my new tank has been running for about a day now, so i went down to the LFS to get a couple of goldfish to start cycling my tank, they suggested i wait at least 5 days before putting any fish in at all and also sugested using "stability" beneficial bacteria once a day for 7 days instead of using fish, are they just trying to rip me off or will this work?

good for you. you have a responsible lfs. only few lfs would
suggest that, giving consideration for the welfare of the goldfish.
but 7 days dosage of good bacteria is not practical.

some people is using the guppy as seeding fish, sturdy, cheap and
easy to handle. some people uses goldfish so that it will produce
waste like oscar to complete the cycle. but most lfs won't tell you
what to do because they don't know about the cycling process of tank.

see you can put the fishes.. in one days time.. it would be fine... and the beneficial bacterial.. you can add them.. but not once every 7 days
... you will simply waste money on this...

what i was asking was can i do it without using fish just using this beneficial bacteria once a day for 7 days...

well you can.... I did it that ways...

dexter wrote:




yes you can do it... and yes you are being rip off.
putting the beneficial bacteria for 7 days without food (fish waste)
to process, they would just die. 1 day or 7 days would just have
same effect if no food is available.

ok i still can't get my head around it, so i can cycle my tank without using fish by using this bacteria stuff?

yes and in a days time you can add a fish... i did it.. and it worked fine for me...

i got the seachem stability product and have started using it, i will use to for about 7 days then do a water test and go from there i suppose...will keep you updated...