Dr. Tim's?

[apache73]

Hey Guys,

I've towed a thread over from R2R because quite frankly I am getting useless banter (more opinions than empirical experiences) with regards to using the Dr. Tim's cycling products (bacteria + the ammonia catalyst).

I am not having much success with jump starting my cycling using this process and the product website's recommended procedures. Example: 9 days into the process and ZERO nitrites being detected.

Should abandon this and maybe try the Fritz product?

Not interested in the old school process of taking a month or two cycling by tossing in a shrimp and marking it on a calendar. I have my own thoughts on what's really going on here versus the tribal lore that surrounds this process.

Cheers,
G

 

[Reefing102]

@brandon429 and @Dr. Reef may have some insight but I guess a question.

Are you detecting ammonia or nitrate?

Nitrite itself isn’t generally considered toxic (see: https://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-06/rhf/index.php) but that doesn’t mean it should necessarily be disregarded as part of the cycle.

My understanding from @brandon429 and @Dr. Reef (cycling and bottled bacteria threads I’ve read respectively) generally with Bottled Bacteria, the tank should be fully cycled for fish by about day 10 regardless of what a test kit is showing.

 

[Dr. Reef]

So the study i did over couple of years on bottle bacteria, Dr Tim was 2nd on the ranking with Fritz Turbostart 900 as being number 1.
Anyways all these bottle bacteria not like the old school cycling, You are to dose bacteria and add couple of small fish to it.
Thats what we do, we bleach our systems periodically and after drying and cleaning we just simply fill them with saltwater and dose Fritz turbostart 900 3 times the recommended quantity and add few fish to it.
If you start chasing ammonia and nitrites/nitrates etc it wont work like that.
All these bacteria need carbon source, alkalinity to continue to work and populate. and it works faster and better if bacteria is fresh and salinity is a bit low like 1.015-17.

 

[Dr. Reef]

Thread 'Bacteria in a bottle, Myth or Fact'

Sep 11, 2024

Call me old school, back in the day we placed a deli shrimp in a tank to kick start the cycle. When tank reached 1.5-2 ppm ammonia we pulled it out and waited sometimes weeks to months for bacteria to colonize and drop ammonia and nitrites down to 0 to make tank safe for livestock.
With recent research and technology which is still growing, there are some companies out there that claim No new tank syndrome, fast cycle or instant cycle.
Personally i dont think such bacteria can survive manufacturing process, trucking, shipping, warehousing. rotation, non proper storage and variant...

• Dr. Reef
• Replies: 3
• Forum: Reef Discussion

 

[apache73]

@brandon429 and @Dr. Reef may have some insight but I guess a question.

Are you detecting ammonia or nitrate?

Nitrite itself isn’t generally considered toxic (see: https://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-06/rhf/index.php) but that doesn’t mean it should necessarily be disregarded as part of the cycle.

My understanding from @brandon429 and @Dr. Reef (cycling and bottled bacteria threads I’ve read respectively) generally with Bottled Bacteria, the tank should be fully cycled for fish by about day 10 regardless of what a test kit is showing.

Yes, there's ammonia being detected. I added the ammonia chloride via instructions and user tips.