Cycling with Seachem Stability

[bjbass]

So I have been cycling my 210 for a 8 days now. I have not seen my ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate go past 0 yet. I have had minnows and crayfish for the last 6 days now. All my fish are doing well and none have died, but I am worried my tank isn't going anywhere. I have a Marineland Model 4 sump with 2 bio wheels.

I did a partial water change yesterday, but still everything is zero.

Is it possible that this stuff is keeping my ammonia and nitrites at zero and I am slowly building nitrates?

My tank isn't cycled until I start seeing nitrates right? Will I ever see them at this point?

 

[mfdrookie516]

you cant really judge the cycle by seeing nitrates... it is quite possible to cycle and not see them (several factors would play a part though, plants being one of them).... If you're cycling with fish, this will be a lot harder than fishless cycling, but having the ammonia drop, then nitrite spike, then drop, then both being consumed in 12-24 hours after adding ammonia will tell you that your cycle is complete. In your situation, it may be hard to judge. Also, since about 90% of the time (just a rough guess) these cycle additives dont work, you may still see ammonia rise in which case you'll need to do alot of PWC's to keep it at a level tolerable for fish. Of course, YMMV and the whole cycle additive thing is JMO

 

[bjbass]

The only reason I introduced fish is that many people told me that I needed a bioload when using this stuff. My original plan was to cycle it with Stability fishless and that would eventually cycle it faster. I am new to this hobby and from reading posts on Stability I really thought that it was the way to go.

People also say I need a larger bioload than what I have to get it going?

 

[bjbass]

Well, I had an ammonia spike today to .50. I added a bit of Prime to detoxify this. I am still dosing with Stability daily.

 

[taylorodw]

How many fish do you have? Minnows and crayfish... please more exact species would help us advise.

Stability and other products that "cycle" the tank are dodgy at best, snake oil at worst. I have read many things, such as:
-They contain ammonia-eating bacteria, but the wrong kind
-They bind ammonia and nitrite into non-toxic forms that are still edible by bacteria
-They don't work at all

I don't know how to advise you with Stability. On the one hand it may hurt or disrupt your cycle, but your fish are already used to whatever effects it is producing. I guess you will have to ask yourself if the benefits (I don't know of any, but you may perceive some) outweigh the risks (stalling your cycle, and stalling development of a healthy aquarium habitat) and make that call yourself.

Onwards from that bit, I would recommend a water change at this juncture. Whatever stability does, it doesn't clean your water, so a 50% water change will remove 50% of your water's toxins.

 

[bjbass]

I am still continuing to dose with stability daily. I went from .50 ammonia to .25 or less with a 50% water change. Still 0 nitrite and 0 nitrate.

 

[bjbass]

I am on Day 15 and I am finally seeing Nitrites at .25 ppm. Ammonia is still at .25 ppm and Nitrates are 5 ppm. I added my last of what I bought of my Stability. I now only have Prime to continue my cycle. I dosed with Prime yesterday, so if my levels are still at a toxic level tomorrow, I will use it again.

 

[StuG]

I dosed with Prime yesterday, so if my levels are still at a toxic level tomorrow, I will use it again.

Keep in mind that Prime will dissipate after 24 hours

 

[bjbass]

Keep in mind that Prime will dissipate after 24 hours

The tech support on their website told me 48, but maybe I will dose more often.

 

[DragonFish71]

Make sure you are doing water changes while using the Prime. You'll want to keep the ammonia below toxic levels of .25, anything above that can start to cause damage. Don't clean the gravel either, just skim over it so there's no build up of food or poo.

 

[jestes]

If you need to speed your cycle up, you can add an airstone and turn the heat up a little bit. It won't make it happen overnight, but it'll definitely help!

 

[bjbass]

I am not buying anymore of it. I am done with that stuff. It may have worked a bit, but it is not shining when it needs to.

Yesterday I got .5 ammonia, .25 nitrite, and 5 nitrate. I did a water change and ended up with .25 ammonia and .5 nitrite. I dosed it with Prime twice. Once an hour or two before the water change and once after.

 

[cabezon]

don't listen to people. Fishless would have been easier. Especially with some used filter media.

I had a strange thought though, put the minnows in the sump and cycle that and do the main tank fishless. I just cant imagine doing 100 gallon water changes. Or is that liters? nevermind

 

[bjbass]

don't listen to people. Fishless would have been easier. Especially with some used filter media.

I had a strange thought though, put the minnows in the sump and cycle that and do the main tank fishless. I just cant imagine doing 100 gallon water changes. Or is that liters? nevermind

Yeah. I wish I could go back and do it over. However, that is what I started to do. I was under the impression that I could use Stability to cycle a fishless tank faster. As it turns out, that is not the way it works. They say on the bottle that you can add fish if you want or not, but then the tech support tells me I need a bioload. That is why I added. They said all my bacteria that were there when I didn't have a bioload were likely lost. So why wouldn't they tell you that you have to add a bioload of some sort??