'll check my params again tonite and see how they do, but so far so good

jace


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