Dr. Tims Waste Away is killing my fish

[Al Shellpone]

Ive seen post out there about the warnings of overdosing but I dosed under the recommended dosage and has now killed 3 fish in my tank. Be very careful with this product. I have a 32 gallon tank and have dosed 3 times in 3 weeks. First two weeks I dosed one cap the first week and 2 the second week and saw my firefish die. I checked my params and the only thing I noticed is my ammonia went down from .15 to 0. I went to my LFS and told them what happened and they said no way it could have been the waste away and continue dosing, I dosed half of what was recommended again this week which is 2 caps of this product and now have 3 dead fish with my 4th that is on his way out. Im sure it depleted the oxygen in my tank as all my fish were hanging out at the top of tank the past two days. I know I should have listened to myself and stop dosing after the firefish died. Im writing this to warn people about this product and that not only overdosing can cause problems but even adding 1/3 or 1/2 of the recommended does can also do harm . I know alot of people have had success with it but I would recommend you consider some product other than waste away. Since I have only had this tank for a little over a year, this is my first big mistake and what a costly one it was. 2 clownfish and a goby have survived with my blenny not doing well at all. My take away from this product is that it might not be made for smaller tanks. All this tragedy for trying to get rid of gunk under my sandbed. Be careful with this product.

 

[Spare time]

I am sorry to hear about your fish. The only way it could killed your fish is if it turned your tank very cloudy with a bacterial bloom which can lower oxygen. If the tank was only semi cloudy, the only way this could kill the fish would be in combination with very poor circulation/oxygenation in the tank.

It is much more likely that your tank either had a disease, the 2nd scenario (still this would mean you have very poor circulation/oxygenation), or some other issue.

 

[BanjoBandito]

It’s a (proven) bacterial product, it cannot “kill” unless as mentioned it bottomed out O2 supplies.

why are you dosing waste away? What was the original issue?

 

[Spare time]

You also mention the tank is 32 gallons. This lends me to believe that you have a biocube, a tank that has very poor water movement without a wavemaker and has a lid on top which makes gas exchange more difficult

 

[Al Shellpone]

It’s a (proven) bacterial product, it cannot “kill” unless as mentioned it bottomed out O2 supplies.

why are you dosing waste away? What was the original issue?

I have some gunk under the sand bed and the products label says it can take care of that problem. I really thought I was doing a good thing by trying to treat that problem. Honestly i had a minor problem that really didnt need attention. Just trying to do too much

 

[Al Shellpone]

You also mention the tank is 32 gallons. This lends me to believe that you have a biocube, a tank that has very poor water movement without a wavemaker and has a lid on top which makes gas exchange more difficult

No not a biocube. I have a wavemaker thats really powerful but I do have a lid. But I kept the lid open once I noticed my fish all at the top of the tank but at that point I think the damage was done

 

[BanjoBandito]

I have some gunk under the sand bed and the products label says it can take care of that problem. I really thought I was doing a good thing by trying to treat that problem. Honestly i had a minor problem that really didnt need attention. Just trying to do too much

I’m sorry. We’ve all been there. I blindly wiped my inverts out with Dino x once.

if you post a photo of the “gunk” we can help ya out. Sometimes we like gunk in a reef tank.

 

[Jekyl]

Any recent additions for fish? Did inverts die also?

 

[Al Shellpone]

Any recent additions for fish? Did inverts die also?

no recent additions. Been about 3 months since I have added a fish. All inverts and coral are doing fine. Shrimp, snails and crabs are all doing well.

 

[Al Shellpone]

I’m sorry. We’ve all been there. I blindly wiped my inverts out with Dino x once.

if you post a photo of the “gunk” we can help ya out. Sometimes we like gunk in a reef tank.

so this is all around my tank. in some spots its a little bit darker. buts basically everywhere

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

so this is all around my tank. in some spots its a little bit darker. buts basically everywhere

Thats your standard sand gunk

 

[Nano sapiens]

so this is all around my tank. in some spots its a little bit darker. buts basically everywhere

Get a gravel vac and suck that up during a water change.

