question about cycling & BB

[lilliam]

ok, so I've been reading about cycling tanks because I'm planning on getting a large-ish tank (im not sure what size yet) and plants, sometime in the future. I'm going to do the shrimp method, and I understand most of it, but where do the bacteria come from? Do you have to add them to the tank some how, are they on the shrimp, or the new tank or something? I was just wondering :)
If someone could answer my question it would be lovely,
thanks

[shellieca]

Beneficial bacteria will form through the nitrogen cycle. The shrimp releases ammonia which starts the process, the ammonia will be processed into nitrItes & that into nitrAtes. Once you have enough BB built up you should have 0 ammonia & nitrItes, nitrates will or should be kept <20 through weekly water changes. This is the simplistic explaination. You could have nitrates show up early but if you still have ammonia &/or nitrItes then you're not cycled. It can take days for the shrimp to get the ammonia to the appropriate level so have lots of patience.

[jeaninel]

You don't add them, they will occur naturally once there is a food source for them (ammonia).
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[lilliam]

thanks so much for your replies, that cleared up my confusion about the bacteria :) I'm kinda new to the whole betta fish thing and it's really nice to be able to ask questions about stuff you're not sure about and have them answered

[Hallyx]

Actually, the nitrifying bacteria exist in the air, soil and surface water. They literally fall out of the sky into your tank. That's what takes the most time in cycling a tank---waiting for the bacteria.

Once the bacteria gets into the tank, the ammonia you provide feeds them and nourishes an increasing bacteria colony which converts ammonia to nitrite and then converts nitrite to nitrate---the nitrogen cycle.

There are products on the market which contain the types of bacteria needed to cycle your system. A few I can remember without looking them up: Dr Tim's One-and-Only, Tetra Safestart, MicrobeLift Nightout II, ATM Colony.

[lilliam]

Thanks for the product list Hallyx :) I'll go check some of those out, haha I told my parents about the shrimp and I don't think they were very keen on me having a fish tank full of shrimp in my bedroom ^^;;
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[Hallyx]

The rotting shrimp method is smelly and difficult to control. That's why i always recommend using "pure" ammonia to feed the cycle. Pure ammonia does NOT foam-up when shaken. Ace hardware has it. Dr Tim's has it on Amazon.

If you use one of the bacteria products, please keep me updated. I'm trying to build an informal database.

[lilliam]

Thanks for all the help :) I think I'm going to go with the pure ammonia and the bacterial products. I'll keep you posted on my results with it. I'll probably end up buying whatever brand is available at my local petsmart ^^
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