A novice with more questions

[Cakelake]

Have any of you guys heard of Marineland aquarium bacteria? I kind of bought it as an impulse buy to help the cycling process in my tank. I'm starting to get worried however because marineland does not have any information about this product on their page and the only place that sells it is petsmart which seems very strange to me. They said at the pet store that it was for salt water tanks but it doesn't actually say on the package if it is for freshwater or salt water....I'm totally freaking out and would love it if anyone had any information on this product!

[KenCotigirl]

There has been a brief discussion of late about these products. I would avoid it. Start your tank as this site recommends. Once that tank and shrimp are flourishing experiment on a new tank.

Setting up your tank is like getting a recipe for wonderful dish from Aunt Tilly. Instead of following her directions you modify and wonder why it doesn't taste the same.

Ken

[JennyPenny]

I don't think that you should. These shrimp thrive in a mature tank. When people set up a tank without following the recommended steps on this site, they frequently encounter problems.
I can't think of a poster who followed the method and lost shrimp.
I do not remember exactly how long I waited before ordering shrimp, but I think it was around 4-6 weeks. I haven't lost one shrimp, and they started breeding around 4 months. I had shrimplets by 6 months and my population is about 5 times larger than it was when I added shrimp last February.
Kencotigirl has been on this forum for years and gives excellent advice. I advise skipping the additives and waiting for your tank to cycle naturally.

[Cakelake]

I actually did end up adding it yesterday as it seemed as though adding beneficial bacteria couldn't be a bad thing. My tank had lots of little bubbles at the top of the surface before but I guess I have even more in the tank after adding as my algaeball has floated up an inche from the bottom of the tank. Also I started noticing small spots of brown algae (which I don't think has anything to do with the bacteria I added) on the side of the tank that I keep the light next to which is cool. Also my macroalgae is way bigger than it was when I got it which seems weird since I've only been cycling for a week.

[Ace]

It would be a little unnerving for me if it didn't state specifically that it is for use in fresh and salt water. I would contact Marineland and ask.

[skittymars]

I used this exact product for my tank when I started the cycle process. I don't know if it sped up the cycle or not, since I still waited until there was visible green algae which took 2 months. I added my shrimps about a month ago and they seem to be doing fine.

[Cakelake]

That makes me feel so much better skittymars!!! I was so worried I had destroyed my tank by putting it in there

[Cakelake]

Should I be concerned that there are a bunch of bubbles in the tank since adding the product? I read online about bubbles coming off of the substrate due to nitrate so that might be why they are there. All of these bubbles are forming on my rock though rather than the sand and floating to the top of the tank.

[Varanus]

In porous rocks like that one source of bubbles can be trapped air in the rock finding its way to the surface. It shouldn't cause any problems.

[Stalker]

You have also O2 and N2 production in porous rock (denitrification)

[Mustafa]

You have also O2 and N2 production in porous rock (denitrification)

Nope. In this case that's not it, and denitrification in porous rock is not significant and does not cause such visible bubbles. It's clearly the photosynthesizing bacteria and algae, which if fine and not harmful.

As for the bacterial product...probably not necessary, but I'll have to do my own testing to see how useful they are. As I've said before, in *most* cases you can actually add snails/shrimp in about a week without any problems (visible algae or not...except that the visible algae are a 100% sure indicator even if people mess up in the setup process somehow) so the efficacy of a bacterial product is hard to judge when you can add shrimp that quickly anyway without the product.

Also, let's keep in mind that "cycling" in connection with Supershrimp is used kinda vaguely as the shrimp and snails barely produce any ammonia at all and most of the bacteria included in these cycle products would starve to death immediately. What really happens in a Supershrimp tank is more aptly called "establishment of a biological balance via microorganisms", but that appears to be a bit too long to use constantly.