If it's stuck to the glass, push the gravel away from the glass to the reach bottom and then use an old credit card, finger nail, WHY to scrape it off.

Reef life is highly chemo-sensitive. Always opt for the non-chemical route whenever possible.

 

[Al Shellpone]

Get a gravel vac and suck that up during a water change.

If it's stuck to the glass, push the gravel away from the glass to the reach bottom and then use an old credit card, finger nail, WHY to scrape it off.

Reef life is highly chemo-sensitive. Always opt for the non-chemical route whenever possible.

Im never ever using any chemical or anything resembling a product like waste away. Sucks that I had to learn my lesson by losing most of my fish. More awful i put them through that agony for nothing. I hope i can be a better reef keeper moving forwards. I hope my 2 clown fish and goby survive. My blenny passed away rn. I feel awful

 

[Al Shellpone]

Thats your standard sand gunk

It’s a (proven) bacterial product, it cannot “kill” unless as mentioned it bottomed out O2 supplies.

why are you dosing waste away? What was the original issue?

Yea after this last dose i noticed it was alittle cloudy at the top. And from what the label said i knew i was in trouble. Moving forward im not going to use any product.

 

[FairbanksReefer]

I am sorry you lost your fish! I hope things get better and the one struggling makes a recovery.

 

[Eric Cohen]

Al,

It truly sucks to lose fish....especially when we feel responsible for our animals.....I hate to blame things on products, but I do understand it can be valid in some cases......Dr. Tim is highly respected, and comes from a long history of helping this hobby, so I would think twice about tossing all products to the curb before doing more research and also fully understanding what happened, and why your result wasn't what the product was intended for. I feel ya, but also know Dr. Tim for many years and believe in what he does.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Im never ever using any chemical or anything resembling a product like waste away. Sucks that I had to learn my lesson by losing most of my fish. More awful i put them through that agony for nothing. I hope i can be a better reef keeper moving forwards. I hope my 2 clown fish and goby survive. My blenny passed away rn. I feel awful

Waste Away works fine for lots of people and it is normally harmless.

In your case it was a sad combination of 'something'.

All bacterial products normally need good oxygenation and damage can happen fast, so don't kick yourself.

 

[Bob Weigant]

Ive had no issues using this product.

 

[Al Shellpone]

Al,

It truly sucks to lose fish....especially when we feel responsible for our animals.....I hate to blame things on products, but I do understand it can be valid in some cases......Dr. Tim is highly respected, and comes from a long history of helping this hobby, so I would think twice about tossing all products to the curb before doing more research and also fully understanding what happened, and why your result wasn't what the product was intended for. I feel ya, but also know Dr. Tim for many years and believe in what he does.

Absolutely.

Ive had no issues using this product.

this isnt a post asking people if it worked for them or not. Im here to tell people what happened to me. If you read my post i clearly said this product has had alot of success for people. Congrats on not having issues. But no need to come in here and Say what you said. Period.

 

[Al Shellpone]

I just want to say to anybody coming in here that this post is to tell my story. When I bought this product I did the same research on reef2reef. And tbh there is quite a few post on here that tell a story that is similar. I dont want to slander Dr. Tim and I dont mean to slander the product. I understand that Dr. Tim has done way more for this hobby than most. But I feel it is my obligation to tell exactly where I went wrong and exactly what happened so when the next person does his or her research they may see all the bad and good. Is it sad that I had the bad experience? absolutely. But I want to to warn whoever might be seeing this that something bad could and can happen. Obviously im talking through alot of emotions because some of these fish were my very first fish in the hobby. It hurts. And it hurts more that I caused this. Either way I just want others to know the danger that may happen if they are not careful. Even thought I thought I was extremely careful and not even reaching the recommended dose, the worst happened. I dont want this thread to be a "it worked for me" thread. This is just a thread about the bad experience I had. Thank you to everyone that took the time to respond.