Dr Tim's - all I can say is WOW

[The Farmer]

Went to LFS to get some more dry rock to add to my sump. I was told by LFS to put the dry rock in a 5 gal bucket and pour the Dr Tims (I have 75g, bought the 60g recommended, I'm cheap I know...) in with the new dry rock and let it sit for 24 hours before you put it in the sump. I wasn't going to buy the Dr. Tim's, but I ended up getting it.

My tank is about 2 months out from finishing cycle. It's currently in the "if you turn the lights on, you will grow a crap ton of diatoms" stage. I don't have any issue with the diatoms, I was told it was similar to a tank's "puberty" stage. I have $65 worth of Reef Cleaners CUC coming today, which should also help tremendously.

After 2 days of the dry rock being in my sump, all the diatoms are gone. Ran the lights 8+ hours yesterday, and no new diatom growth. All the water is clear, and my 2 clownfish seem happier? I can't say exactly how/why they are happier, but their swimming pattern has seemed to change and be less frantic. They never seemed stressed, but they swam around the tank so fast everywhere like they had extra energy to get out. Now they have become more docile and relaxed, and hang out in their front corner of the glass more often.

Is Dr. Tim's the reason my tank has cleaned up so quickly? If so - should I buy more, and add in another 60 gallon treatment to it?

I bacteria dose once a week and I also started my tank with dr Tim’s

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

It is interesting... and frustrating, and infuriating! Your tank will go through phases in its road to maturity. The organisms that process nutrients and provide food are mostly missing from your tank. Nutrients will rise. Nature will provide things to use those nutrients that you won't like i.e. numerous Cyanobacteria, Diatoms, Hair Algae, Turf Algae, Sheet Algae, and possibly Dino's. As the tank matures, and organisms grow to compete with the stuff nature stuck you with, things will get better. You job during this process is just to keep things from getting out of hand until the phases pass. Manual removal of the bad stuff, limiting nutrient levels, and possibly limiting light are good methods of controlling these pest organisms.

Read the article linked below my post. It proposes a different way to start a tank and some won't apply to you, but It might help you think about the processes occurring in the tank differently.

It is a good read - I will say it was a little confusing, but I will not claim to be even 1% knowledgeable regarding anything I read, so it is all completely new to me.

Relative to my situation, I am really interested in the 'manual removal with brushes' aspect. I haven't put any kinds of medication or treatments into the water, other than the Dr. Tim's, and I don't think I will. I will try to increase my feeding, I only feed 2x a day, once pellets and once frozen mysis. I'll probably move to 4x a day and double the routine.

I will stop running lights 8 hr a day and move to turn them on when I get home from work and then off when I go to bed, so I can enjoy the tank while I'm home.

Thank you for sharing knowledge, and having it in a place that I can continue to come back to. I actually printed the article so I can keep it in the tank's filing cabinet. Yes I am a nerd and my DT has it's own file in our filing cabinet.

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

diatoms are super competitive when they have a lot of silicates to eat. Dr tims is useful when treating some things, but moreso for stuff like cyano and dinos than diatoms. Also is the tank cycled or not cycled? if you are doing a fish in cycle for some reason, the bottled bac may have helped to reduce the ammonia that is/was killing/burning the clownfish.

The act of sitting and being moved around in an bucket may have helped remove some silicates. Although better to have diatoms then to leave space for other things IMO.

I rinsed the dry rock in the tub before I put it in the 5 gallon bucket, washing it until the water was clear.

The tank was cycled with a yellowtail damsel, she is happy and thriving, and I apologize to her and thank her 1x/day for the superb job she did, hoping one day she can forgive me. I was instructed to set up my tank using live sand, one piece of live rock, and a fish picked out specifically for ammonia production in the tank. I left the hobby in 2012, came back in 2022, and am 100% guilty of not doing proper research before I started back into it, figured I could just go back to the same place I was giving my business ten years ago. Was not a part of this forum until I started asking LFS questions, and wasn't liking the answers I was getting, so found this place I know now that there are much more humane and delicate ways to accomplish this. Do your research, get a second opinion, and always ask questions on this forum, is what I have learned.

