I dosed Dr. Tims but then left the tank alone (top off only) for 5 months. Should I buy another bottle and start over? Should I just start dosing the ammonia again? Also, I'm having a hard time with a good/clear to read ammonia/nitrite/nitrate test kit any suggestions welcome there as well.
tank sat empty for 5 months after dr. tims
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Kershaw
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I think you will have to start adding ammonia again. If you don’t feed the bacteria it dies. Just through a dead shrimp in there or something or dose ammonia. I prefer to dose ammonia
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It's still cycled. They fed naturally.
Want to do a neat test to see if that's the case?
Do the exact ammonia test we did here to prove his two month unfed tank was still cycled:
www.reef2reef.com
Your tank has valuable data to offer in new cycle science studies. That test ran off the fully fallow setup will show activity levels
They feed on room dander, aquatic bacteria that bloom then die, a gnat degrading etc
Want to do a neat test to see if that's the case?
Do the exact ammonia test we did here to prove his two month unfed tank was still cycled:
Bacteria in a bottle, Myth or Fact
Did the online calc indicate to use one mil in the tank for your gallonage
www.reef2reef.com
Your tank has valuable data to offer in new cycle science studies. That test ran off the fully fallow setup will show activity levels
They feed on room dander, aquatic bacteria that bloom then die, a gnat degrading etc
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Jedi1199
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just edited it in back above.
its this: add in a small controlled amount of ammonia like he did above, use that template. have a before picture of API handy, as the baseline for the current water.
then after adding that ammonia to get a slight green on api, second pic, take another pic in 24 hours see if its back to baseline. we've been measuring this in a few standout test threads lately and it keeps passing
that tank above wasn't even fed or dosed bottle bac. it was water only sitting two months. cycled. from those natural sources. his tank going five means its even more cycled than that one above, and the original bacteria that were added didn't starve. they're this resourceful we're finding
one of the new tenets, to be tested, for updated cycling science is whether or not a cycle can undo by fallow stress, after remaining in a non sealed / air contaminated container with a significant opening like an aquarium top. that's full on contamination 24x7. imagine never dusting blinds or baseboards, ever. that level of buildup goes into our reefs, they're open topped water magnets for room dander.
its this: add in a small controlled amount of ammonia like he did above, use that template. have a before picture of API handy, as the baseline for the current water.
then after adding that ammonia to get a slight green on api, second pic, take another pic in 24 hours see if its back to baseline. we've been measuring this in a few standout test threads lately and it keeps passing
that tank above wasn't even fed or dosed bottle bac. it was water only sitting two months. cycled. from those natural sources. his tank going five means its even more cycled than that one above, and the original bacteria that were added didn't starve. they're this resourceful we're finding
one of the new tenets, to be tested, for updated cycling science is whether or not a cycle can undo by fallow stress, after remaining in a non sealed / air contaminated container with a significant opening like an aquarium top. that's full on contamination 24x7. imagine never dusting blinds or baseboards, ever. that level of buildup goes into our reefs, they're open topped water magnets for room dander.
Well I dosed 4drops/gal of ammonia. Tested after 24hrs and reading was at the top of the chart on the API test. Tested again after 36hrs and still at the top. Seems like the population either didn't survive or is very small. I'll test again at 48hrs but ordering another bottle of Dr. Tims one and only in the meantime to repopulate.
Azedenkae
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Well there you go, good thing you 'tested the cycle' eh. Nitrifiers can lay dormant for a long time despite being ammonia starved, but not too long, and even then takes a while to spring back to life. Plus, there may never have been much to begin with. Either way, yeah best to cycle again.Well I dosed 4drops/gal of ammonia. Tested after 24hrs and reading was at the top of the chart on the API test. Tested again after 36hrs and still at the top. Seems like the population either didn't survive or is very small. I'll test again at 48hrs but ordering another bottle of Dr. Tims one and only in the meantime to repopulate.
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Then it changes to this if directions are followed
2021
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24 hours later. I say color movement!
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2021
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24 hours later. I say color movement!
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Reactions:You and Garf
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@Azedenkae it's not accurate we test unassisted cycles at 2ppm
The advice is not coming from cycle studies matched to tank presentation it's being read off bottle bac labels, without context. In no way does an unboosted cycle reef have to reduce 2ppm to carry a full fish bioload- these aren't charged up doses. they're all natural
2ppm is what they use to verify bottled cycles, it has absolutely no tie in unassisted cycling as the valid mark of proof. you know a quarter of the public wields test kits that aren't even going to show zero in a reef... I don't see that factor accounted for in any posts on cycle assessment.
no extrapolation about dormancy can be made whatsoever by overdoing this test at such a high degree of ammonia.
Seneye cycling threads are nothing like API cycling threads, until that's factored in assessments the risk will be more loss of opportunity. Seek out seneye cycling threads and relay the timeframes you see back here.
we wont see another one of these opportunities for years, a rare opportunity to see natural bacteria in action. API has to be tuned carefully to work well, everyone knows that. in no way was API tuned or adjusted for in this run...these events don't just make api automatically reliable among searches we can easily see it has issues.
the test can be used though, there's a way.
On Dr Reef's bottle bac work thread, we specifically did not drive to 2 ppm for this reason.
www.reef2reef.com
The advice is not coming from cycle studies matched to tank presentation it's being read off bottle bac labels, without context. In no way does an unboosted cycle reef have to reduce 2ppm to carry a full fish bioload- these aren't charged up doses. they're all natural
2ppm is what they use to verify bottled cycles, it has absolutely no tie in unassisted cycling as the valid mark of proof. you know a quarter of the public wields test kits that aren't even going to show zero in a reef... I don't see that factor accounted for in any posts on cycle assessment.
no extrapolation about dormancy can be made whatsoever by overdoing this test at such a high degree of ammonia.
Seneye cycling threads are nothing like API cycling threads, until that's factored in assessments the risk will be more loss of opportunity. Seek out seneye cycling threads and relay the timeframes you see back here.
we wont see another one of these opportunities for years, a rare opportunity to see natural bacteria in action. API has to be tuned carefully to work well, everyone knows that. in no way was API tuned or adjusted for in this run...these events don't just make api automatically reliable among searches we can easily see it has issues.
the test can be used though, there's a way.
On Dr Reef's bottle bac work thread, we specifically did not drive to 2 ppm for this reason.
Bacteria in a bottle, Myth or Fact
Did the online calc indicate to use one mil in the tank for your gallonage
www.reef2reef.com
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