Nitrifying bacteria

[Razorback01]

Leave for a 5 day vacation in 5 days. I'm having to do daily water changes to keep nitrites down after a major rebuild of my tank. Im kind of surprised as I'm using the same filter (however I did change the substrate to a better plant friendly substrate while I added fluorite).

Is there an effective nitrifying bacteria I can dose for 5 days that will allow my tank to be safe to leave it for 5? If so, what brand?

 

[blert]

Not a big fan of bacteria in a bottle. Most are marketing garbage that will do harm in the long run.

Do you still have two tanks and is the other one established? If so, you could borrow some media from the established tank to help beef up the bio of the wonky tank. Keep an eye on both for a few days.

 

[Razorback01]

I'm not a fan either. I COULD trade one bio wheel and one cartridge between the two tanks. I would essentially be trading 25% of the filter media from the 55 with over 50% of the filter media on the 29 (if that makes sense)

 

[TotallyCoral]

I was pretty skeptical on bacteria in a bottle until recently ATM or Acrylic Tank Manufacturing released their new line of bacteria that they even use on their show, "Tanked" on Animal Planet. It seems like it works really well for them... especially on the show. There are freshwater and saltwater ones so beware! Superbac, I heard, is also another reliable bacteria source. I've always wanted to try them out. Idk, it's up to you though.

 

[emerald76]

I was pretty skeptical on bacteria in a bottle until recently ATM or Acrylic Tank Manufacturing released their new line of bacteria that they even use on their show, "Tanked" on Animal Planet. It seems like it works really well for them... especially on the show. There are freshwater and saltwater ones so beware! Superbac, I heard, is also another reliable bacteria source. I've always wanted to try them out. Idk, it's up to you though.

I'm skeptical about anything ATM endorses seeing as they stock the tanks with way too many fish and don't cycle
From what I've heard most of the fish die in a week or so

 

[blert]

I'm not a fan either. I COULD trade one bio wheel and one cartridge between the two tanks. I would essentially be trading 25% of the filter media from the 55 with over 50% of the filter media on the 29 (if that makes sense)

Since you are trying to beef up the bio in the out of whack tank this is what I would do...
Leave the bio-wheels is. Move the cartridge in the wonky tank to the second position (closest to the output) and put one cartridge from the 55 into its spot. Run both of those in the one filter and keep an eye on both tanks over the next couple of days.

 

[Razorback01]

Duh on me. Thanks!