 

[SlugSnorter]

excellent! My issue is with people who make mistakes with their tank, but refuse to acknowledge or learn from them. Theres nothing wrong with making mistakes though, we all need to learn more, and are guilty of missing something here or there. The important thing is to learn from it, and improve our skills for our own sakes and the health of our tanks, and you seem to be following that nicely.

Sidenote: Consider getting some acculturated live sand from somewhere like Florida pets or Tampa bay saltwater, it may help out.

I rinsed the dry rock in the tub before I put it in the 5 gallon bucket, washing it until the water was clear.

The tank was cycled with a yellowtail damsel, she is happy and thriving, and I apologize to her and thank her 1x/day for the superb job she did, hoping one day she can forgive me. I was instructed to set up my tank using live sand, one piece of live rock, and a fish picked out specifically for ammonia production in the tank. I left the hobby in 2012, came back in 2022, and am 100% guilty of not doing proper research before I started back into it, figured I could just go back to the same place I was giving my business ten years ago. Was not a part of this forum until I started asking LFS questions, and wasn't liking the answers I was getting, so found this place I know now that there are much more humane and delicate ways to accomplish this. Do your research, get a second opinion, and always ask questions on this forum, is what I have learned.

 

[ReefGeezer]

It is a good read - I will say it was a little confusing, but I will not claim to be even 1% knowledgeable regarding anything I read, so it is all completely new to me.

Relative to my situation, I am really interested in the 'manual removal with brushes' aspect. I haven't put any kinds of medication or treatments into the water, other than the Dr. Tim's, and I don't think I will. I will try to increase my feeding, I only feed 2x a day, once pellets and once frozen mysis. I'll probably move to 4x a day and double the routine.

I will stop running lights 8 hr a day and move to turn them on when I get home from work and then off when I go to bed, so I can enjoy the tank while I'm home.

Thank you for sharing knowledge, and having it in a place that I can continue to come back to. I actually printed the article so I can keep it in the tank's filing cabinet. Yes I am a nerd and my DT has it's own file in our filing cabinet.

Manual removal is a pain, but it serves a couple of purposes. It helps keep the tank looking ok while in the "ugly" phase, keeps stuff from getting out of hand and outcompeting other, more desirable organisms, and it exports some nutrients.
Feeding is part of the process, but in the article, the heavy feeding is meant to support life that is seeded by live rock. You don't have that life in your tank, so heavy feeding isn't a good idea... yet. I'd not increase it substantially until you see some reason to do so.

Sidenote: Consider getting some acculturated live sand from somewhere like Florida pets or Tampa bay saltwater, it may help out.

Great Idea. They also sell live rock. A few pounds of live rock can help seed those organisms you need.

 

[SlugSnorter]

Manual removal is a pain, but it serves a couple of purposes. It helps keep the tank looking ok while in the "ugly" phase, keeps stuff from getting out of hand and outcompeting other, more desirable organisms, and it exports some nutrients.
Feeding is part of the process, but in the article, the heavy feeding is meant to support life that is seeded by live rock. You don't have that life in your tank, so heavy feeding isn't a good idea... yet. I'd not increase it substantially until you see some reason to do so.

Great Idea. They also sell live rock. A few pounds of live rock can help seed those organisms you need.

Op has LR

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

Op has LR

I just have 9 pounds of it, been in tank since day 1. Pretty sure that is where my copepod population has come from. Will look into the Florida pets / Tampa Bay saltwater. My only worry is that I would be removing rock from the ocean, which is something I don't want to do. Do you have a good link where I can start my research for this product? Thank you!!

 

[homer1475]

They place the dry rock in the ocean for the very purpose of making it live.

Your not removing rock from the reefs. That is not allowed anywhere in the world I don't think.

 

[SlugSnorter]

I just have 9 pounds of it, been in tank since day 1. Pretty sure that is where my copepod population has come from. Will look into the Florida pets / Tampa Bay saltwater. My only worry is that I would be removing rock from the ocean, which is something I don't want to do. Do you have a good link where I can start my research for this product? Thank you!!

unless you are going through sketchy weird places , that won't happen. The rock is aquacultured.