When Waiting Nitrate Cycle Should I ?

[Rick]

I'm going to be setting up a new tank (55 gal)in a week or so, and I
understand that I need to add Amquel to remove the cloramine,(going to
mix my own salt from tap water) However the Amquel also removes
Ammonia.

1.Question-Shouldnt I wait to add the Amquel because, I need ammonia
to start the nitrate cycle, wont the Amquel slow down the process?

2.Question
When Should I add the Novaqua(water conditioner and fish protector)
Add right away or wait?


3.Question,
I bought some Nitromax to start the Ammonia process for a fast cycling
process has anyone else used this? Nitromax contains both bacteria
and oxy-boost

4.I'm going to have 2-ehiems filters and going to wait for nitrate
cycle before puting the carbon into the filter or should I add it
right away?

[John B]

Hey Rick, Just add the water/salt and let it circulate on it's own. You
don't have to add anything but novaqua as it neutralizes metals and
chlorine. Just add the nitromax and crank up the heat so the bacteria grows
quicker.

John

"Rick" > wrote in message
om...
> I'm going to be setting up a new tank (55 gal)in a week or so, and I
> understand that I need to add Amquel to remove the cloramine,(going to
> mix my own salt from tap water) However the Amquel also removes
> Ammonia.
>
> 1.Question-Shouldnt I wait to add the Amquel because, I need ammonia
> to start the nitrate cycle, wont the Amquel slow down the process?
>
> 2.Question
> When Should I add the Novaqua(water conditioner and fish protector)
> Add right away or wait?
>
>
> 3.Question,
> I bought some Nitromax to start the Ammonia process for a fast cycling
> process has anyone else used this? Nitromax contains both bacteria
> and oxy-boost
>
> 4.I'm going to have 2-ehiems filters and going to wait for nitrate
> cycle before puting the carbon into the filter or should I add it
> right away?

[SLC]

Amquel does not remove ammonia but only changes it chemicaly so it is
safe for fish. Bacteria will still use the changed ammonia as they
normally would so it will slow down the cycle but won't stop it. One
tip-most ammonia test kits will not be accurate using amquel. The
Seachem Ammonia Alert card will accurately measure the toxic free
ammonia that hasn't been changed. They are great cheap little devices
that hang inside the tank and you can constantly view by eye what is
going on in there.

A comment about Nitromax... I can't find anywhere that Nitromax
claims to contain TRUE LIVE Nitrococcus and Nitrosococcus nitrifying
bacteria. Like the others it contains heterotrophic (ie sewage
treatment plant) types ("beneficial bacteria" they call it) which will
also consume ammonia and produce nitrate and are good to add diversity
but WILL NOT TRULY cycle the tank. Underneath all their activity your
tank is STILL cycling for as long as it takes to get Nitrosococcus and
Nitrococcus to multiply and get established. The only "bottled" form
of pure active Nitrococcus and Nitrosococcus I have seen is called
Fritz Turbo Start #900. True nitrifying bacteria can't survive
storage unless it is in liquid form and kept very cold. If the
product is not refrigerated then you know it does not contain live
nitrifying bacteria. There is an independent laboratory test that was
done at The University of California that tested all different kinds
of cycling products and you can see their comparisons here:

http://fritzpet.com/nitrifying_bacteria_lab.html

I wouldn't post this if I haven't tied it myself. I was skeptical and
did my own little test. My 310g reef system could process over 3ppm
of pure liquid ammonia in less than 4 hours after less than one week
of cycling! 3ppm in 310 gallons of water is a lot of ammonia. I only
started with dead sand, dead cement rock, and freshly mixed sal****er
with lots of current, no livestock. I can't vouch or guarantee
everyone will have the same results but it worked for me.

I just wanted to pass it along because I can't believe so few people
know about this product and are struggling with the cycling process.
Too many are getting ripped off like I was by these other "bottled
bacteria" fakes that are mis-advertised and aren't really meant for
what most believe they are.



(Rick) wrote in message >...
> I'm going to be setting up a new tank (55 gal)in a week or so, and I
> understand that I need to add Amquel to remove the cloramine,(going to
> mix my own salt from tap water) However the Amquel also removes
> Ammonia.
>
> 1.Question-Shouldnt I wait to add the Amquel because, I need ammonia
> to start the nitrate cycle, wont the Amquel slow down the process?
>
> 2.Question
> When Should I add the Novaqua(water conditioner and fish protector)
> Add right away or wait?
>
>
> 3.Question,
> I bought some Nitromax to start the Ammonia process for a fast cycling
> process has anyone else used this? Nitromax contains both bacteria
> and oxy-boost
>
> 4.I'm going to have 2-ehiems filters and going to wait for nitrate
> cycle before puting the carbon into the filter or should I add it
> right away?