Dr Tims trouble shooting

[eqbal9947]

Hello everyone,
I used Dr Tims and im on the 8th day of the cycle and the readings for Ammonia, and Nitrite are the same at 1.5 and 4 ppms
I thought that it might have been frozen in the shipping process and I called the store that i purchased it from and they said that it would have smelled very foul, which it did not.
I do have carib sea live sand and i read that might make the process take longer but it doesnt seem to be working at all.
I cant get any more DR tims but I do have a bottle of Microbacter7.
Should i pour that in or wait?

thank!

 

[homer1475]

Welcome to your new hobby. The waiting game.

Seriously though, you just need to wait it out.

Reefing is a lesson in patience, if you have none, nothing will work out right for you in this hobby.

 

[Forty-Two]

Welcome to your new hobby. The waiting game.

Seriously though, you just need to wait it out.

Reefing is a lesson in patience, if you have none, nothing will work out right for you in this hobby.

This. Just wait.

 

[homer1475]

There are certainly ways to cheat the waiting game when cycling, but IMO this will be your very first lesson in patience. If you can wait this out till the tank is fully cycled, you might make it in this hobby.

 

[pecan2phat]

I wouldn't worry too much and just wait a little longer as others have mentioned. I started a tank with Brightwells XLM which also states 7 days in their instructions but actually took 20 days to get zero.

 

[brandon429]

It only takes 20 days to get to zero for folks measuring ammonia on non digital equipment

All stuck or slow cycles are just test issues. Digital measures show all cycles meeting the ammonia timeline date from any cycling chart, and most ready on day one. *companies set the # of days wait off digital equipment verification and research patterns for their product, hobbyists use lesser gear is the issue.

Cheap test kits have a massive lag time, here's a side by side

New Cycle - Seneye vs API

Hello All, Have just started to cycle a new DD ReefPro 900. Am using Fritzzyme Fishless food and Turbo Start and am 2 days in. I have dosed twice with Fishless food on the back of the seneye readings which are as follows: But the API result seems to be showing a different story. I`ve seen a...

www.reef2reef.com

- per digital measure tank was ready day 1. The device was benchmarked on a running reef for accuracy

- api took ~two weeks to register a drop that occurred on day one. Stalled cycles are false, they're complete not stalled.

Nobody's bottle bac cycle took longer than ten days, the length of time already known for basic ammonia control per any cycling chart. Ammonia is the only parameter that matters, we can ignore the other two

The tank in question in this thread is also done cycling: choose a fish disease protocol from the disease forum before you add anything (Dr. Tim's carries fish on day one, fifty thousand fish+bottle bac on day one cycles show)

 

[eqbal9947]

Thanks everyone! I will wait lol

 

[eqbal9947]

I did some more tests again today.
The ammonia and nitrite have not moved BUT!!!! the Nitrate spiked a but to 30 ppm, so means its working slowly.
Thanks for the advice!

 

[homer1475]

You cannot test for nitrates, with nitrites present.

The way the test works, if there are nitrites present, it will show abnormally high nitrates. Hence the high nitrate number.

 

[eqbal9947]

You cannot test for nitrates, with nitrites present.

The way the test works, if there are nitrites present, it will show abnormally high nitrates. Hence the high nitrate number.

dang. That’s a bummer
The other readings have not moved and it’s at like day 10 or 11

 

[IslandLifeReef]

dang. That’s a bummer
The other readings have not moved and it’s at like day 10 or 11

Well, what have you been using as your ammonia source. Did you only add once, or have you been adding more ammonia. You should have seen ammonia decrease by this point.

 

[eqbal9947]

Well, what have you been using as your ammonia source. Did you only add once, or have you been adding more ammonia. You should have seen ammonia decrease by this point.

I added once. And he’s not decreased.
Dr.Tim’s trouble shooting says if the ammonia does not go down, to not add more

 

[IslandLifeReef]

I added once. And he’s not decreased.
Dr.Tim’s trouble shooting says if the ammonia does not go down, to not add more

If you still have the Microbacter7, I would dose the appropriate amount for your tank size and wait a few days to take another reading. After 10-11 days, you should have seen ammonia come down if the Dr. Tims was good.

Did you shake the bottle of One and Only extremely well before you added it?

 

[Screwgunner]

I did the same thing did not look like it was working so I put in a bottle of bio spera and boom all good.