RookieAqua

Hmm, maybe I will try to see if I can find some. The only reason I have not tried a "bacteria in a bottle" method is that I have heard that they don't really work. The only one that got good reviews was Bio-Spira which of course only comes in the salt water version now, they freshwater version is no longer available. I'll start making some phone calls to see if I can get it locally, it not I will try to see if I can order some. Hagen products are big in the stores here, and I know that quite a few of the on-line stores won't ship to Canada so it might be hard to get a hold of, but I will give it a try.

Shawnie

bio spira is now reformed into tetra safestart and doesnt need refrigeration for FW tanks...so dont let them talk you into anything else but tetra safestart

omnitheforsaken

I agree.

Reset the tank so to speak. Buy your Tetra SafeStart and fish and add them both. I actually add the TSS about a week after I add my fish to be sure that there's some ammonia for it to utilize but that's probably not necessary. I have 3 tanks and used it on 2 of the 3 and it's work each time. I've also had to used it after I killed my bacteria with medication on my initial tank and again it worked like a charm. Add the TSS and forget about it. Make sure you get the right sized bottle as it's a one time use product. The largest bottle I've seen (about 8 oz) is for up to 70 gallons, the one below that is up to 30 and there is a smaller bottle but I've never seen it.

RookieAqua

Well I think I at last found the problem and a potential solution. I took my nieces to the local public aquarium (not a large one, small private owned) and spoke to one of the aquarium "keepers" that work there. When I told him the story of my tanks that just won’t cycle, he actually laughed; he said that they get at least 1 phone call a day saying the same thing. Basically this is what he said the water in our area has 2 main problems that most people do not know about. They are:

1. Our fresh water contains a slightly high salt content. Not significantly high, he said it would be equal to adding approximately 1/2 tsp of aquarium salt per gallon.

2. Our water company adds additional fluoride to our water ... great for people, not harmful to the fish (so he said) but can stall and or prevent cycling.

So solutions - I ran through everything I did thus far with him and his response was that I did not use enough mature media to combat the problems with the water. He said I needed at least twice the amount of mature media ... but more would be better. So tomorrow, Sunday, the aquarium is closed for their weekly cleaning of their tanks. He generously offered to set me up. He said come back tomorrow afternoon and he will have bags of substrate for me, he will also squeeze/wash out all their filters into some of their aquarium water for me (so that is at least 20-30 filter washings). He also said that since it is month end he will be changing out one complete filter sponge from the one of the 6 extremely large canister filters from the very large main freshwater aquarium and he will give me the entire sponge. I saw the sponges they use for those large canister filters ... it is huge at least 4-5x larger than the pieces of mature filter sponge I had used before. Here are the steps he told me to take:

1 - Do a partial water change in the tank exchanging my water for the aquarium water (with the washings) he will provide to me.
2 - Add the substrate he will provide for me - he said he will put the substrate into fine mesh bags that way since it won't match my current substrate I can easily remove it once the tank is cycled.
3 - Add the filter sponge directly to my tank, clipping it to the side or weighing it down with the substrate bags.

He told me he would provide me with enough mature media/filter washing water to cycle both my tanks. He also said that if my tanks are not cycled within the week to let him know, but he is positive that my tanks should be fully cycled within the week.

So I will let you all know the results of this new plan ... I really hope it works. But at least I seem to have an answer now.

Shawnie

great job!!! the extra media will help allot....but I disagree on the water...beneficial bacteria isnt free floating in your water enough to do anything for a cycle process..all you will be getting is his dirty water and his pH ...both of which could cause an issue with your tanks and also, we have a ton of flouride in our city water as well...not sure if that would play a positive or negative role or not so thats interesting to find more opinions on that...
I do wish you well tho!

thorpbrian

That sounds like it should work well to me.