Atm colony

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Angelo russo

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
May 26, 2013
Messages
21
I know many of u guys are against this instant cycling especially if its a product fom the show tanked. Well I purchased there colony and paradigm and I can't believe the results I have almost like clockwork I always had hi nitrate since I used there products everything has been perfect all levels are at zero and my fish seem to be perfect picture of health I also used paradigm from atm which is a stress coat loaded with vitamin c and aloe and it does not drive my skimmer nuts like API stress coat amazing products has a shelf life of 7 weeks unopened and 2 weeks when opened I have to praise this product as absolutely amazing 110 times better than bio spira my tank is flourishing
 

Attachments

  • image-2582530328.jpg
    image-2582530328.jpg
    154.3 KB · Views: 125
  • image-3850548923.jpg
    image-3850548923.jpg
    143.6 KB · Views: 105
Go online they have it u can go to atm site or check amazon alot of fish stores Cary this now it is not subject to temps as long as its room temp it's fine does not need to be chilled
 
Can I use it room temp and then change it to higher temp cuz I was wondering for guppy tank they need slightly higher temp
 
This is for saltwater use only they make same product for freshwater there is no temp guidelines jjust don't let it get down to cold temps like freezing
 
Looking at the pic off the test results they aren't looking all 0. The nitrate level looks at least at 10 if not higher .
 
I have levels that look at least that good without biological additives. Everyone wants a quick fix, but I'm not sure that its out there. IMO
 
I'm with Gregcoyote on this one...I like to think of starting/running a successful tank like driving a race car: go too fast and you'll crash.

These products add bacteria to the water column, but it takes time for the colonies to establish in the rock and sand. That's why us "old school" folks like to cycle for a few weeks, to give the rock and sand an opportunity to become populated with the BB. If you do your weekly PWC after you add this stuff, you're removing the BB from the water column, and they may not have had a chance to establish in the rock, causing a mini-cycle to occur.
 
What you want determines what you need.

If you want all the ammonia and nitrites gone from the water, bacteria in the water coloum, as provided by these cycling additives, will do just that. A good idea if you've already added fish to an uncycled tank and levels are rising to toxic amounts.

If you want bacteria to get established on the rock, sand and other surfaces, you need to feed them ammonia and nitrite via the water coloum. Adding cycling additives will take away that food source and slow the growth of benificial bacteria on the surfaces, stagnating the true cycle.

If you are starting with nothing but dry rocks, and you want to boost the cycle, filling a bucket with the new rocks, topping with water and then adding a bottle of cycling additive and leaving it for a day or so, should create the start of a nice BB colony. then put the rocks into the tank.

Let 'what you want' deternine your actions. don't be fooled by test results.
 
How log does a fish in cycle take . I didn't know about cycling before putting fish in when I started
 
With my fish less cycle, used live rock & sand with ro water and all in all took around 4 weeks, but left it for another week after first test that showed all good results.
 
A normal fishless cycle can take 6-8 weeks if no Live rock is used, less time with more LR. And that is with a very high amount of nitrogen (4ppm ammonia) in the tank. Ammonia and nitrite go to lethal levels. A very hardy BB colony is formed and adding fish can be done quicker once its complete. A fish in cycle has MUCH lower amonia and nitrite levels so as to not kill the fish. A much weaker BB colony is INITIALLY formed. Every time you add any amount of fish, a small mini cycle will occur as the BB colony needs to increase with the increased bio load. It's slower going, but if you can't rehouse the poor fish (it hurts them) keep a close eye on levels. If ammonia or nitrite start to climb, then you add the Dr Tims or other cycling additive. They will consume the bad nitrogen and keep levels down. But it will also slow the BB colony process.
 
I didn't know about fish less cycling til after I started .... Tanks been up about 4 weeks just switched to sand but kept same filter I started with .... I've lost some fish but the rest r ok just did large water change yesterday and lost a guppy
 
I lost the guppy tonight it looked ok but it had clamped fin today and then died I'm trying watch them close water was tested and seemed good
 
Back
Top Bottom