Ok, here goes!
Tanks(2 tanks with identical equipment and stocking:
10g with dual light bulb full lids running 2 each 13w spiral style CF 6500k GE bulbs.
Aqueon 10g tank filters.(test tank filter was new, control tank filter started with seeded biomedia from established filter)
tanks setting on a double 10g tank stand
50w heater
fluorite substrate
plants--all plants taken from other established tanks and added on day 6 of the test. water wisteria(one each tank, floating), pygmy chain sword, anubias nana, various rotalla and ludwigia, bacopa, and sag. might also add some riccia.
critters--10 each "glowlight rasbora" aka trigonostigma hengeli added on day 1 of test. was going to go with live bearers, but then I found these guys.

Will add pygmy cories, or shrimp or snails a little later. I see some algae on the glass already, so it might be sooner than later in an attempt to keep on top of a possible algae bloom.
The purpose of this test is to see if and to what degree EBB helps to cycle a new tank. And, to see the effects of this product on water parameters while possibly reducing the "need" for water changes. There are 2 almost identical tanks. One is the "test" tank containing EBB and the other is the same except it has no EBB and started with a seeded filter to make things easier on me, rather than facing daily water changes on the "control" tank during the cycling process. I figure we have all cycled enough tanks to know that starting from scratch will cause much work and I dont think we need this test to tell us what we already know about cycling a new tank without some sort of helper.
How do we decide if the "need" for water changes is reduced when using EBB?? I will look for:Fluctuations of the aquarium tank water as compared to the source tap water. IMO, the goal of frequent large water changes(50% weekly or more) is not only to directly benefit the fish, but to keep the tank water as close to the source water parameters as possible. I will measure every variable that I can in this process, including ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH, dKH, dGH, and EC's. EC's are "Electic Conductivity" of the water.
Increases in the tank water of EC's and nitrates.(read as an increase in the levels of pollution)
Fluctuations in pH, dGH and dKH.(Simply put: the ability of EBB to add the needed carbonate hardness that is expected to be used up by the biological processes of the tank. Lack of additional KH could lead to an absense of dKH in the tank water and a pH crash)
Watch for any possible effects of health or breeding on the fish and inverts in the tank containing EBB, the "test" tank versus the "control" tank.
For the purpose of cycling a tank faster using this product I will look for:Decreased or absent levels of ammonia or nitrite from what could be expected during the cycling process--thus reducing the need for daily or more frequent water changes during the time expected for the biofilter of the tank to become established.
Here is the initial info from the 1st week of the tanks running:measurements of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are in ppm.
measurements of KH and GH will be in dKH and dGH--One degree KH is equal to 17.9 mg/I CaCO3.
sorry the numbers are not lining up correctly. they are in nice straight columns here, but when I post it, they get out of alignment.

All the results are in the same order for each day. hopefully it is not too confusing....I typed these up in a spreadsheet program to make things easier, but of course its not working! lol.
Sunday Feb 22nd 2009
EBB Product Test Results
ammonia nitrite nitrate pH dKH dGH EC/PPM
Tap 0 0 0 7.2 4dKH 5dGH n/a
Aged Tap 0 0 0 7.6 3dKH 5dGH n/a
Control tank 0 0 0 7.4-7.6 3dKH 5dGH n/a
Test tank 0 0 0 7.4-7.6 3dKH 5dGH n/a
Wednesday Feb 25th, 2009
EBB Product Test Results
ammonia nitrite nitrate pH dKH dGH EC/PPM
Control tank 0 0 <5ppm 7.4-7.6 3dKH 5dGH n/a
Test tank 0-.25ppm 0 0 7.4-7.6 3dKH 5dGH n/a
Saturday Feb 28th, 2009
EBB Product Test Results
ammonia nitrite nitrate pH dKH dGH EC/PPM
Control tank 0 0 5ppm 7.4-7.6 3dKH 5dGH n/a
Test tank 0-.25 trace trace 7.4-7.6 3dKH 5dGH n/a
From the looks of these numbers, it appears as though the control tank I set up with established biomedia is not going through a mini-cycle. The biofilter appears as though it is enough to support the bioload of the tank. These test results are before any waterchanges have been performed in either tank. A 50% w/c was performed Monday night(Mar 2nd) on the control tank as part of the regular long term tank maintenance.
The test tank containing EBB is going through a cycle, but it does not seem to be as bad--not as high ammonia or nitrites as I might expect at this point. I guess here is where having the other tank being started from scratch for comparrison would help, but its too late now..........I will keep you all posted on the progress of these tanks.

So far, I have not changed the water in the EBB tank as the ammonia level is still relatively low--it is reading a weak .25ppm. I have dosed some Prime in the test tank to hopefully neutralize the ammonia and keep the fish safe. If the ammonia or nitrites go above .25ppm, or stay at or near .25ppm for an extended period of time, I will do an immediate water change or more as needed. I will note anything like this on my next update. I feel it is important to allow the product to do its intended job, while not allowing deadly or harmful levels of ammonia or nitrites to cause harm to the fish. So far the fish in both tanks are behaving the same. They are all active, healthy, and eating well......no signs of stress or disease. I will post photos later.
Here is an article explaining KH and GH units of measurement:
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/show_article.php?article_id=22 here is a link to one of RTR's articles here in the library on NTS(new tank syndrome) this might help understand the different things one might look for in a product to "help cycle a tank":
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article53.html He also has other articles in the library which are very informative.
Here is a link to the reader submitted articles:
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/article.html