HOW TO: Cycle Your Aquarium & Defend It From Bad Bacteria

Fluval Cycle Biological Enhancer ensures that all aquariums are immediately inoculated with a powerful team of beneficial bacteria, providing a safe biological habitat. These highly effective micro-organisms quickly metabolize lethal ammonia and nitrite, allowing hobbyists to introduce fish into the tank immediately following application.

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#fish #aquarium #fishtank #aquariumfish #aquariumhobby

[mrsantana]

When I started my tank I only dechlorinated the water and did ammonia tests. For 2 weeks it was fine and then on the start of the third week, I saw it. Ammonia levels beginning to rise. My test went from yellowish to almost greenish! I panicked while looking at my fishie. I had treated water on stand by and did a 50% water change and than ran another test an hour later, still a little greenish, the ammonia was building up! I came back home with Fluval Cycle and added 25mL of the stuff into my tank. I left for work and all I could think off was my little fishie ... it was so stressful to work just thinking what I might be coming back to :( thankfully, fishie was still doing okay! I did a test immediately and was shocked when the test showed 0 ammonia!! Oh my god. I hugged the tank and my little fishie was happy to see me or really the lil guy just wanted to eat. I dropped in a lil pellet, he is still very small but he can eat these but he kinda struggles with them. I feed him flakes but often he spits them back out, he doesn't like them that much. Thank you Fluval for making this product. I have become so emotionally attached with my new little friend that it would break my heart if I lost him. Just watching him in his tank, seeing those tiny little fins, those itty bitty eyes, how something so small can have life, it's amazing. A lot of people say it's just a fish but to me, it's a life form, it's a living breathing creature, that eats, plays, has a personality of his/her own and is just trying to survive and live life and what I can do is give him all my love so that his time in this world is a happy one.

[BlatentlyFakeName]

I put some of this in a brand new tank almost a month ago. It sort of half worked, I've never seen any ammonia in the tank but it's been on the nitrite phase pretty much the entire time.

Tetra Safestart seems to work a lot better after getting to try both

[brianbyrne]

So if we  take it that this good Bacteria needs to feed on the waste of fish  and also needs oxygen . So how is it getting both in a sealed bottle and how do we know we are not dumping dead Bacteria into our tanks.what is the shelf life of your product What is the bacteria feeding on while in a sealed bottle and how is it getting the required amount of  oxygen while stuck in the bottle. 

[mathh]

I would like to know if I can put water conditioner, biological enhancer, biological aquarium cleaner and plant micro nutrients all a the same time after a water change or I have to wait between each product

[MikeJones-mreg]

Not sure how long Fluval has made this product--- I first started using Hagen Inc. CYCLE bacteria under the Nutrafin brand 31 yrs ago in 1988 (the decade of its creation) and I have ALWAYS had excellent results with this product establishing a solid nitrifying colony in my fresh water, salt water, reef and outdoor ponds. Back in the day (80s and 90s), we didnt have a dozen choices like there are today in bacteria starters. But now that im getting older school--- you stick with whats very dependable and works!! I've often been successful performing the fishless bacteria cycle with a bacteria starter such as cycle. I just got back into reef aqauriums after being out of the hobby for 18 yrs since 2001. I went ahead and tried 3 other "newer brands" including the brand everyone talks about that's very expensive for 4 tiny oz.---- but whats funny is--- none worked any better...most not even as good as fluval cycle. I ended up ordering it online since many local store did not carry this unfortunately. I started out with an 8 oz bottle but just received a 2.1 quart monster...because that's how much I stand by this product and believe in it. Thank you for providing such a reliable and consistent product Fluval--- going for at least 31 yrs that i know of...maybe longer--- that's when you know a product is reliable and consistent. People--- stop trying to add fish and coral earlier than 4 to 6 weeks!!! Let your tank complete its CYCLE and please practice patience in this hobby...if you plan to be successful. :)

[fluval]

@agydnb,  there are pathogens and undesirable bacteria that do harm fish, especially ones with lowered immune systems, a condition that can arise from a number of different stress sources. There are antibiotics and other medications to treat fish disease, which contribute to undesirable, harmful bacteria and various pathogens, which are opportunistic, and which can be lethal to fish. Fluval Biological Enhancer is not a curative strategy, it is one of many preventative strategies, wihch many aquarists should employ.

