Dr Tim One and Only Cycle Questions

[DeadEnd]

Hey everyone,

Hoping you guys are having a good weekend I was wondering if I could ask for a little bit of assistance/advice about Dr Tim One and Only Fishless Cycle.

I am on the 5th day of the cycle and my API tests still shows the same amount of Ammonia, pH, NO2 and NO3 as in day 1.

2, 7.8, 0, 0

Should I be worried that something is off? I know patience is the key but I feel like something is wrong. Possible a bad batch? I used around 12 oz for 140 gallons. 2 different 8 oz bottles. bought them from my LFS and they were refrigerated.

I dont have any filters running, the water is from my RO system and used prime (just in case). Salinity 0.19 and temperature 84.

Thanks

 

[Jeffcb]

@brandon429

 

[DeadEnd]

Had the same results today. I read some of the older posts and some people said that it sometimes it can take a little longer than expected. And also that the API tests are not great.

 

[Jeffcb]

Had the same results today. I read some of the older posts and some people said that it sometimes it can take a little longer than expected. And also that the API tests are not great.

You have Ammonia. Some thing will happen soon.

 

[DeadEnd]

You have Ammonia. Some thing will happen soon.

And indeed something happened. Ammonia went down and the other parameters went up.

 

[kinetic]

Just be careful of overdosing ammonium chloride. Dose just enough to start reading something on your ammonia tests.

 

[DeadEnd]

Just be careful of overdosing ammonium chloride. Dose just enough to start reading something on your ammonia tests.

Overdosing is like 5 ppm right?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Overdosing is like 5 ppm right?

It seems like the Dr. Tim's kit is easy to overdose... I believe some have said the drop size isn't consistent and that many have added 2-3 times as much ammonia as they intended to.

I like the Dr. Tim's products but am a little more old school and prefer ghost feeding as an ammonia source. I personally wouldn't add actual ammonia to a tank when cycling. Just seems to complicate things.

 

[DeadEnd]

It seems like the Dr. Tim's kit is easy to overdose... I believe some have said the drop size isn't consistent and that many have added 2-3 times as much ammonia as they intended to.

I like the Dr. Tim's products but am a little more old school and prefer ghost feeding as an ammonia source. I personally wouldn't add actual ammonia to a tank when cycling. Just seems to complicate things.

I didn't know about the old school methods with the shrimp or salmon. I dosed some amonia today and it's below 2 ppm. I am weighting the dose and not counting drops and it seems accurate

 

[kinetic]

I've used Dr Tim's one and only 4+ times now to cycle a new tank, and the instructions are very wrong (or maybe the dropper is). 4 drops per gallon isn't right.

I setup a 10 gallon QT tank, and only did 15 drops and it overdosed. I let it run for a month and ammonia never came down. I totally reset the tank (easy with only 10g) and did 4 drops the first day. My ammonia before dropping was 0. My ammonia after dropping 4 drops in was 2ppm!

I basically had to do 4 drops per about 7 gallons to get it under 2ppm. This was using multiple ammonia tests.

At the same time I also was cycling a 40 gallon breeder (temp tank) and I also just used 4 drops. That one cycled quickly and was always under 2ppm ammonia.

My experience isn't unique either.

 

[DeadEnd]

I've used Dr Tim's one and only 4+ times now to cycle a new tank, and the instructions are very wrong (or maybe the dropper is). 4 drops per gallon isn't right.

I setup a 10 gallon QT tank, and only did 15 drops and it overdosed. I let it run for a month and ammonia never came down. I totally reset the tank (easy with only 10g) and did 4 drops the first day. My ammonia before dropping was 0. My ammonia after dropping 4 drops in was 2ppm!

I basically had to do 4 drops per about 7 gallons to get it under 2ppm. This was using multiple ammonia tests.

At the same time I also was cycling a 40 gallon breeder (temp tank) and I also just used 4 drops. That one cycled quickly and was always under 2ppm ammonia.

My experience isn't unique either.

dang.. I need to be more careful when using this type of products. I followed the instructions someone gave me at my LFS. The next time I cycle a tank I will use a shrimp or a piece of salmon.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I've used Dr Tim's one and only 4+ times now to cycle a new tank, and the instructions are very wrong (or maybe the dropper is). 4 drops per gallon isn't right.

I setup a 10 gallon QT tank, and only did 15 drops and it overdosed. I let it run for a month and ammonia never came down. I totally reset the tank (easy with only 10g) and did 4 drops the first day. My ammonia before dropping was 0. My ammonia after dropping 4 drops in was 2ppm!

I basically had to do 4 drops per about 7 gallons to get it under 2ppm. This was using multiple ammonia tests.

