# Adding bacteria to tank asap?



## Mattones (Jul 9, 2006)

I put water in it I think Monday. Drift wood is still drying which is prob good to go today. And I will be adding another filter on Sat. I was recently told I have to raise the bacteria in my tank before I add my Piranha's and I was wondering which is the fastest and best way of doing this? Adding fish or not?

I was thinking of adding a lot of Neon Tetra's? Small fish so I guess they do not produce enough bacteria...I'm not looking at buying expensive fish for the time being because I am saving my money on buying piranha's.

I am thinking maybe: Adding my 4 goldfish with Neon Tetra's or two guppies..or what ever will help speed things up.


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## jiggy (Jun 27, 2004)

get a used filter pad from a friends tank and throw it into your tank..


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## Mattones (Jul 9, 2006)

jiggy said:


> get a used filter pad from a friends tank and throw it into your tank..


Problem is no one has a fish tank







so guess just adding the fish cause if ileave it with no fish nothing will grow right?


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

adding fish will speed up the bacteria production, or the N02 cycle...

If i were you id add some tetra cos they are a good food for you p's when they get in the tank.........

Or you could add some ammonia if you can get it from a shop.....

But if this is a new tank it really should be cycled with water changes and water check for around 3-4weeks or so...............

But it is up to you, if you dont cycle your tank your P's could die within a few hours, make sure you test all your parameters before adding the P's..............

There are chemicals that you can buy which help speed up the Nitrogen cycle but id buy some fish also to try and speed thing up even faster if you are still planning on putting fish in soon...........

dez


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

You should read some more information on the nitrogen cycle, so you know exactly what your water needs to be doing.

If you want to invest the money for Bio-Spira from the pet store, just add that and some neon tetras and your tank should be cycled in a week or less, which is just about the fastest way possible. If you go that route, make sure your Bio-Spira is refrigerated, don't buy it from the shelf.

If you don't want to pay the money for the Bio-Spira, I suggest the Fishless Cycle. There is an article on it that you can print from the saved topics subforum in the Water Chemistry forum. It will take about a month without a bacteria seeding from another tank.
~Taylor~


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## boontje (Mar 27, 2005)

first you need an ammonia source. This can be fish. But it's better to use pure ammonia. this will cycle your tank twice as fast

to speed it up you can bring live bacteria in the tank. This can be via established filter media (works very well). Biospira is probably the only product avaible that really works. Anyway you still need the ammonia source (to grow some extra bacteria in case you need them) and to keep the bacteria alive.


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

Well first you need to *cycle* your tank and that's the reason you need benefical bacteria... you should add "Bio Spira" (a product wich contains bacteria) to help your tank cycle...

Cycling usually takes 3-5 weeks time, after that there should be no ammonia or nitrites in the water, only nitrates... !

Anyway *if you can't wait to get your Ps* (or you already got them) you can always add Bio Spira, check your water parameters daily and practice partial water changes while vacuuming gravel every other day (while cycling) to keep your water OK... this method is a little *risky* *not recommended for beginners* and it will make the cycle *slower* (it might take 5 or more weeks) so *i won't recommend it unless you can't wait (for any reason) to get your Ps*...







!


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## jiggy (Jun 27, 2004)

to speed up your cycle, add alot of fish all at once. something cheap like feeders that u can get like 10 for $1.. leave them in there for a day or so.. n then put a capful of vodka in the tank. the bacteria feed on the vodka, and it will cause a bacteria bloom.


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## Mattones (Jul 9, 2006)

jiggy said:


> to speed up your cycle, add alot of fish all at once. something cheap like feeders that u can get like 10 for $1.. leave them in there for a day or so.. n then put a capful of vodka in the tank. the bacteria feed on the vodka, and it will cause a bacteria bloom.


Vodka? Are you serious?









But yes If I ad some fish tonight will that help speed things up then keeping nothing in there? Also what if I buy that Bio Spira witht he fish can the fish still live in it? and will that cause me to have to cycle my tank maddly like hannibal said?

So tonight if I Understand I should buy some Neons, and maybe some other fish?


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

no. wait to get fish untill you have some biospera in the tank. toss the biosp. in your filter. it needs to establish itself in the filter media so you might as well put it there to begin with. at that point you will need some ammonia to feed the bacteira. Vodka will work. But do not have fish in the tank when you do this because it will most likley kill them. you really don't need alot. I've never done that method myself so I'm not going to address it any further.3

Don't waste your money on tetras just for the cycle. Just get a few large goldfish/feeders.


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## Mattones (Jul 9, 2006)

BlackSunshine420 said:


> no. wait to get fish untill you have some biospera in the tank. toss the biosp. in your filter. it needs to establish itself in the filter media so you might as well put it there to begin with. at that point you will need some ammonia to feed the bacteira. Vodka will work. But do not have fish in the tank when you do this because it will most likley kill them. you really don't need alot. I've never done that method myself so I'm not going to address it any further.3
> 
> Don't waste your money on tetras just for the cycle. Just get a few large goldfish/feeders.


