Dr tims not working help!!

[Birdman3611]

I have used dr Tim’s before and it worked fine. This time I have set up an Im 25 gallon lagoon and started the tank and started using dr Tim’s 3 weeks ago. It’s started fine but now it’s been 2 weeks since my last ammonia dose and my ammonia is super high and hasn’t dropped at all. My question is, did it kill the beneficial bacteria? What do I need to do to fix it? I already did a 20% water change. Do I need to restart with a new bottle of dr Tim’s ? Do I need to drain most of the water and start over? Should I wait?

 

[Dan_P]

I have used dr Tim’s before and it worked fine. This time I have set up an Im 25 gallon lagoon and started the tank and started using dr Tim’s 3 weeks ago. It’s started fine but now it’s been 2 weeks since my last ammonia dose and my ammonia is super high and hasn’t dropped at all. My question is, did it kill the beneficial bacteria? What do I need to do to fix it? I already did a 20% water change. Do I need to restart with a new bottle of dr Tim’s ? Do I need to drain most of the water and start over? Should I wait?

Ammonia reduction is pretty quick, days, with healthy bacteria. What do you mean by “it started fine”?

 

[Birdman3611]

Ammonia reduction is pretty quick, days, with healthy bacteria. What do you mean by “it started fine”?

The first 5 days that I used it like the directions said, the ammonia, ph, and nitrites were at its target amounts according to dr Tim’s directions. After the 3rd dose of ammonia it just never went back down and has only climbed

 

[Dan_P]

The first 5 days that I used it like the directions said, the ammonia, ph, and nitrites were at its target amounts according to dr Tim’s directions. After the 3rd dose of ammonia it just never went back down and has only climbed

Sounds odd. Bacteria typically don’t quit working. The increasing ab
mount is odd on top of odd. Here is a couple thoughts.

Idea. What you are observing is a resting error. You could buy another type of test kit and confirm or disprove original observation that ammonia is still around.

Idea. You could assume test kit is fine and buy Biospira or Fritz Turbo Start to introduce more bacteria to bring down ammonia. If either of these don’t work, I favor a test error explanation.

Idea. Some might say move on. Everything is OK, go ahead, toss in some fish. This is my least favorite idea by far.

 

[Smite]

I haven't looked at Dr.Tims directions in a while. What does it say about ph? or did you mean ammonia, nitrites and nitrates?

I wouldn't start stocking until I had 0 ammonia (or very close if using API), 0 Nitrite and some Nitrates registering. When I followed Dr.Tims dosing protocol the tank was fully cycled when you could do a standard dose (2.5ppm I think?) of ammonia and have both ammonia and nitrite zeroed out in 24 hours.

Did you test after each dose for the first few weeks or just follow the schedule?

I do recall it stating if you overdose ammonia you'll stall the cycle. If you get a chance share you values for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrates. If your ammonia is way too high then a large water change to bring the value down near 2.5ppm may be in order. Then start dosing bacteria again and watching/testing.

 

[Smite]

I just read it and see he mentions ph above 7.0. Stick to the directions. If by way high you mean above 5ppm of ammonia or nitrite, then do a water change to bring it down. @ 5ppm, 50-60% water change to bring it down to 2ppm range.

I've found Fritz Turbostart cycles ammonia very quick but it is pricey. It also has to be refrigerated at the LFS.

 

[Birdman3611]

Sounds odd. Bacteria typically don’t quit working. The increasing ab
mount is odd on top of odd. Here is a couple thoughts.

Idea. What you are observing is a resting error. You could buy another type of test kit and confirm or disprove original observation that ammonia is still around.

Idea. You could assume test kit is fine and buy Biospira or Fritz Turbo Start to introduce more bacteria to bring down ammonia. If either of these don’t work, I favor a test error explanation.

Idea. Some might say move on. Everything is OK, go ahead, toss in some fish. This is my least favorite idea by far.

I wondered if the test kit could be bad. I may buy another one to see. I did buy fritz turbo start today and put it in the tank. More beneficial bacteria couldn’t hurt haha. I will monitor ammonia and hopefully it goes down. Thank you so much for your thoughts! Super helpful.

 

[Birdman3611]

I just read it and see he mentions ph above 7.0. Stick to the directions. If by way high you mean above 5ppm of ammonia or nitrite, then do a water change to bring it down. @ 5ppm, 50-60% water change to bring it down to 2ppm range.

I've found Fritz Turbostart cycles ammonia very quick but it is pricey. It also has to be refrigerated at the LFS.

I did get some refrigerated turbo start today. I will see if that helps. This is my first time using the Red Sea test kits. It only goes up to 2 on ammonia so I will see if this helps and if not, do a large water change. Thanks!

 

[Idech]

If you follow the directions on the bottle, you will get two or three times more ammonia than needed. You need to use about 30%-40% of the amount and go from there.

It’s a known fact, there is a problem with the instructions. There were one or two threads about it a while ago. For now just do a 50% WC, test and if you’re around 2 ppm it’s enough.

 

[Smite]

I did get some refrigerated turbo start today. I will see if that helps. This is my first time using the Red Sea test kits. It only goes up to 2 on ammonia so I will see if this helps and if not, do a large water change. Thanks!

I had very fast results with that one on a stalled fishless cycle. It should work great for you.

 

[Rmckoy]

@brandon429

 

[Birdman3611]

I wondered if the test kit could be bad. I may buy another one to see. I did buy fritz turbo start today and put it in the tank. More beneficial bacteria couldn’t hurt haha. I will monitor ammonia and hopefully it goes down. Thank you so much for your thoughts! Super helpful.

After 24 hours of the fritz turbo start, it has brought my ammonia down to .15 which is amazing. Seems to have helped with the cycle!