Dr. Tim's Ammonium Chloride or fish ?

[427HISS]

To get the cycle started, I've always used a fish for the ammonium, but this time I bought the "One and Only".
Have any of you used his ammonium chloride instead ?
I would have to order the ammonium as I forgot to add it to my order or,....use a fish.

 

[SmoothSmoke]

Your local Ace has ammonia. Id get it there.

 

[427HISS]

He mentioned not to use them because of added chemicals.
Plus, a bottle is fairly cheap.

 

[SmoothSmoke]

The Ace brand is good to use. If you shake a bottle of ammonia and it does not foam up, you're good to go. Ammonia with additives will foam up when shaken.

 

[cpayne015]

All I ever use is nitrifying bacteria from Dr tim and 100 percent success rate. Used it through four tanks in last year and been perfect so far

 

[427HISS]

All I've read, people really like it, and for the price I'll try it also. Just as a note, I bought the "live" black sand and it cycled in three days.
I would rather not use a fish if this stuff works. What put a fish through the harsh cycle if you don't have to, plus if it's a fish you really don't want to remain in the display, like a damsel, I hate trying to catch and remove it.

Did you put a fish/fish's, in right away like he recommends ?

 

[Danielt67]

I've set up 3 tank this year great success. I've also used it on my personal tanks with same results.

 

[NanaReefer]

Just don't use a fish!!

 

[Tahoe61]

Nope to fish.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Add a jumbo raw shrimp from the store instead.

 

[427HISS]

UPDATE-
Questions-
Video's-

I did try the "Live" black sand. 20lbs. apx 1"-1.5" deep. It cycled in three days.

I've researched Dr. Tim and heard many,...good things about him and his products, so I just tried Dr. Tim's "One and Only" and his "Ammonia", to start my wife's 29gallon tank. Per the instructions, I added both bacteria's yesterday morning and just tested the results a few hours ago. (You're suppose to wait 24hrs to test).

In his video below, he explains that we may not see any amount of ammonia etc.....

Here are my results using API test kits.

Ammonia- 0.10 (not yellow, but a light green)
Nitrite- 5.0 (at least, if not more. Dark purple)
Not necessary to test Nitrate, pH ect.

The other video below on how to use test kits, and it's past my brain capacity. lol

What I'm really wanting, is someone to chime in and tell us no-brains, do we need to add RO/DI to dilute the test or not ?
In his video, the color change was remarkable, to me anyway.

Video's and 3 questions-

"DrTim's Aquatics --- How to Use Our One and Only Live Nitrifying Bacteria"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGZmTmawqM8

Bacteria in a Bottle: Snake Oil or Worth Trusting?
Hosted by "Mr. Salt Water Tank" (Mark, and like him)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPxExG-FbvI

How to Use Water Test Kits - DrTim's Aquatics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPiDRid_Km8&feature=youtube_gdata_player


How to Use Water Test Kits - DrTim's Aquatics-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPiDRid_Km8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

#1-So, do I/we, dilute our tests with RO water ?

#2-According to my API test results, I have way more Ammonia and Nitrite, than Mark had in his tank tested at. Also, Dr, Tim told him to add a fish or 2 right after adding his ammonia and One and Only Bacteria.

#3- So, do I add a fish like Dr. Tim says (video time- 3:50,..."right after adding the bacteria") even with the test numbers I have ?

What's your thoughts on all ?

Regards,
Kevin

 

[Pete polyp]

I'm confused on the instructions given my the manufacturer of the products also. Lots of things don't add up or I find unethical.

 

[Pete polyp]

I guess I can try to answer the questions instead of only commenting... If the nitrite is testing higher than the limitations of the test kit then its probably a good idea to wait. Also the presence of ANY ammonia will be damaging to any living thing you put in there. Some people use fish when cycling, and I find that practice cruel. I'm baffled on why they would suggest adding a fish and putting it through the stress of damaging conditions.

