Live bacteria

[subbyjay]

So i had to break down my tank and now im restarting it, whats the best live bacteria to start with? I have been reading about dr tims and turbo start but wanted a little more input.

 

[jmareef1022]

Can you get any established tank water? Thats a different route you can take.

 

[Dono]

So i had to break down my tank and now im restarting it, whats the best live bacteria to start with? I have been reading about dr tims and turbo start but wanted a little more input.

Dr Tims works great. There's a few other "ammonia in a bottle" products that work great too, though on my most recent build I still went with 95% dry rock and 5% Live rock to begin with a bit more robust colony of nitrifying bacteria.

FYI, water from an established aquarium will likely have little effect on helping jump start a cycle. Now if you take sand or rock from an established aquarium that's a different story!

 

[jmareef1022]

Gotcha.

 

[ralgo]

A small rock or cup of sand from 2 or 3 different established tanks added to your non live base sand and rock will work a lot better to establish your tank than the bacteria.

 

[sonic]

A small rock or cup of sand from 2 or 3 different established tanks added to your non live base sand and rock will work a lot better to establish your tank than the bacteria.

How so? The bacteria in a bottle is the same thing just from another source, and you wont run the risk of introducing pests into a new system. I always do the shrimp method though.