Cycle Biological Aquarium Supplement

[Gingrich]

Does Cycle brand bacterial cultures or any other brands work? I've heard very varied opinions, some who swear by them and others who say they do nothing. Any personal experiences?

 

[Saspotato]

Hmm, I used Cycle when I first set up my tank as I didn't know much about keeping axolotls and hadn't cycled the tank before putting my axolotl in. It was on the advice of a friend who swears by them for her fish tanks (she has three established tanks). My tank took about 3 weeks to cycle, which is pretty fast but not sure if I can attribute that to the Cycle... I had also put in two plants from my friend's tank as well so there may have been a bit of bacteria on those to quicken the process.

I have heard from others that Cycle should work if it is fresh but after a short while it will be useless as bacteria probably dies in the bottle fairly quickly so if you get a bottle that is not fresh (or has been exposed to temperature extremes) it will not work. There is no use by as far as I know (mine didn't have one) so its up to whether the pet store/aquarium stocks fresh ones.

 

[Abrahm]

Nearly all of these products are snakeoil. They just don't work. If there was bacteria in the bottle they would die in shipping, even at room temperature, either due to lack of oxygen or nutrients. There are no born on dates for these products and no guarantee that they work. These will contain dead bacteria that will cause ammonia/nitrite spikes as the dead bacteria are broken down in the tank. The scammy nature of these can be seen by how they tell you to keep adding the stuff for months.

That said there is one product that has an excellent reputation and has been used successfully with detailed reports on nitrogen compounds in the aquarium after it's addition to highly stocked new aquariums. It is called Biospira. It's rather expensive ($15 for a ten gallon tank's work?) but you will find it in a refrigerator and it has a purchase by date. It is an actual living culture of bacteria that is added at the same time you add the livestock. This is important as without livestock to produce food the bacteria will die off. This is the only product of the type that I would trust at all. Even then I would doubt it is necessary for most caudate keepers.

 

[Jennewt]

I wouldn't waste money on Cycle.

 

[i_love_necturus]

Not to say that I'll be setting up a tank anytime soon, but I have to say this Biospira looks very interesting. Have you ever used or heard of it being used with aquatic caudates? Would it work the same as it does fish? This is really quite the "product," I do agree with Jen though. Although setting up my tank took a few months, It was still very cheap and easy to do. There is really no sense in using Biospira unless you don't have the time, or you're very impatient at times like myself. But this is good to know.

 

[Gingrich]

Cycle's Product Description:
The only way to make sure the correct number and types of bacteria are available is to inoculate the aquarium with them. Current research indicates the minimum level to initiate competitive exclusion starts at 100 billion bacteria per milliliter on a regular inoculation schedule. Only Cycle and Bio Care products reach this remarkable concentration. The unique processing technology ensures the bacteria in the bottle are dormant. Many other products are still active when packaged, requiring nutrients and oxygen to survive. Often, they have already started their life cycle in the bottle before being added to the aquarium. Cycle's bacteria are dormant and will generally remain suspended for long periods of time. A minimum shelf life of two years is guaranteed. Weekly Maintenance (maintains optimal biological filtration, promotes competitive exclusion): *5 ml (one capful) per ten gallons weekly. New Aquarium Installations: 10 ml (two capfuls) per ten gallons. Repeat every seven days for two weeks. Thereafter switch to weekly maintenance dosage. For marine systems, double dosage is recommended. After Medication: remove medication with carbon or other filtration before application: 10 ml (2 capfuls) per ten gallons. Revert to weekly dosage thereafter. Addition of New Aquarium Specimens: makes fish introduction safer and less stressful and reduces lag time required to achieve low levels of ammonia and nitrite: 5-10 ml (one to two capfuls) per ten gallons.

It seems that the reason most of these don't work is that they are alive in the package and die do to lack of oxygen/nutrition. It seems as if it should work.

 

[Kaysie]

It doesn't work because the bacteria die in the bottle. If they were alive (such as BioSpira), it would work fine.

 

[Jennewt]

Cycle is claiming that their product contains a high concentration of bacteria that are "dormant" at room temperature in water for a period of 2 years. I've worked with bacteria, and in my experience, this is a far-fetched claim. If this were possible, it would revolutionize the shipping and storage of bacteria for research and industrial applications - it hasn't happened! Even if they have found a way to keep the bacteria dormant, you have to wonder what kinds of chemicals are involved and whether you want them in your aquarium. Manufacturers of pet products can claim anything they want to AND not list any ingredients! Unlike products for humans, there is no gov't oversight to their claims.

 

[oceanblue]

I think most of the comments in this thread are being a bit hard on "Cycle". Their claims do seem to be founded on the properties of Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter which do shut down to a very low metabolic rate if food is removed. Even with food they are slow growing and slow to reactivate so there is some justification for their argument to keep chucking in their product in large quantities. This link to a page on Koi reflects the scientific literature http://www.koioriental.com/article-introduction-to-the-microbial-world.php

Transferring as much material as possible in the form of plants and rocks and running a filter in another tank for a few days and transferring it when working, followed by making sure there is a light but steady ammonia stream to feed the bacteria, either by light stocking (I use a few white cloud mountain minnows) or pinches of fish food, a chunk of rotting meat, or even one drop a day of household ammonia) with monitoring is wise before loading a tank with anything too big such as an adult axolotl.

The makers of Cycle (Hagen/Neutrafin)make good test kits, the ammonia kit for salt/fresh water can be used on 14 drops of water using one drop of each of the three reagents instead of seven drops in 5ml. Used this way it is very cheap and I have checked its accuracy by calibrating it against an ammonium salt mix. My advice is do not spend your money on a culture of bacteria which will establish in your tank anyway, spend it on monitoring what your chemical parameters are so you know what is happening.