We have anew product available in the Uk now called Bactinnettes ( I believe
from Germany) which i was very sceptical about. I am a very experinced fish
keeper and have several established tank. I set up a new one 5 weeks ago now
and placed 2 large orandas in it immediately. At the very first sign of
ammonia I added the bactinettes and within 6 hours ammonia was 0 and I had
nitrates showing.5 weeks on and I still have 0 ammonia and nitrites and
nitrates around 5-10. I've been astonished by how well it worked!!!
Mel.

"Tynk" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Oct 15, 8:33?pm, "Cshenk" wrote:
Hi, fairly experinced fish keeper here but reestablishing a 70gT tank
after
6.5 years in storage. It's been ages since I had to start one over
fresh.
I recall the process but not the time factor. No need for immediate
answer,
the tank gets here in 4 days but we plan to fil it on the back porch to
make
sure it's still watertight, and leave it there for a week. Then, we
bring
it in and fill and start the process.

We normally start with just fresh water, gravel, and LFS plants and the
pump. I've had bad experiences with getting tank water from LFS places.
Then, after a week or so we add a molly nd leave it be. I seem to recall
3
weeks? Has to be a week after it clouds up then clears. There is a
biota
bottle we used once and it worked well to get things going.

It's more of a 'remind me' than a teaching of the basics. Bet you folks
are
happy to see that for a change!
xxcarol

Hi there.
Getting tank water from a pet shop is really a bad idea.
If the idea in getting it was that you would be cycling your tank with
it, it didn't.
The nitrifying bacteria are stuck like to every surface inside the
tank, filter, gravel, plants, decor...everything *except* the water.
It used to be thought that the bacteria also were in the water column
just floating about. They aren't.
It was also once thought that adding the mulm from old dirty gravel is
good, or squeezing out a dirty filter pad into a newly set up tank
would cycle it too. All bunk. You're just adding crud, that's all. No
benificial bacteria.

Since you're getting back into the hobby, there have been some
"bacteria starters" that have become common and are pushed by
employees. Cycle, Stress Zyme, BioZyme, etc...all do *not* have the
correct start up bacteria in them.
They have a later stage bacteria that shows up (depending on the
brand) wither middle or end stage cycling.
The first stage bacteria in the cycling process are nitrospira
bacteria. As far as I know, the only product so far with this
nitrospira bacteria is BioSpira, made by Marineland.
I have personally used many of the products listed above myself.
None except BioSpira worked.
I'm a long time hobbyists and let me tell you the terror I had the
first time I used BioSpira on a large tank.
I had used it before on a few smaller tanks, but nothing like a fully
stocked 75g.
My 75g was fully cycled in 24 hours of being set up, filled with new
water, new gravel, new plants (plastic then), and all fish transfered
(angelfish and female bettas, assorted bottom feeders) the same day.
It was like it never happened. There was no crash, the ammonia spike,
nothing.
Then, a few years later I changed the gravel completely and used Bio
Spira again.
Again, nothing was noticed.....and that's fantastic!
Of course all normal water changes, and proper maintenance was being
done.
So if you choose to use a bacteria starter, find BioSpira or forget
about it.
The product needs to be kept refrigerated (Not frozen! It kills the
bacteria and makes the product useless).
It can't be left at room temp either, or it'll die.
I once had a problem with spoiled BioSpira I got at a pet shop. It
turned out the employee stocking it put it out on the shef next to the
other starter products and it had been there over night.
When he found it was supposed to be refrigerated, he just stuck it in
there and thought it would be fine. = / Duh. It wasn't.
It was all chunky and brown looking, instead of looking like cloudy
water.
If you have any friends with healthy fish tanks, you can seed the tank
with a stocking full of their gravel and hang it in the tank.
You can also do a fishless cycling wich uses household ammonia. If you
do this one, make sure you get *plain* ammonia (usually a generic
brand) without any scents or additives.
Cycling *with* fish, the usual of the past, isn't necessary anymore as
there are better ways to cycle a tank.
Fish do suffer effects when used for cycling. The degree varies of
course and some hobbyists would think their fish appear to have no ill
effects from it. However, usually they have scarred gill tissue from
ammonia burns. Not something the average hobbyist is going to see.
Welcome back too!