Fishless Cycling with Starter Bacteria

[Lansirill]

I started a new tank yesterday, and I'm trying to do a fishless cycle on this one. I'm using TLC starter bacteria (it was recommended by my LFS and I've heard that the LFS is fairly respectable) which should, hopefully, speed things up a bit. However what I don't know is if that will make my parameter testing more difficult. Should I still expect to see ammonia and nitrite spikes? Or will I just add ammonia slowly and wait for nitrates to show up?

Also, in the interest of not starting terribly many threads, are there any good ways to tell if (white) cloudiness is a bacteria bloom or improperly washed substrate? I gave my gravel a decent scrub (filled a bucket, agitated the gravel, and dumped the water a few times) but I may have not been thorough enough. My only idea was to grab some gravel from the bottom and see if I can get any more dust off of them. If so, then I probably didn't clean enough. Is there really anything I should do in either case though?

[Rbishop]

Got a link for the TLC..?

[wataugachicken]

TLC for Freshwater Aquariums. The flagship TLC freshwater aquarium product. Completely natural and safe - not a chemical. Use to rapidly cycle new tanks, when adding new species, and for tank maintenance. Eliminates toxic ammonia and nitrite, helps minimize sludge build-up. Available in 2 oz., 4 oz., 12 oz., and Gallon bottles (60 ml, 125 ml, 350 ml, and 4 liter bottles

from the website. doesn't say anything about bacteria. i'm afraid the LFS must have been misinformed. at the very most, it may contain enzymes that act as food for any bacteria that have already found their way into your tank, but it doesn't come with any. snake oil product, like cycle and others. my LFS used to give it away free.

ooh. looking further down the product list, they also sell "pond dye" which makes your pond a beautiful blue color. how nice.

[Lansirill]

You know, now that I read it, the only mention of bacteria is that the product contains live bacteria (from the bottle, not the website). There is no mention of precisely what bacteria is in there. They also make a point of claiming that it's safe for fish, vertebrates, and plants. No mention of invertebrates, which I had and the LFS knew about. Perhaps it's time to stop listening to the LFS, despite hearing good things about them.

Meh. My 10G just completed it's cycle (or at least the ammonia and nitrites are down to 0) however I just lost two fish in the tank last weekend and I really don't want to risk contaminating the new tank. Am I being pointlessly paranoid? Assuming the problem was just ich then a couple days in a fishless tank will kill any ich that might jump ship, but I don't want to have to name my tank Typhoid Mary. :P

[Mgamer20o0]

are the people who you hear good things from know what they are doing? i hear about a place from time to time. many time its the blind leading the blind. there are a few good stores around me that i would say good stuff about them just not their info.

[Rbishop]

Doesn't sound as if the TLC is a real statrer product like bio-spira. You mentioned the 10 just completed it's cycle? With media from another tank?

The cloudiness, bacterial or substrate dust should clear up on it's own shortly.

[Lansirill]

The 10 gallon was a fish-in cycle, so I didn't use media from another tank (beyond the tiny amount that would have come on my plants and fish.) Or are you suggesting I use the media from that tank to seed the cycle on my new tank?

I'm honestly not sure about the sources of the information. My fiancee started talking to people at work about our new tank and was told about this place. A lot of the clients there seem to keep aquariums and they all liked it. They seem to keep a fairly good stock of items from what I've seen, so perhaps I just took the recommendation a bit too strongly. At least I got burned early.

[Wat2Go]

Lansirill,

Was the LFS congressional aquarium in Rockville by any change? Don't know how they got their good name, but they will tell you all sorts of nonsense (e.g. that TLC will jumpstart your cycle) to sell you anything they think you might want. Also, MOST of the fish I bought from them came with ich, so quarantine whatever you buy from them! If it helps any, the Petsmart on Wisconsin in Bethesda is really good, even though they only carry the more mainstream fish (whatever that means). Knowledgable people (especially their manager), healthy fish.

L.

[Windy]

When cycling your tank, your gona have spikes of ammonia and nitrite for several weeks I'm assuming sense its a fishless cycle. If you were cycling your tank with fish, it takes 4-6 weeks for the cycling to be completed. Once the bacteria has established itself, the ammonia and nitrite levels will be at zero. Stock the tank slowly and don't overstock. Start with at least 2 maybe 3 fish. I overstocked my 10 gallon tank and it wasn't pretty.