krjackso
Guest
Hello All,
Well as some may know, I am in the midst of putting together my 270 gallon reef build. The whole process took a whole lot longer than I originally planned (go figure) and the buyer of my old tank that is currently holding all my livestock will be here in about 2 weeks to come pick it up. Hence, I needed a faster than normal cycle since I do not have my normal 4-8 week cycling process time.
With that, I came across a product called Dr. Tims One and Only. see video here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPxExG-FbvI)
I started doing a lot of research as usual and all came back really positive. The rationale is sound, the research is there, so I decided to give it a shot.
Please keep in mind I am not one of those who believe in quick fixes and solutions, so this really goes against my school of thought and training.
Anyways, I received the 8 oz of the live nitrifying bacteria and his ammonia solution in the mail today and thought I would record the process and results over the next 10 days and see if you can really fishless cycle a tank in a week with his product, properly.
Couple of other quick notes.
1) I am using all previously cycled and cultured live rock, but very little compared to the water volume (minimalist scape thing). Problem is it sat for 8 months circulating, but not skimmed, in a dark stock bin in my garage, subjected to all temp swings. Who knows what is still "alive" or not. So I have some, presumably very little bacteria already at work for me. I am actually going to dose the ammonia to half the recommended levels (1ppm not 2ppm) and see what happens in a 24 hour period without adding his product to see what bacteria I already have can do.
2) I am intentionally using the bare minimum dosage of bacteria (cause this stuff aint cheap) and because I presumably have some bacteria at work for me. 10ml per 10 gallons. 8 oz equals 240 ml or treats 240 gallons.
3) I will be testing for ammonia and nitrates twice daily (no nitrite kit, sorry) and following his directions to only add more ammonia once it disappears, but again only to 1ppm, not 2ppm.
So here goes with some results that I will keep posting.
Hour 0 (Day 0) Baseline
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
Hour 1 (added supplied ammonia to get tank concentration to 1ppm, but have not added bacteria populations yet)
Ammonia 1ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
Day 2
No significant change in ammonia, but faint readings of nitrate, which signifies some bacteria was present on my live rock, but decided to proceed with adding the One and Only now to get the ball rolling.
Ammonia 1 ppm
Nitrate .2 ppm
Start of Test w/ Bottled Bacteria
Day 1- Hour 0
Ammonia 1ppm
Nitrate .2 ppm
Day 2 - 24 hours
Ammonia .5 ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
Day 3 - 48 hours
Ammonia- 0 ppm
Nitrate 2.5 ppm
(pretty happy, ammonia down to 0 and nitrates seem to drop a bit too actually. Was expecting a rise there actually. Fairly quickly dropped off over 2 days, so I am going to up the dose of ammonia to 2ppm and see if I can get it to drop to zero within 24 hours like his instructions say, and then we would be ready to add fish. Off I go to add more ammonia to 2ppm)
Day 4- 72 hours
Ammonia 1ppm
Nitrate 5 ppm
was hoping to be done here (wishful thinking), but it looks like a drop of of 1ppm of ammonia and a rise in nitrate. another couple days to go it seems. will not dose back up to 2ppm today. I think I will let this one run down to zero and do another 2ppm / 24 hour test then.
Day 5- 96 hours in
Ammonia - .25 ppm
Nitrate 10 ppm
Still not down to zero on the ammonia unfortunately. added another 10 lbs of seeded live rock from my old display (fish not happy) to help seed this thing. Need it up and running soon. Wish me luck.
Day 6- 120 hours in
Ammonia .25ish ppm
Nitrate 10-15 ppm
still not down on the ammonia reading. was hoping it could knock it out by now. another day I guess.
Day 7- 132 hours in (couldn't wait till tonight)
Ammonia- 0ppm
Nitrate- 5 ppm
finally dropped down to zero. just shy of a week (which he advertises) now I think I will bump the ammonia back up again to 1ppm and hope for a total clearing in 24 hours, then I will be done! fingers crossed.
Day 8
Ammonia- .5
Nitrate- 5ppm
looks like not quite zeroed out in 24 hours
Day 9
Ammonia- .25
Nitrate- 3-5
Still not zeroed out and running out of time! Old tank is leaving in 2 days!
Day 10
Ammonia- 0
Nitrate- 3-5
good enough for me. gonna add fish and corals over the next 36 hours. wish me luck!
Day 11
everything checked out fine. product got the job done. took a few extra days, but keep in mind, I only used half the dosage recommended.