[cheekieminkee]

Just wanted to thank you for this really helpful video! I have recently brought a cold water tank and made the dangerous mistake of not doing my home work and adding water conditioner then immediately stocking my tank resulting in killing my goldfish 😔 I feel terrible but I have done lots of research and I'm more confident that this time there will be no fish genocide 😐 I will be buying your biological enhancer tomorrow along with test strips, should I clean my tank out first before cycling as the fish died in there? Or should I just keep going now as I have kept the filter going and not sure I should remove any good bacteria that may already be present, your advise would be greatly appreciated

[Koldfuzion]

Hello, Fluval. Thank you very much for your helpful videos and great products. Would you be kind enough to answer a few questions for me about your Biological Enhancer/Cycle? I see you have already answered a question regarding overdosing your biological enhancer and you answered that it would cause no harm to fish. This answers one of my questions but I would also appreciate if you could answer if adding too much Biological Enhancer during the initial cycle of a fish tank could stall it and, if there is only a small amounts of ammonia and nitrite, could a lot of the bacteria being introduced die through starvation and cause a problem? Would the dead bacteria cause an ammonia increase and/or cloudy water? Finally, is your Biological Enhancer short-lived when introduced into a tank and acts only as an aid to other nitrifying bacteria from the fish/air, etc. to build or is it all the same and the strains mix and grow together? I hope I explained that right. Thank you! :)

[salfordn]

I love this stuff works great almost had a deadly situation and I searched so much stuff tried this stuff and worked great 👍brilliant

[starkiller]

I just chuck the whole bottle of cycle in

[NMW]

exactly what strains are in this product?why doesn't it show them?i hate products that don't show what's in them as I like to know what bacteria I am putting in my tank and what I already have etc.

[Matt]

snake not buying it. I have a fishroom with 21 tanks, do they really expect me to buy this every month and dose my tanks? for what? they are bare bottom and the filter is just fine.

[marineaquarium]

"Add fish immediately" what could go wrong.... spend the money on a good test kit, test and observe the nitrogen cycle and watch it go through it's paces. When your numbers are zero, then safely add your live stock at a reasonable slow pace. No need to rush it. If you are continually buying products to keep your tank stable, then you need to address the underlying issue.

[danielaguirre]

I have had my tank for 3 years, can I still use it even tho my tank is cycle? Is it okay to use it every week or how often should I use it?

[teslacybertruck]

Hello I will be setting up a 520 gallon pond, how often would I have to use this product?

[varietyclips]

Does refrigerators keep it good longer?

[ckdesign]

I used this in my tank but my nitites have been between .5 and 1ppm for weeks, I have some fish who don't care and others that are stressed out, also have lost a few of the sensitive ones. My ammonia has been at zero every time I tested, so I know that is not the issue. I have read that the nitrogen cycle needs some phosphates, so I purposefully added mono potassium phosphate to raise my phosphates to above 1pmm. That didn't work, read that it could be my Kh, dGh is 10 degrees dKh was 2-3 (.9 meq/l) depending on when I tested, raised dKh over a few days to 5 (1.8 meq/l) with ph somewhere around 7.5, then did another 4 day treatment with Fluval Bio enhancer. That didn't work so I tried going three days without feeding, which helped but as soon as I did a 15% water change to remove nitrates (they were around 40pmm) then nitites shot up to 1.5-2ppm so I tried another round of Bio enhancer for four days but no luck. Next thing someone suggested was not feeding the fish for a week, I am debating on trying that. Meanwhile I started another tank cycling using fishless with an ammonia product but that tank is just starting to spike with nitrites so it may be another three weeks before I can move fish.

[flemmingj]

I bought a new  20 gallon long aquarium  i am using Fluval Biological Enhancer  can i wait 2 weeks befor adding 4 fish

[gevkias]

I have purchased 250 ml bottle of fluval biological enchancer and it does have printed expiry date nor best before date.
Why??

[Erik-LehnsherrX]

When using this in a none cycled tank. Do you have to wait 24 hours before adding this to the tank after using Prime conditioner? Someone said prime neutralizes the ammonia. Meaning it starves this good bacteria if you add it before 24 hours have passed. Any help would be great.