Question 1

Does this ship with ice packs? How is it insured the bacteria will be alive still after spending all day in a hot 100-110 F delivery truck?

Accepted Answer

It does not ship with ice packs.  It is a much more stable product than older competing products.  It will typically stand hot delivery trucks for short periods of time and it will typically take a freeze and still be viable, if thawed slowly (never microwave).  Can it be killed in transit, yes, but it is not very likely.  If you ever have a problem, please contact us and we will make sure you are satisfied.  Thanks for the question.

Question 2

Am i understanding this correctly, you can’t use this product with caribsea dry live rock starting a new tank from scratch?

Accepted Answer

You can use it with dry rock that has been seeded with dry bacteria, but that bacteria is the wrong species to use at this stage of cycling and will prolong the cycle to a month or even longer.  MicroBacter Start XLM will still work, but not as efficiently because they will be fighting the other bacteria for nutrients and the different species can even consume each other.  You will be better off using real live rock, or Real Reef Rock (TM), rock from another aquarium or a store, bare rock from the land, marco rock or any rock to which dry bacteria has NOT been added.  Let XLM work alone and it will do its job wonderously, or use it with normal aquarium bacteria (as in rock kept in an aquarium).  If you use dry cysted bacteria, it will cause problems, but in the end you will still cycle (and it will be a good cycle, it will just take a prolonged time to cycle).  We just recommend against using other packaged or dry bacterial products at the same time.  If you have further questions, or need specific help, please fill out our web form or contact the factory, we will be happy to help.

Question 3

Is there a way to use this if I have already put live sand in the tank?

Accepted Answer

I use it all the time and my tank has live sand and live rocks. My tank is 3 years old and established.   I think it depends upon if your tank is new and on its first cycle or if it is an established tank and you are doing a water change, etc.  I believe a first time new tank is where the problem with live sand comes in.  Hope this helps.

Question 4

Can i use this product when adding new fish to an stable reef tank?

Accepted Answer

Yes. I am using this product for last 2 years. Every weekend I put to control on Algee grow problems. But I really don’t understand what’s the relation between adding new fish with this product? When we add new fish we not use KH, CA or MG liquids to maintain Aquarim parameters ? I think you got your answer with logic

ASIN	B083W4N1T3
Allergen Information	Sulphites Free
Best Sellers Rank	#24,347 in Pet Supplies ( See Top 100 in Pet Supplies ) #209 in Aquarium Water Treatments
Brand	Brightwell Aquatics
Brand Name	Brightwell Aquatics
Customer Reviews	4.5 out of 5 stars 861 Reviews
Global Trade Identification Number	00810086019502
Included Components	MicroBacterStart XLM
Item Form	Liquid
Item Type Name	Aquarium Bacteria
Item Weight	4.97 Ounces
Liquid Volume	125 Milliliters
Manufacturer	Brightwell Aquatics
Manufacturer Part Number	BACSTARTXLM125
Model Number	BACSTARTXLM125
Target Species	Fish
UPC	810086019502
Unit Count	1 Count

Brightwell Aquatics MicroBacter Start XLM Marine Tank Cycling Aid, 125 ml

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