Hannibal said this way is way to risky for starters so I should stay away frm the Bio stuff just so I dont screw everything up. I should just add fish and wait a few weeks. Best way I guess.


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

Mattones said:


> no. wait to get fish untill you have some biospera in the tank. toss the biosp. in your filter. it needs to establish itself in the filter media so you might as well put it there to begin with. at that point you will need some ammonia to feed the bacteira. Vodka will work. But do not have fish in the tank when you do this because it will most likley kill them. you really don't need alot. I've never done that method myself so I'm not going to address it any further.3
> 
> Don't waste your money on tetras just for the cycle. Just get a few large goldfish/feeders.


Hannibal said this way is way to risky for starters so I should stay away frm the Bio stuff just so I dont screw everything up. I should just add fish and wait a few weeks. Best way I guess.
[/quote]

"Bio Spira" is suppose to make your tank cycle faster so i'd recommend you get it... with Bio Spira you tank is suppose to get cycled in 1-2 weeks (not sure about it)...







!


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## Mattones (Jul 9, 2006)

Mr. Hannibal said:


> no. wait to get fish untill you have some biospera in the tank. toss the biosp. in your filter. it needs to establish itself in the filter media so you might as well put it there to begin with. at that point you will need some ammonia to feed the bacteira. Vodka will work. But do not have fish in the tank when you do this because it will most likley kill them. you really don't need alot. I've never done that method myself so I'm not going to address it any further.3
> 
> Don't waste your money on tetras just for the cycle. Just get a few large goldfish/feeders.


Hannibal said this way is way to risky for starters so I should stay away frm the Bio stuff just so I dont screw everything up. I should just add fish and wait a few weeks. Best way I guess.
[/quote]

"Bio Spira" is suppose to make your tank cycle faster so i'd recommend you get it... with Bio Spira you tank is suppose to get cycled in 1-2 weeks (not sure about it)...







!
[/quote]

I thought I read in your post that if your new to this you shouldnt try it due to it being risky..?


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## vyouravi (Jun 17, 2006)

No proof, but I really don't think vodka would do anything. Use lots of cheap fish, get that spira crap and go to your lfs. Go to a mom and pop shop and ask them for some of their filter media. I have done this a couple times, they are always happy to help out. Like they all said, adding ammonia will help too.


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## SERRAPYGO (Feb 4, 2003)

Moved to water chemistry


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

vyouravi said:


> No proof, but I really don't think vodka would do anything. *Use lots of cheap fish, *get that spira crap and go to your lfs. Go to a mom and pop shop and ask them for some of their filter media. I have done this a couple times, they are always happy to help out. Like they all said, adding ammonia will help too.


Do not add "cheap fish" as they contain many parasites and dieseses which will cause more harm to your pirahnas. Just get some neon tetras, there resonably priced, safe, and can be food for your ps when they go in the tank.


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## boontje (Mar 27, 2005)

Trigga said:


> No proof, but I really don't think vodka would do anything. *Use lots of cheap fish, *get that spira crap and go to your lfs. Go to a mom and pop shop and ask them for some of their filter media. I have done this a couple times, they are always happy to help out. Like they all said, adding ammonia will help too.


Do not add "cheap fish" as they contain many parasites and dieseses which will cause more harm to your pirahnas. Just get some neon tetras, there resonably priced, safe, and can be food for your ps when they go in the tank.
[/quote]
or better (and safer and cheaper and quicker): use pure ammonia

http://www.piranha-fury.com/pfury/index.php?showtopic=88804


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

Mattones said:


> no. wait to get fish untill you have some biospera in the tank. toss the biosp. in your filter. it needs to establish itself in the filter media so you might as well put it there to begin with. at that point you will need some ammonia to feed the bacteira. Vodka will work. But do not have fish in the tank when you do this because it will most likley kill them. you really don't need alot. I've never done that method myself so I'm not going to address it any further.3
> 
> Don't waste your money on tetras just for the cycle. Just get a few large goldfish/feeders.


Hannibal said this way is way to risky for starters so I should stay away frm the Bio stuff just so I dont screw everything up. I should just add fish and wait a few weeks. Best way I guess.
[/quote]

I think he was referring to doing the vodka trick with fish in the tank. That is VERY risky. as I belive its ethonol that is the agent in vodka that the bact feed off of. anyways that creates toxic enviroments for the fish so its not good to add this with fish in it. But since your cycling the tank you shouldnt have any there anyhow. Except for large feeders if you have any.

With the biosphera you can theoretically cycle the tank in less then a day. however I would be very carefull about adding fish right after tossing it in because if the bact dosen't establish itself and get to work right away you will run into problems and lose some fish. (thats what happened to 2 of my 3 ATF's.) Ammonia spike. Store wasen't clear on proper usage of biosphera and was my first time using it. However now knowing proper usage of it I'd still reccomend it if preestablished media is not avalible to you. 
If you want to avoid using feeders or wasting the lives of fish to make sure the bio is working just get yourself some pure non scented ammonia. And add some every day for a few days. At the end of the 3rd day so long as your ammonia is down to 0 you can then do a good water change and start adding your fish.


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