Extending Dr. Tim’s?

[Zoajohn]

Hey all, I cycled my tank initially using dr. Tim’s. I had a tiny amount left over in the bottle and threw some saltwater in it with the idea of extending the life cycle of the bacteria or keeping it from drying out.

Now I’m wanting to cure some dry rock for a future upgrade in a bucket using that leftover bottle. Adding saltwater wouldn’t have caused any adverse affect right, and I should be good?

 

[furcifer208]

My guess is that you should probably buy a new bottle.

 

[Brett S]

I question whether adding the saltwater would help preserve the bacteria, but adding it to the rock you’re cycling certainly won’t hurt anything. I might be a little wary about adding it to a tank with livestock, but just adding to rock won’t hurt and might even help if the bacteria did survive.

 

[TherealplexiG]

The way the bottled bacteria works is they are in dormant stage and when they hit saltwater they get active. So by putting saltwater in the bottle you wasted the whole thing. BB requires nutrition + oxygen to survive and that ain't possible in a bottle, when they aint dormant.