Stability???

[JiddleFish]

Anyone heard of this stuff?? What are your thoughts? Does it work??
I just put together a freshwater 55 gallon tank tonight, and I want to get the cycle done as quickly as possible so I can add fish while Im still on holidays from work. The guy at the store told me I should use this stuff, so I bought it but havent added it yet. I thought I would consult with you guys first. Thanks for your input.

 

[Plague]

I've used Nutrafin Cycle and my best friend has used stability. On the short term it definitely worked and it was fast. After a week the tanks were ready (mine was fresh water his was salt).

Though my tank has only been running for a bit over a month I haven't used Nutrafin cycle since the first week the tank was ready and so far so good. Most people will tell you that you risk running a mini cycle using chemicals and that a fishless cycle is the best way. Personally, I'm going to use Stability for my 55g tank and I am sure that it will work. IME of coarse

 

[jpappy789]

In my honest opinion, the best way to do a cycle with minimal losses is without any fish at all.

These cycle-in-a-bottle products are hit and miss to me. For all you know you could get a defective bottle due to mishandling. I initially cycled my 30 gallon a few years ago before I became a member here using BioSpira. It worked and I had a few losses mainly because I was following the advice of a store that had no clue what they were talking about. I would not rely on products like these working 100% of the time though.

Could it work? Maybe, but I'm always weary when companies claim to have the "correct bacteria" but of course cannot release what strains because of product protection.

Since you already bought it, I would make sure to use pure ammonia as a food source. Make sure the cycle goes through all the steps (ammonia>>>nitrite>>>nitrate) before adding fish. Think of it as a jump start to a fish less cycle, if it indeed does work. That way no fish lives are at risk either.

 

[GoldLenny]

The ONLY bacteria in a bottle that I would pay money for is Dr. Tim's One And Only. Dr. Tim was the CSO for Marineland and is the holder of many patents concerning the aquarium hobby. He invented Bio-Spira but when the parent company of Tetra bought Marineland, Dr. Tim left and formed his own company, http://www.DrTimsAquatics.com and his products are available at many LFS and some big box stores... and of course, online. I hear that Tetra has repackaged Bio-Spira as something called RightStart or something like that and if they have not *******ized Dr. Tim's invention, then that product might be OK too. ALL of the other bacteria in a bottle products DO NOT WORK as advertised.

Fishless cycling with plain ammonia, using Dr. Tim's One And Only, or setting up a planted tank from the start would be the only way I would go with quick starting a fully stocked aquarium. The good news is that this next generation of Bio-Spira does not have to be refrigerated although keeping it refrigerated will give it a longer shelf life. More stores are willing to carry it now that it doesn't need refrigeration to have at least a 6 month shelf life... longer if refrigerated.

 

[RiVerfishgirl]

Really I haven't heard of anything but BioSpira working remotely consistently. And there are still quite a few people that have gotten bottles of BioSpira that didn't work.

If the brands that GoldLenny mentioned above are like BioSpira then they're probably somewhat reliable too.

I personally do NOT trust anything in a bottle to kickstart a cycle. Even if it's something that's worked for people before, I have no clue how the stuff has been handled or stored.
And even if I did use it I would NOT add fish without determining whether the stuff was actually working, unless I planned on doing an all out fishy cycle when the stuff failed.

Myself, I haven't had the opportunity to try most of this stuff since I have so much already established media I have no need to cycle an aquarium. I stick the established media on the tank, add fish, and only a couple of times have I had ammonia or nitrite register (in low amounts) on my kits, due to me adding too many fish for the amount of cycled media.

When I had all my tanks set up with hang on backs and canisters I would run large amounts of filters per tank to establish colonies, in case I decided to set up a tank in the future (because I hate doing a full cycle, I'm impatient), so I'd take a filter or two off and stick it on a new tank so I could add at least a few fish right off the bat.
So in other words, I trust established bacteria colonies that have been working on other tanks before I'd trust something that comes out of a bottle.

 

[WF2ZMATT]

I used headstart by seachem. It's a conditioning pack of three bottles. Prime to remove chlorine, Clarity to clear up cloudy water.( that works) and Stability that is suppose to help start the bio action. Now, I'm new, and can only say it seems to work for me. My tank is now about two weeks old and I think i am beginning to see a cycle. I have live plants and all natural sand and stone. Good luck, Matt

 

[Kerry121774]

I've bought bags of rock that already include live bacteria and put fish in the same day.....Oh I know that is going to get a reaction!!! DOUGHT!

PS everyone made it!

 

[RiVerfishgirl]

I've bought bags of rock that already include live bacteria and put fish in the same day.....Oh I know that is going to get a reaction!!! DOUGHT!

PS everyone made it!

Are you talking bags of gravel or something from an established tank? Because that's not all that uncommon a thing to do.

 

[SkiGal]

I'm no expert by any means but I have used Stability more than once and I think it's useful. However, I also do water changes every couple of days when starting a new tank so maybe the Stability really did nothing. The good news is that regardless of weather it works or not, it isn't harmful. If you really want to put fish in your tank make sure you do water changes every couple of days, if not everyday, to keep the ammonia down.

 

[Omega]

All this controversy over bottled bacterial products (except Bio-Spira) is making me want to do an experiment. I could have two buckets with the same filter and bio-media, the same amount of ammonia added, but one with Stability and one without, and see what happens.