Dr Tim's failing to work.

[NanoReeferLancashire]

I am now on Day 9 of Dr tim's one and only alongside Dr Tim's Ammonia.

I have been reading exactly the same since day 1.

Now on day 9 - here are my test results from day 1 onwards to today

Temp 27c (elevated slightly as per Dr Tim's instructions)
Salinity 1.024 (lowered slightly but not to extent Dr tim suggests)
PH 7.8-8.0
Ammonia constantly reading 1 - 2 ppm
Nitrite never read any I.E 0 ppm
Nitrate again 0ppm

Sorry, forgot to add using API saltwater master kit. I have used Salifert in the past and personally don't like them, so went back to API which I used to use for tropical.

Now added Fluval cycle to try and boost the bacteria and still no change at all.

Anyone with any ideas, I would appreciate a bit of help on this.

Thank you in advance.

 

[ScottR]

API is not really trustworthy in saltwater tanks. I’ve read many people stating that they get false readings from API. I would seek a second opinion.

 

[NanoReeferLancashire]

API is not really trustworthy in saltwater tanks. I’ve read many people stating that they get false readings from API. I would seek a second opinion.

Thanks, then in this case it might be worth me asking LFS if they do water tests. Then just take a water sample.

Worth a try at least

thank you.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Ghost feed your tank 2 days in a row. Not a lot. Just pretend feed 1 or 2 fish.
D

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Than stop. You will see your cycle.
D

 

[NanoReeferLancashire]

Than stop. You will see your cycle.
D

Would I still need to do this even with dosing Dr Tim's Ammonia? As i thought this was instead of ghost feeding?

Thanks for reply.

 

[ScottR]

Thanks, then in this case it might be worth me asking LFS if they do water tests. Then just take a water sample.

Worth a try at least

thank you.

Honestly, cycling is so much easier these days than before. The bottled bacteria we have now is great and really establishes itself well. I’m assuming your tank has either rock, sand, or some type of media? Have you tested NO3 (nitrates) yet? This would show that the bacteria have broken down the ammonia and NO2 (nitrites).

 

[djm]

I had the same issue when cycling my tank. I used Dr Tim’s ammonia and Microbe-Lift Special blend, after a week of nothing I added DR Tim’s One and Only. It took me about 2 weeks after adding the One and Only before I saw the ammonia start to drop.

 

[NanoReeferLancashire]

Honestly, cycling is so much easier these days than before. The bottled bacteria we have now is great and really establishes itself well. I’m assuming your tank has either rock, sand, or some type of media? Have you tested NO3 (nitrates) yet? This would show that the bacteria have broken down the ammonia and NO2 (nitrites).

Hi, thanks for your reply.

Yes Nitrates have been tested and show as 0ppm. I have dry rock and sand in. The reason I didn't get live rock was, simple, my LFS don't sell it.

No idea what's going wrong tbh.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

If you are new. Being new i would say yes do as scott says and watch your cycle. You learn a lot and it might seem.boring and slow but its just a small step stone into the sw world.
D

 

[NanoReeferLancashire]

I had the same issue when cycling my tank. I used Dr Tim’s ammonia and Microbe-Lift Special blend, after a week of nothing I added DR Tim’s One and Only. It took me about 2 weeks after adding the One and Only before I saw the ammonia start to drop.

Cheers, so I guess just a waiting game, even though Dr tim's is supposed to eliminate most the waiting time.

Thanks for reply.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Im sorry i dont add any additives or boosters for cycling.
D

 

[NanoReeferLancashire]

If you are new. Being new i would say yes do as scott says and watch your cycle. You learn a lot and it might seem.boring and slow but its just a small step stone into the sw world.
D

Hi, I am new-ish.

I used to have Tropical, totally different, I know... Then I had 250 litre ciano with external filter, skimmer, T5s, the lot.

Ill health meant this tank became too much for me, W/Cs etc so sadly gave it up. Didn't want fish/corals to suffer.

Recently got a small 30G interpet tank deciding to get into it again in a smaller setup, meaning smaller W/Cs, yes I know parameters can be a bit tougher in a nano.

But yeah it's just strange to me nothing seems to be happening.

thanks for reply.

 

[Azedenkae]

I am now on Day 9 of Dr tim's one and only alongside Dr Tim's Ammonia.

I have been reading exactly the same since day 1.

