Nutrafin Cycle - Does it work or not.

[normie_5]

I am new to this so have made some grave mistakes.
I introduced seven 2 inch fish into a non cycled tank.
After trying a number of things I finally managed to stall the cycle.
Now with a lot of fish and the ammonia quite high I was recommended to do a large water change.
I read a lot on the forums about Nutrafun Cycle. There are two distinct camps. Those who say it does absolutely nothing and those who say they would never cycle a tank without it.

Time to find out who is right.

I dosed the tank with Nutrafin Cycle on the evening of Day 36.
The tests taken above for day 37 were taken first thing in the morning.
The appearance of both the Nitrites and Nitrates are quite dramatic.

I plan to do no water change at all until the Ammonia and Nitrites are Zero to fully put Nutrafin Cycle to the test.

The fish are not stressed at all and all very active at this time.

I'm not choosing a camp yet. Would just like to solve this Nutrafin Cycle debate thing for myself.

 

[DragonFish71]

Some of those that are in the "it doesn't work" camp have never used it. To me you can't give a valid pro or con if you've never tried it. One of my pet peeves.


I've tried both Cycle and Stability with great results, however I do not use these products with fish in the tanks. I would never condone using them with anything live. I used dead feeders or raw shrimp and had great success getting tanks cycled without causing any stress.


I always suggest if you cycle with fish, regardless of using those products or using nothing at all, that you do water changes when levels start to reach points where you know they will cause stress. Like ammonia should be kept lower than .25 or the fish will start to suffer.

 

[happygirl65]

I agree with Dragonfish71. I have used cycle and while it did speed things along a bit I wouldn't say it was more than using fish or other ammonia sources. But as always...your mileage may vary...good luck!

 

[normie_5]

Nutrafin Cycle Results

Here are my results 7 days after dosing stalled cycle with Nutrafin Cycle.
During this time the fish were NOT stressed in any way. According to the label it de-toxifies ammonia, nitrites and nitrates.
So to anyone that says Nutrafin Cycle does not work you can refer them to the above.

I went to my supplier to discuss the conflicting reports on Nutrafin Cycle. Their comment was "90% of the time they did not shake the bottle".
The bottle states SHAKE THE BOTTLE WELL. I shook it violently for 3 minutes.

 

[SeverumGuy]

I've used the cycle once in a 10g tank. I dropped a food pellet in the bottom and left it there to build some ammonia rather than putting any fish in the tank. The ammonia sky rocketed after a couple days but then dissappeared around the fourth day. After five days I was ready to put a fish in there. Seems like it takes longer for any product to work when you already have fish in the tank. I normally use Seachem Stability. Both are great products.