Add Beneficial bacteria after water change?

Question

I do 20percent water change weekly to my 32-gallon, using siphon.

Would you add some beneficial bacteria like Cycle after a water change?

A LFS staff told me yes, another told me no.

Reason for yes:

'If you do a 25percent water change, you lose 25percet of your beneficial bacteria, so you need to add that back'

My reasoning: That's not true, cause I know 85percent of the beneficial bacteria reside in my canister filter -fluval 205-, that has 2 stacks of biomax. Ignoring my insignificant ornaments, plants, rocks, wood, my gravel can at most contain 10percent of my beneficial bacteria, and I can't possible siphon all of that during water change anyway.

Reason for No:

'You don't see God or any one pouring beneficial bacteria back into the river/lake/ocean, so there's no such need in real life'

My reasoning: That's true, but there's no one who does water change for river/lake/ocean with fresh tap water anyway, so that doesnt apply in my aquarium situation.

So what do you think? Although water change can't really take a significant total percent of my good bacteria away, it can definitely lower the amount of good bacteria from the surface of the gravel.

Thanks!

Also, do those commercial beneficial bacteria -e.i. cycle- really works? How do they live that long in the bottle without much nutrients/oxygen. And do they become effective immediately once you pour it in? Or does it take few days to 'morph' into good bacteria

Thanks!

I have 32 Gallon:

- 6 glowlight

- 3 black kuhli

- 3 guppies

- 3 otos

- 3 platies

- 1 balloon molly

- 1 twig catfish

- 3 ghost shrimps

- 2 swordplants

- few valies

-1 huge hornwort

- 4 moneywort

- 1 floating onion plant

- 1 banana plant

- (a java fern soon, my old one died surprisingly)

Answer 1

Well for starters, you aren't adding bacteria to your tank if you use c**p like Cycle actually.  Tiki is more right.  ANYTHING like that, that comes in a bottle is going to be dead or useless.  The bacteria you need is aerobic, and in the bottle for numerous weeks, it would die off without a constant source of O2 and ammonia too.  It's all c**p.  Don't waste your money on that or BioSpira either.  There are better things you can get.

I also would like to say that if you really feel you are losing your bacteria when you are doing a water change, you probably aren't doing something right.  Bacteria can adhere itself fairly well to gravel, for the small amount that actually does live in the gravel, it should stay there.  MOST of your bacteria you need resides in your mechanical and bio filter bed, so unless you are washing those out when cleaning, the whole point of adding those suppliments after cleaning is moot.  

Answer 2

An established tank should NOT need constant additions of bacteria. It will already have an established colony that will not be harmed with small partial water changes. They don't live in the water so you are not removing them as that first store said.

Unless you're pulling all the substrate out and replacing all filter media each time, the colony will remain. Adding those products too will be a waste of money.  

Answer 3

No, you and Cat are both right.  The bacteria is already established on all that stuff in the tank, but not in the water.  

And, that stuff is all cr*p and a waste of money.  The bacteria is most likely dead in those bottles without an ammonia source for it to live on, and I don't know off hand which bacteria is actually in the bottle-like for Cycle, but it's not the two that are "created" during a normal cycle.  So, it wouldn't do much if it was alive in the bottle anyway.....Only thing needed on a regular basis, is a water dechlorinator-and that's only if you're on a public water supply.

Answer 4

I am still fairly new to keeping aquariums but from all the sources I have read and talked to, my conclusion is that you really wouldn't need to add beneficial bacteria after a 20 percent water change. That said, I have done it after a 50 percent change--I'm not sure it helped or not, and have also added it once when my power filter was off for about an hour and I was afraid of bacteria dying off.

I'm not sure which ones work and which don't. I have added Seachem's Stability after a big water change. For the first tank I set up, I used Cycle, and while I don't know whether that was the reason, that tank completely cycled in just a couple days. My second tank, which was larger, took a couple of weeks to cycle so I don't know whether it helped all that much. But I had too many fish in it to start with.

A number of people say they have had faster cycling times by using some of the nitrifying bacteria products and others say they are a waste of money.

If you google Dr. Timothy Hovanec who has developed some of these bacteria starters, you'll find an explanation as to how the bacteria survive in a bottle for 6 months to a year. It's up to you whether you believe it. My own point of view is that I don't think I hurt anything by trying these products, and they may have helped cut down cycling time. I agree, however, cycling the traditional way works too and even if the bacteria starters do help cycle faster you don't really need them.