Dr Tim fishless Cycle issues

[Kika]

Hey guys ammonia was at 0 last night, nitrite at 0.05 (day 16). Should I wait for nitrite to reach 0?

 

[Fish Fan]

Hey guys ammonia was at 0 last night, nitrite at 0.05 (day 16). Should I wait for nitrite to reach 0?

Nope! I think you're good if your ammonia came down to zero; nitrite is a non-issue at any level.

I used to advise to "test" the tank at this point by adding more ammonia so it's back up about 2.0 ppm, and see if it goes down to zero in 24 hours, but I now think this is unnecessary and typically leads to unnecessarily high nitrate.

I think you're cycled, I'd start to slowly add some hardly livestock

 

[Kika]

Hey guys ammonia was at 0 last night, nitrite at 0.05 (day 16). Should I wait for nitrite to reach 0?

Nope! I think you're good if your ammonia came down to zero; nitrite is a non-issue at any level.

I used to advise to "test" the tank at this point by adding more ammonia so it's back up about 2.0 ppm, and see if it goes down to zero in 24 hours, but I now think this is unnecessary and typically leads to unnecessarily high nitrate.

I think you're cycled, I'd start to slowly add some hardly livestock

Just kidding, had an ammonia reading of 2 today (WDH), nitrite 0.1… I’m not sure if yesterday’s result gave me a bad reading… the only thing I did today was ghost feeding in the morning, and now ammonia is at 2?

 

[Kika]

Hi, is it possible to still observe 2 ppm of ammonia readings on day 12 while using Dr Tim one & only + Ammonium chloride ?

I have followed the instructions they provide. I have never seen nitrite above 1. Last time I dosed ammonia was on day 6, it has bit dropped from 2ppm since then…

This is what I’m using:
RedSea 250
Lights off, only return pump and gyre running.
Dry rocks, life caribsea shapes
40 lbs of fujipink caribsea live sand
RedSea testing kit

I am starting to become impatient, can someone help/advise please ? Thanks in advance

Dr. Tim’s can be slow to start or it’s a dud bottle. Check the nitrite level to determine if anything is happening. You can add Fritz Turbo Start to get the ammonia consumption established. That product usually starts working within a day or two.

Hey @Dan_P I’m at day 20, ammonia still at 2, but nitrite has slowly increased, it is at 0.1 now… I’m thinking on adding Turbo Start. Should I do a water change first or can I add it on top of the one and only ?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Hey @Dan_P I’m at day 20, ammonia still at 2, but nitrite has slowly increased, it is at 0.1 now… I’m thinking on adding Turbo Start. Should I do a water change first or can I add it on top of the one and only ?

I’d go ahead and add it without doing a water change.

 

[Kika]

Hey @Dan_P I’m at day 20, ammonia still at 2, but nitrite has slowly increased, it is at 0.1 now… I’m thinking on adding Turbo Start. Should I do a water change first or can I add it on top of the one and only ?

I’d go ahead and add it without doing a water change.

Thank you @Randy Holmes-Farley. For future reference, do we have an idea what happened with Dr Tim one and only? Maybe a bad bottle?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thank you @Randy Holmes-Farley. For future reference, do we have an idea what happened with Dr Tim one and only? Maybe a bad bottle?

It has been demonstrated to be very slow. Personally, I see no particular reason to use it and I do not recommend it.

Not all Cycling Bacteria are created equal. Who's who, and what do they need?

Haha, if you posted this, asking if your cycle stalled or never got started, my answer would be “a dud bottle of Dr. Tim’s is not am uncommon occurrence”. Actually, no not really - if I understood correctly - he spun down all of the 'bacteria' - and used just the pellet. So 1. He could have...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Kika]

Thank you @Randy Holmes-Farley. For future reference, do we have an idea what happened with Dr Tim one and only? Maybe a bad bottle?

It has been demonstrated to be very slow. Personally, I see no particular reason to use it and I do not recommend it.

Not all Cycling Bacteria are created equal. Who's who, and what do they need?

Haha, if you posted this, asking if your cycle stalled or never got started, my answer would be “a dud bottle of Dr. Tim’s is not am uncommon occurrence”. Actually, no not really - if I understood correctly - he spun down all of the 'bacteria' - and used just the pellet. So 1. He could have...

www.reef2reef.com

Thanks for sharing the data. And yes! I will never use it again. Is it still ok to use their ammonium chloride product, correct? In the future, I intend to use turbo start 900 + Dr Tim ammonium chloride.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks for sharing the data. And yes! I will never use it again. Is it still ok to use their ammonium chloride product, correct? In the future, I intend to use turbo start 900 + Dr Tim ammonium chloride.

There seems some uncertainty as to its concentration, but I expect it is fine for cycling.

 

[Kika]

Thanks for sharing the data. And yes! I will never use it again. Is it still ok to use their ammonium chloride product, correct? In the future, I intend to use turbo start 900 + Dr Tim ammonium chloride.

There seems some uncertainty as to its concentration, but I expect it is fine for cycling.

Any other recommended ammonium chloride product? At this point I do not feel confident on using Dr. Tim’s products any more … it was just not the best impression for me, specially as a new member of this hobby, hope that makes sense

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Any other recommended ammonium chloride product? At this point I do not feel confident on using Dr. Tim’s products any more … it was just not the best impression for me, specially as a new member of this hobby, hope that makes sense

Food grade ammonium bicarbonate from amazon is what most folks regularly dosing ammonia to a reef tank use. I use it, dosing about 0.1 ppm every day, split into 2 doses.

DIY Ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems

Some reef aquaria have chronic low nitrogen availability. One indicator is very low nitrate. Nitrate dosing is a fine remedy, but it is possible that ammonia dosing may be more beneficial for some organisms since ammonia can be energetically easier to assimilate than is nitrate. For this...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Dan_P]

I’d go ahead and add it without doing a water change.

We are in agreement

 

[MnFish1]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this - but the ammonia 'drops' (the directions of Dr. Tims) can allow much higher ammonia dosing as compared to the supposed goal. I would check the ammonia directly after dosing and make sure whatever dose you were aiming for is correct. Ammonia levels above 5 ppm (total) can inhibit nitrifying bacteria

 

[Kika]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this - but the ammonia 'drops' (the directions of Dr. Tims) can allow much higher ammonia dosing as compared to the supposed goal. I would check the ammonia directly after dosing and make sure whatever dose you were aiming for is correct. Ammonia levels above 5 ppm (total) can inhibit nitrifying bacteria

Yeah, I strictly followed their directions for the 4 drops per gallon and even subtracted ~20% of rocks as per instructions… my NH3 dosing was never above 2ppm, I used the redsea marine care kit.

 

[Kika]

Hey guys quick update: I finally added 4oz of turbo start last Saturday. At day 5 and NH3 is ~0.1, NO2 reached 1 and is starting to going down, currently at 0.5, and NO3 was at ~5 on day 2 (haven’t tested just again), PH has always been solid at 8.2, some times 8.4.

That said, turbo start seems to be indeed a great product. I appreciate you all for your help, should be done in couple of days..

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Glad things are moving forward!