Dr. Tims "one and only" version 2 (1 Viewer)

[Jasonc]

Like Krjackso - I too am starting a tank with "one and only", but I am starting with 100% dead rock/sand (BRS ecorock to be exact) and adding LR from another tank once the cycle is complete.

Follow Krjacksos thread here: http://www.marsh-reef.org/showthread.php/33058-Dr-Tims-One-and-Only-my-review

I've got the tank full of SW at 77 degrees F and 1.024 salinity. I am using the 16 oz bottle of bacteria (180 gallon tank with 60 gallon sump) and I will use ammonium chloride that I also purchased from Dr. Tims to "fishless" cycle the tank.

Day 1: Dosed ammonia to between 1 and 2 PPM. Hard to tell exactly the color on API but I opted for the cautious approach and only added 8.5 milliliters (1 ml brings 20 gallons to 2ppm). I figured with rock/sand my tank probably holds 140 gallons and my sump operates at around 40 gallons for a total of 180 gallons. You DO NOT want to OD ammonia (I learned this the hard way) even when using bacteria. I dosed the ammonia, turned off my skimmer and left my returns and vortechs on. I then dosed the entire 16 ounces into the tank.

I will test daily and keep this updated until the cycle is complete.

 

[krjackso]

very cool! interested to see your results from a full recommended dosage and start from true scratch (nothing living). I think this will be a more accurate test of this products effectiveness. thanks for doing.

 

[TiAg]

Yup following too. Want to see how this goes.

 

[Jasonc]

Day 2:

Ammonia .5
Nitrite .5
Nitrate 10

So my levels went down on ammonia and went up on nitrite and nitrate. That means all bacteria are present and accounted for! The directions say to add a half dose of ammonia on day two so I am going to add 4 ml and I'll retest tomorrow.

So far so good....

 

[Jasonc]

Day 3:

Ammonia .5
Nitrite 1
didn't test nitrate - doesn't matter yet. I know it's there so that's all that matters at this point.

After adding another roughly 1PPM of ammonia yesterday (half dose) I was brought back down to .5 today. I imagine I will be at zero tomorrow then it will be a waiting game for the nitrite consuming bacteria to catch up and convert the nitrite to nitrate. I also started my skimmer this morning per Dr. Tims recommendations. If things keep going I may have this whole cycle done in 5-7 days as advertised!

 

[krjackso]

I must have missed the part about turning on the skimmer. where in his directions did it mention it? I agree with your earlier post. not very clear and concise directions on this stuff anywhere.

 

[Jasonc]

I must have missed the part about turning on the skimmer. where in his directions did it mention it? I agree with your earlier post. not very clear and concise directions on this stuff anywhere.

It didn't say in the directions; I called him. He said that after 48 hours [of adding bacteria] I could turn the skimmer back on. He also commented that I was right on track and have done everything perfectly with regards to amounts of ammonia. Whats funny is that he and I have gotten into it on another message board. I didn't mention who I was and he was super nice and helpful. I wonder what he would have said if I told him who I was? Our whole argument was based upon the lack of clear concise directions. If you don't do things right then the whole process stalls. You'd think the directions would be CRYSTAL clear to keep that from happening.

 

[Jasonc]

Day 4:

Ammonia: .25
Nitrite: 1

 

[Jasonc]

Day 5:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 1

From what I understand the bacteria that convert nitrite to nitrate are slower growing than the ammonia to nitrite bacteria and I think that's what I'm seeing here. Hopefully I'll start seeing that nitrite fall soon...

 

[Jasonc]

Day 6:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite .5

If I'm at 0 nitrites tomorrow morning I'll dose ammonia to 2 ppm and all levels should be zero'd out again the next day (per directions).

I'm so close to being done!

 

[SunnyHouTX]

Good to great that Jason. Especially after that heater mishap.

 

[Jasonc]

Good to great that Jason. Especially after that heater mishap.

Thanks!

 

[Jasonc]

Day 7:

I didn't test ammonia - I know it's 0
Nitrite - .25

One more day I guess....

 

[Jasonc]

Day 7 evening roughly 12 hours after the morning test

Got excited so I tested the water...
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 2

Done!!! I'm going to dose 8 ml of ammonia and see if it gets consumed in 24 hours as advertised. I'm beyond excited!

 

[Jasonc]

12 hours after the last "testing" dose -

Ammonia - .5
Nitrite - .25

I'll test again this evening and see if the water clears out in the 24 hour period as advertised.

 

[krjackso]

good luck. this is where my levels lingered. I kept small readings (about .25 or so) of ammonia for 3 days after my test dosage.

 

[Jasonc]

1 day after adding the ammonia dose and i am at:

Ammonia .25
Nitrite .50

We'll see what happens tomorrow morning

 

[Jasonc]

36 hours after final ammonia:

ammonia - 0
Nitrite - .25

 

[Diesel]

Still not bad after a week or so and so close! Where it takes normal a month or more. Almost 48 hrs after final ammonia..............my guess is 0.0!!

 

[Jasonc]

Still not bad after a week or so and so close! Where it takes normal a month or more. Almost 48 hrs after final ammonia..............my guess is 0.0!!

Yessir! 48 hours post dose and I'm zero'd out again. I'll toss in some of my LPS tomorrow and a fish and see how it all goes. Stoked!