 

[427HISS]

I agree, and feel if there's a way of cycling a "fishless tank", I'm all for it !
That's why I'm trying the bottled bacteria.

Plus, it's only been one day, but Dr. Tim makes it sound like you add his bacteria, and you can add a fish right way, because the ammonia will be so low, or none at all, unless I'm missing his point ?

 

[Pete polyp]

Cycling without fish doesn't require bottles of bacteria. It could have been done without it. From my understanding these products are supposed to shorten the cycle. I have been following another thread here on r2r where this product was used. From what I have seen so far the results are about the same with or without these products.

 

[427HISS]

With my research, most aquarists like it, but some have mixed results for various reasons. It's worth a try.

 

[tankstudy]

You should order his ammonium chloride if you plan to build a fairly strong biofilter so that you can stock heavily and quickly. This is beneficial for those who depend on ordering online for livestock. This allows them to order all the livestock they want in one go.

If you are just going to stock very lightly, you can go with the fish route because its much quicker than fishless cycling.

If you are going to fishless cycle, let me know and I can chime in some Do's and Don'ts to make the product run smoother. To fishless cycle, you really need to understand much much more about the bacteria in order to not run in to a ton of problems. Fishless cycling can vary from 2-6 weeks depending on how much bacteria you actually want to grow.

 

[Pete polyp]

You should order his ammonium chloride if you plan to build a fairly strong biofilter so that you can stock heavily and quickly. This is beneficial for those who depend on ordering online for livestock. This allows them to order all the livestock they want in one go.

If you are just going to stock very lightly, you can go with the fish route because its much quicker than fishless cycling.

If you are going to fishless cycle, let me know and I can chime in some Do's and Don'ts to make the product run smoother. To fishless cycle, you really need to understand much much more about the bacteria in order to not run in to a ton of problems. Fishless cycling can vary from 2-6 weeks depending on how much bacteria you actually want to grow.

Why not just go to the hardware store and buy ammonia?

 

[tankstudy]

Why not just go to the hardware store and buy ammonia?

Depending on what type of product the ammonia chloride or ammonia can vary ppm. If you add 1 drop of Dr Tim's ammonium chloride per gallon, you produce 2 ppm of ammonia in your tank. If you add 1 drop of product "X" from the store, depending on how diluted or what its concentration is, your PPM can vary, which is a big problem.

The importance of this is because if you don't control the initial amount of ammonia, you can run in to many problems. This is why some people have iffy reviews on this product. The product requires the reefer to understand the science of growing the bacteria to a much further degree.

You need to control the exact amount of ammonia entering the system to avoid mainly two things.

A) PH dropping below 7.0
B) Nitrites spiking too high

If either of these happen because you added way too much ammonia, your cycle completely stops. It completely inhibits the growth of your bacteria and if the reefer does not know this, he/she will sit for a long time wondering what is going on. Depending on this time phase, your bacteria can die off without you realizing it. Remember, these levels inhibit growth/reproduction of the bacteria and these bacteria are not immortal, so if they don't reproduce, they die off at some time or another. A lot of the time, this sets the reefer back.

Its important you know exactly how much ammonia is going to be in your aquarium water when fishless cycling. You can add and test to find out till you reach certain levels with product "x" but the ammonia bacteria can actually oxidize the ammonia very quickly. This will cause you to add way way more ammonia than needed so you can get the right ammonia PPM reading and will cause your nitrites to fly off the scale and some test kits will give you a false 0 if nitrites are outside of its measuring range.

Buy his product because you know the concentration of the ammonium chloride which is important when trying to fishless cycle with a huge bacteria starter kit.

 

[Rcat]

I am now on day 4 of Tims. I have 150 fowlr I added a 4inch trigger day 1 and feed 2x daily. Temp 78.4 and 1.0245 . Ph 8.3, Amonia 0.00ppm and No2 o.00ppm. Had a slight spike day 2 but the above a current readings. So far so good, fingers crossed.