Looking for an opinion

john1959

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Dec 25, 2020
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Which one of these would be best to cycle a new tank? Fritz Bacteria Turbo Start or Dr. Tim's Aquatics One and Only? Would really appreciate any insight.
 
Dr. Tim's One and Only and Tetra SafeStart are essentially the same product. The patent that protects them is shared by both companies. They do have different directions for use, but those differences are not material. Safe Start can be found in Europe where it is not easy to find the One and Only.

The Fritz contains Nitrobacter and these are not the nitrite converting ones found in cycled tanks. The one's which end up colonizing are the Nitrospira which have to replace the Nitrobacter which require higher levels of nitrite than tanks generate.
Nitrospira-Like Bacteria Associated with Nitrite Oxidation in Freshwater Aquaria
 
We've got a LOT of opinions around here!

Mine is find another established tank to grab some filtration media or substrate out of.

Short of that I've got to leave the bottled starter products to those in the know. I've never used them.
 
We've got a LOT of opinions around here!

Mine is find another established tank to grab some filtration media or substrate out of.

Short of that I've got to leave the bottled starter products to those in the know. I've never used them.
Waay too lot! I my opinion is to do a fish in cycle. Risky, but never lost fish to it.
 
filtration media or substrate don't have any have to cycle some other way

If you have zero access to that, then you've got to start from scratch.

I encourage you to read up on fishless cycling if you already haven't. There's other methods that you can make work as well. Either take a lot of dedication and patience.

What size tank? What do you intend to keep?
 
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filtration media or substrate don't have any have to cycle some other way

Try your local fish shop. They may be willing to give you a small handful of gravel to add to your tank. It actually doesn't take much to get the colonies started. If you don't want this gravel to mix with your current gravel or sand, you can put it in something like a loose woven nylon bag, a cheese cloth bag, or the end of a nylon stocking with the opening tied off.

WYite
 
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If you have zero access to that, then you've got to start from scratch.

I encourage you to read up on fishless cycling if you already haven't. There's other methods that you can make work as well. Either take a lot of dedication and patience.

What size tank? What do you intend to keep?
My 55 gal starting leaking after 20 years so I got a 75 gal . Never had to cycle a tank
 
Which one of these would be best to cycle a new tank? Fritz Bacteria Turbo Start or Dr. Tim's Aquatics One and Only? Would really appreciate any insight.
I recommend tetra safe start along with established media and substrate or at least a mix of new and established substrate then start off with small bio load and add whatever fish slowly
I’ve used this method many times without any issues
 
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