Well as some may know, I am in the midst of putting together my 270 gallon reef build. The whole process took a whole lot longer than I originally planned (go figure) and the buyer of my old tank that is currently holding all my livestock will be here in about 2 weeks to come pick it up. Hence, I needed a faster than normal cycle since I do not have my normal 4-8 week cycling process time.
With that, I came across a product called Dr. Tims One and Only. see video here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPxExG-FbvI)
I started doing a lot of research as usual and all came back really positive. The rationale is sound, the research is there, so I decided to give it a shot.
Please keep in mind I am not one of those who believe in quick fixes and solutions, so this really goes against my school of thought and training.
Anyways, I received the 8 oz of the live nitrifying bacteria and his ammonia solution in the mail today and thought I would record the process and results over the next 10 days and see if you can really fishless cycle a tank in a week with his product, properly.
Couple of other quick notes.
1) I am using all previously cycled and cultured live rock, but very little compared to the water volume (minimalist scape thing). Problem is it sat for 8 months circulating, but not skimmed, in a dark stock bin in my garage, subjected to all temp swings. Who knows what is still "alive" or not. So I have some, presumably very little bacteria already at work for me. I am actually going to dose the ammonia to half the recommended levels (1ppm not 2ppm) and see what happens in a 24 hour period without adding his product to see what bacteria I already have can do.
2) I am intentionally using the bare minimum dosage of bacteria (cause this stuff aint cheap) and because I presumably have some bacteria at work for me. 10ml per 10 gallons. 8 oz equals 240 ml or treats 240 gallons.
3) I will be testing for ammonia and nitrates twice daily (no nitrite kit, sorry) and following his directions to only add more ammonia once it disappears, but again only to 1ppm, not 2ppm.
So here goes with some results that I will keep posting.
Hour 0 (Day 0) Baseline
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
Hour 1 (added supplied ammonia to get tank concentration to 1ppm, but have not added bacteria populations yet)
Ammonia 1ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
Day 2
No significant change in ammonia, but faint readings of nitrate, which signifies some bacteria was present on my live rock, but decided to proceed with adding the One and Only now to get the ball rolling.
Ammonia 1 ppm
Nitrate .2 ppm
Start of Test w/ Bottled Bacteria
Day 1- Hour 0
Ammonia 1ppm
Nitrate .2 ppm
Day 2 - 24 hours
Ammonia .5 ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
Day 3 - 48 hours
Ammonia- 0 ppm
Nitrate 2.5 ppm
(pretty happy, ammonia down to 0 and nitrates seem to drop a bit too actually. Was expecting a rise there actually. Fairly quickly dropped off over 2 days, so I am going to up the dose of ammonia to 2ppm and see if I can get it to drop to zero within 24 hours like his instructions say, and then we would be ready to add fish. Off I go to add more ammonia to 2ppm)
Day 4- 72 hours
Ammonia 1ppm
Nitrate 5 ppm
was hoping to be done here (wishful thinking), but it looks like a drop of of 1ppm of ammonia and a rise in nitrate. another couple days to go it seems. will not dose back up to 2ppm today. I think I will let this one run down to zero and do another 2ppm / 24 hour test then.
Day 5- 96 hours in
Ammonia - .25 ppm
Nitrate 10 ppm
Still not down to zero on the ammonia unfortunately. added another 10 lbs of seeded live rock from my old display (fish not happy) to help seed this thing. Need it up and running soon. Wish me luck.
Day 6- 120 hours in
Ammonia .25ish ppm
Nitrate 10-15 ppm
still not down on the ammonia reading. was hoping it could knock it out by now. another day I guess.
Day 7- 132 hours in (couldn't wait till tonight)
Ammonia- 0ppm
Nitrate- 5 ppm
finally dropped down to zero. just shy of a week (which he advertises) now I think I will bump the ammonia back up again to 1ppm and hope for a total clearing in 24 hours, then I will be done! fingers crossed.
Day 8
Ammonia- .5
Nitrate- 5ppm
looks like not quite zeroed out in 24 hours
Day 9
Ammonia- .25
Nitrate- 3-5
Still not zeroed out and running out of time! Old tank is leaving in 2 days!
Day 10
Ammonia- 0
Nitrate- 3-5
good enough for me. gonna add fish and corals over the next 36 hours. wish me luck!
Day 11
everything checked out fine. product got the job done. took a few extra days, but keep in mind, I only used half the dosage recommended.
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