Dr. Tim's

[panhandler01]

I am in the process of a new 75 gal tank build and am a couple of weeks away from adding water and getting the cycle process started. I was thinking of using Dr. Tim's Aquatics One and Only nitrifying bacteria. I will be doing a fishless cycle. I have done a fishless cycle a few times before but have never used a bottled bacteria so I was wondering if anyone here had ever used this product and if it truly decreased the cycle time. Thanks for any advice anyone has.

 

[Nick_P]

I have found the ammonia -> Nitrite process is quick with Dr. Tims but the Nitrite -> Nitrate is still the longest part of the cycle and is not sped up with bottled bacteria. So I would save the money and buy some cured live rock instead.

 

[ItzJustinN]

bacteria in a bottle is all hype. just get a small bag of sand or small piece of LR from a local reefer or LFS to seed the tank.

 

[mpgrant77]

bacteria in a bottle is all hype. Just get a small bag of sand or small piece of lr from a local reefer or lfs to seed the tank.

+1

 

[TanksDad13]

bacteria in a bottle is all hype. Just get a small bag of sand or small piece of lr from a local reefer or lfs to seed the tank.

+2.5

 

[panhandler01]

Thanks for the replies. I'll just get a couple pieces of cured rock to seed like always. Once again, thanks.

 

[u4ick]

bacteria in a bottle is all hype. just get a small bag of sand or small piece of LR from a local reefer or LFS to seed the tank.

Generally I would agree with this statement as most bacteria in a bottle are strains that come from sewage treatment plants.
However all of Dr Tim's products are bacteria that have been cultured from and for aquariums.

I have had personal experience using their products and can tell you they absolutely work as advertised.
I did a rock wall on a 120gal tank and needed to cycle the wall before moving a 60gal SPS reef into it's new home. Used One and Only to cycle the wall and then again when I did the swap.
I did not loose a single fish or coral in the process and had no measurable spikes anytime after the move.

That being said I still prefer starting a tank with live rock and having a big ol nasty cycle.....better long term results IMO.

And adding a piece of rock from "someone else's" tank would kind of defeat the purpose of starting a tank with dry rock to avoid pests and such.