At the same time I also was cycling a 40 gallon breeder (temp tank) and I also just used 4 drops. That one cycled quickly and was always under 2ppm ammonia.

My experience isn't unique either.

Thanks for posting. This is what I was referring to but don't have direct experience with it myself

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

dang.. I need to be more careful when using this type of products. I followed the instructions someone gave me at my LFS. The next time I cycle a tank I will use a shrimp or a piece of salmon.

You can also just add some fish food... It will decay the same way the shrimp will but you won't have to remove/dispose of a stinky decomposing shrimp, lol

 

[kinetic]

dang.. I need to be more careful when using this type of products. I followed the instructions someone gave me at my LFS. The next time I cycle a tank I will use a shrimp or a piece of salmon.

Don't get me wrong, using ammonium chloride is actually a great way to do it, just don't go by the instructions!

 

[DeadEnd]

Don't get me wrong, using ammonium chloride is actually a great way to do it, just don't go by the instructions!

I actually just check my ammonia right now and it's back at 1 ppm.

You can also just add some fish food... It will decay the same way the shrimp will but you won't have to remove/dispose of a stinky decomposing shrimp, lol

I thought it was easier to use the shrimp because you can easily remove it if the ammonia spikes to high

 

[SaJon]

I actually just check my ammonia right now and it's back at 1 ppm.


I thought it was easier to use the shrimp because you can easily remove it if the ammonia spikes to high

When I cycled my systems I used the Dr Tim's method and just dollowed his directions and let the cycle do its thing. I would test every other day and it took approx 3 weeks for the cycle to complete. If you keep adding ammonia it will take longer to cycle as the ammonia turns to nitrites then turns to nitrates. If your ammonia got up to 2ppm then leave it be and let it do its thing. Your cycle will be finished when you have Ammonia 0 Nitrites 0. Depending how high your nitrates are you may want to do a minimal water change at the end of the cycle. Every system cycles different. You can set up 2 exact size aquariums start cycle same time and they will cycle different. If your patient now, you will benefit from it in the long run. Nothing goid happens fast in this hobby

 

[SaJon]

When I cycled my systems I used the Dr Tim's method and just dollowed his directions and let the cycle do its thing. I would test every other day and it took approx 3 weeks for the cycle to complete. If you keep adding ammonia it will take longer to cycle as the ammonia turns to nitrites then turns to nitrates. If your ammonia got up to 2ppm then leave it be and let it do its thing. Your cycle will be finished when you have Ammonia 0 Nitrites 0. Depending how high your nitrates are you may want to do a minimal water change at the end of the cycle. Every system cycles different. You can set up 2 exact size aquariums start cycle same time and they will cycle different. If your patient now, you will benefit from it in the long run. Nothing goid happens fast in this hobby

Sorry for my typos .

 

[kinetic]

Well the idea of Dr. Tim's is that 2ppm of ammonia will go to 0 within 24 hours (or sooner), which is what they say is fully cycled. I think this is a good measure of bacteria stability.

I'm also in the camp that just being cycled isn't the end of it. There's still so much more (like biodiversity) before a tank is fully stable.

 

[DeadEnd]

Well the idea of Dr. Tim's is that 2ppm of ammonia will go to 0 within 24 hours (or sooner), which is what they say is fully cycled. I think this is a good measure of bacteria stability.

I'm also in the camp that just being cycled isn't the end of it. There's still so much more (like biodiversity) before a tank is fully stable.

In my case the ammonia is going down but the NO2 is still at 2. I guess now I am in a waiting game.

Would you add other type of bacteria to achieve biodiversity? Or you would achieve this by just letting it run?

 

[kinetic]

In my case the ammonia is going down but the NO2 is still at 2. I guess now I am in a waiting game.

Would you add other type of bacteria to achieve biodiversity? Or you would achieve this by just letting it run?

Ah! Right, you want both ammonia and no2 to hit 0 within 24 hours. Normally I just ignore NO2 for two weeks until the end because that is pretty quick to go down as well. No2 usually takes care of itself in the right time period.

In terms of more biodiversity, it's less about the bacteria, and more about things like pods and algae, and then eventually some equilibrium between resources used vs. replenished (dosing/water changes/etc).

I'd look into getting something like AquaBiomics live reef rubble https://aquabiomics.com/product/live-reef-rubble which will seed your tank with some pods etc. They test every batch to make sure there's no pests/disease. You can also try seeding from someone else's established tank, but it's not as "For sure" in terms of being free of pests. Ultimately, pests will most likely make their way in, but in a nicely established tank, they shouldn't be too difficult to manage and live with easily.