Nitrifying bacteria

Hi everyone, I recently got a bottle of Dr. Fosters and Smith nitrifying bacteria and it came today. I wasnt home and it was outside in the shade for 3 hours. today the temperature was 90 degrees. do you think the bacteria are ok? literature review tells me that 120 will kill it. thanks.
 

Aqua410

Members
I would just dump it in there and see what it does. If you have problems cycling your tank the best bet is getting some used media from someone in the club. There are many people here that will trade you an old used filter sponge for a new one if you need it. That's how I did it and I was cycled immediately. Don't forget that if you are cycling using no fish, that the bacteria in that bottle will need ammonia to eat. You can get pure ammonia from Ace hardware labeled "janitorial strength ammonia" just make sure that the only ingredients are ammonia and water. Bring your ammonia levels up to about 4ppm but no higher and wait until you can get rid of the 4ppm in 24 hours. Remember that during the cycle the bacteria which convert ammonia to nitrite grow much faster than the ones that convert nitrite to nitrate so it's important to have a kit that tests for nitrite. It may seem like your getting rid of the ammonia at first but nitrates aren't showing up yet, this is the time when those second type of bacteria are trying to get established so keep bringing the ammonia up to 4ish PPM.
 
awesomeness JB, thanks for the advice. I have plenty of used media. I am going to cycle my girlfriends Mom's tank and setup an angelfish tank for them as a late Mother's Day gift.
 

mchambers

Former CCA member
Just to be clear, the "used media" needs to come from a currently functioning filter. That's the easiest way to get a new tank cycled.
 

JLW

CCA Members
I'm personally not a big fan of these bacteria in a bottle products; most of the time, if there's any active bacterial culture in there, it's of the wrong types of bacteria. There's been a lot of research which suggest that the bacteria responsible for breaking down the wastes in the aquarium are not the ones which grow in culture (or the ones that appear in culture).
 

mchambers

Former CCA member
Archaea

I'm personally not a big fan of these bacteria in a bottle products; most of the time, if there's any active bacterial culture in there, it's of the wrong types of bacteria. There's been a lot of research which suggest that the bacteria responsible for breaking down the wastes in the aquarium are not the ones which grow in culture (or the ones that appear in culture).
And some research suggests it is not bacteria, but archaea that breaks down those wastes. See, for example:

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0023281
 
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