Now on day 9 - here are my test results from day 1 onwards to today

Temp 27c (elevated slightly as per Dr Tim's instructions)
Salinity 1.024 (lowered slightly but not to extent Dr tim suggests)
PH 7.8-8.0
Ammonia constantly reading 1 - 2 ppm
Nitrite never read any I.E 0 ppm
Nitrate again 0ppm

Sorry, forgot to add using API saltwater master kit. I have used Salifert in the past and personally don't like them, so went back to API which I used to use for tropical.

Now added Fluval cycle to try and boost the bacteria and still no change at all.

Anyone with any ideas, I would appreciate a bit of help on this.

Thank you in advance.

I disagree with others on the API ammonia test not being trustworthy.

I have been using the API ammonia test kit extensively and the only issue is the resolution. I.e. there are only specific values readable pretty far away from each other. If you have 3ppm it is hard to know because it might read as 2 or 4ppm I suppose.

However that does not mean they are unreliable or give false readings. That just means they are 'not accurate' even if they are 'precise' (see my definitions here: https://wp.stolaf.edu/it/files/2017/06/precsionvsaccuracy_crashcourse-579x600.png).

So when you read ammonia to be between 1 and 2ppm, I trust that. Provided you did the test right (shook the bottle real hard and so on).

Question is, since you follow Dr. Tim's method, did you dose ammonia three times? I believe in the first 9 days you'd dose three times right? Did ammonia read between 1-2ppm every time?

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

U got this nano reefer! 1 5gal wc.and ur tank would be good to go. Lol.
Hope you get lots of joy from your new fish tank!
-d

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Best to hold those to the white background next to the test color levels. It can be hard to.see the diffrence in color but not impossible with bright light and that white background
D

 

[NanoReeferLancashire]

I disagree with others on the API ammonia test not being trustworthy.

I have been using the API ammonia test kit extensively and the only issue is the resolution. I.e. there are only specific values readable pretty far away from each other. If you have 3ppm it is hard to know because it might read as 2 or 4ppm I suppose.

However that does not mean they are unreliable or give false readings. That just means they are 'not accurate' even if they are 'precise' (see my definitions here: https://wp.stolaf.edu/it/files/2017/06/precsionvsaccuracy_crashcourse-579x600.png).

So when you read ammonia to be between 1 and 2ppm, I trust that. Provided you did the test right (shook the bottle real hard and so on).

Question is, since you follow Dr. Tim's method, did you dose ammonia three times? I believe in the first 9 days you'd dose three times right? Did ammonia read between 1-2ppm every time?

Hi,

thanks for the reply.

Yes I followed the "quick guide" on Dr Tim's website etc. I have added ammonia only twice, only because, according to Dr Tim's guide, if the Ammonia didn't drop then don't add more, as the ammonia will only increase, slowing down the cycle. and yes the ammonia level has remained the same.

I do shake the bottles as directed on the API instructions, I also wait for the 5 minutes before reading the results.

 

[NanoReeferLancashire]

U got this nano reefer! 1 5gal wc.and ur tank would be good to go. Lol.
Hope you get lots of joy from your new fish tank!
-d

Thank you.

I hope so too. But I am just stuck in limbo at the moment lol

 

[NanoReeferLancashire]

Best to hold those to the white background next to the test color levels. It can be hard to.see the diffrence in color but not impossible with bright light and that white background
D

Yes I hold them on the test chart beside the colour comparison, for whatever I am testing for.

thanks again

 

[Azedenkae]

Hi,

thanks for the reply.

Yes I followed the "quick guide" on Dr Tim's website etc. I have added ammonia only twice, only because, according to Dr Tim's guide, if the Ammonia didn't drop then don't add more, as the ammonia will only increase, slowing down the cycle. and yes the ammonia level has remained the same.

I do shake the bottles as directed on the API instructions, I also wait for the 5 minutes before reading the results.

Coolio, no biggie. Could just be an amount of ammonia added that did not visibily change the readings too much then.

I'd suggest just keep waiting then, some microbe products seem to take longer than others, and so far I seem to have seen Dr. Tim's One and Only as one of these products. If you want to speed it up though, I would suggest FritzZyme Turbo Start 900. This product was found by @Dr. Reef in his experiment to be the most effective and the other day I posted about my success withit and received agreement that it does indeed work great.