Cycling with Turbostart results

[spinman]

To all,

Here's my results using Fritz Turbostart for cycling my 125 g tank.

Per Andy @ Fritz, I spiked the tank with 4.5 grams of ammonium chloride powder and let that circulate for about 2 hours. Took a reading after that and got 4-5 ppm. Then turned off the pump and added 8 oz. Turbostart 900 on top of the filter pad which sits above the bio balls in the preclear 200 wet dry. Let that soak in for about a minute. Turned the pump back on and waited 24 hours.

Here are the number so far:
Am Ni Na
Day 1 added Turbostart 4-5 -- --
Day 2 .25 .5 --
Day 3 .25 0 20
Day 4 0 0 20
Day 5 (haven't checked yet)

If today (day 5) registers the same as day 4, I'm assuming the tank is cycled. Andy @ Fritz saiys it should take 5 days, so he seems to be right on.

He did say I would need to add fish (or ammonia) within 48 hours after getting readings of zero on the Am and Ni in order to sustain the good bacteria,.

The good news is (so far) no visible algae.

Thoughts or comments are welcome.

Mike
Cherry Hill NJ

 

[mjvincent]

I would be very cautious regarding a 5 day cycle with such a large tank... Start slow with your fish and pick something hardy (like a clown). Normally these quickstart cyclers don't give you a big bacterial base to rely on for normal fish maintenance.

 

[spinman]

Thanks for the quick reply. Yeah, plan on getting a pair of oc. clowns to start out with.

Here's my intuative take on these instant cycle products. If one where to go to say, the Baltimore Aquarium and ask for a soaked spongle full of one of their bio filters, wouldn't that be more than enough bacteria for any of our home tanks?

Aren't you really just moving the bacteria from one established tank into a virgin tankr? And if the bacteria count is high enough you should be good to go.

It doesn't make sense to me on needing this break in period _if_ you inoculate your tank with enough bacteria from a seasoned source.

Opinions?

Mike

 

[malkore]

Mike,

Yeah, your logic is right. If you could get a sponge filter from an established tank, you could put it right in your filter, and basically have enough bacteria to have a cycled tank.
Now, only that sponge would have the bacteria, so you'd wanna keep it in the tank a while, so it could colonize all the other surfaces (tank walls, live rock, etc)

It'd have to be a quick transfer though. lack of moving, oxygenated water will cause the nitrifying bacteria to die off. And I'd still be cautious and stock slowly, probably starting with hermit crabs for clean-up, and if they acted fine for a couple days, start adding some fish.

 

[Brenden]

I have never read anything good about bacteria boost- turbostart. Has anyone done it without any problems?

 

[spinman]

I checked the numbers last night (day 5) and got 0-0-10 for Am, Ni, Na. So it seems OK.

Since I'm not ready to buy my first fish yet, Fritz advises me to keep feeding the bio filter with ammonium chloride every 3rd day (1 gram).

I've got 125#s of base rock from reeferrsrock.com coming on Monday and maybe after that order my 2 clowns. By the way, Captain Jer at reeferrock.com is a great guy. Really goes above and beyond IMHO.

QUESTION:
If my nitrates stay at 10 or lower, would a partial water change still be a good idea prior to introducing the clowns? It seems the main reason for water changes is to lower your nitrates, no?

Thx

Mike

 

[AquaJoe]

QUESTION:
If my nitrates stay at 10 or lower, would a partial water change still be a good idea prior to introducing the clowns? It seems the main reason for water changes is to lower your nitrates, no?

Thx

Mike

Hey Mike, I would do the PWC before adding fish to be on the safe side. A good rule of tumb is that "I'd rather be safe then sorry".

HTH

Joe

 

[spinman]

7/7/05 UPDATE: it looks like the Turbostart pooped out or something. My nitrites are back up and not going down any time soon.

So much for the 5 day cycling claims.

 

[mjvincent]

Is there any changes to the tank? Did you recently add fish or anything die?

 

[lando]

Interesting info, Mike. Thanks for sharing. Cycling quickly seems to be the goal of most hobbiests. Get it done so you can start adding fish as soon as possible. When I started my 12gal nano reef I experienced no cycle what so ever. I did use 10lbs LS from a bag, 10lbs real LS from three different exsisting reef tanks (one being my own), LR rubble from my own sump and 20lbs of fully cured LR. I even went as far as to use SW from my other reef. The problem with all of those "quick-cycle" products is that they do not establish the tank for a long-term bioload. Many times someone will use a product like this to cycle. After a short time they are getting readings of zero and then adding fish. A few days later their NH3, NO2 are on the climb and they wonder why. These products can be used to help along a natural cycle but should not be used to replace a natural cycle. The is no substitution for time...

 

[spinman]

Yeah, I guess the old addage, "if it sounds too good to be true, well it probably is".

I any event, still have no fish in the tank yet.

Read my other post on "LR too clean" to get my latest readings.


And the beat goes on

Mike

 

[lando]

Yeah, I guess the old addage, "if it sounds too good to be true, well it probably is".

The idea is very appealing to many hobbiests. However, if these products really worked as advertised they would certainly have much more backing on these forums then they currently do. They also tend to be pretty expensive, I like to encourage people to, instead, get a few extra pounds of LR. Better for your tank in the long run.

 

[spinman]

Yeah, I know what you mean about expensive. The Turbostart and the express shipping ran me about $90 bucks. Coulda bought some LR with that.

You live and learn. Between the BS decorations, wet dry, standard tank lights, CC, and whatever else I've since deep six'd on this tank, I coulda bought a few hundred pounds of LR.

Mike

 

[lando]

You an me both.