Dr. Tim Hovanec: How to harness bacteria to cycle your saltwater tank quickly! | MACNA 2019

[@LeeGrill]

I just burnt a pizza in the oven watching this. Wow! A whole new level of appreciation for Dr. Tim's products.

[@AH-tw4wy]

Probably the best talk of this series, no nonsense, very informative and in language most reef keepers can understand easily.

[@ReefStash]

A H agree!

[@freemansaquatics5326]

Agreed man it clicked with me very well

[@wilsonline90]

agree so far it is

[@gasprops]

Great info

[@lynnreefnerd]

agreed

[@rusty8735]

Anyone who owns an aquarium should watch this video probably one of the most important aquarium keeping videos I’ve ever seen on KZbin

[@mazroxeternal6047]

OMG Anyone looking to start a reef tank needs to watch this !! Understanding how it all works is really important and there were some real surprises here. Thanks so much :)

[@scotttang6229]

Woah, this is why I love the reef keeping hobby! There's always new things to learn even after 10 years of reefing.

[@nova1q]

Thanks to Dr.Tim. He has correct many or my cycling thoughts. I will try summary: 1. use filter media with more spaces, allowing water flow thourgh 2. start with low gravity less salty water, no light, high temperature 3. measure amonia if live sand/rock is used 4. add one time and wait until NO2 convert to NO3. 5. ramp up salinity back to normal value

[@megadeth1763]

Dr Tim. . You've got a new customer, and thank you !

[@CrotalusHH]

This goes back the the beginning of my keeping aquariums. When I started 20 years ago I was told to go to someone with an established tank and get a scoop of sand. I also used bioballs back then. Wonderful talk.

[@MrSikorskys]

The most educational video if this year MACNA. Please do more of Dr. Tims!

[@NyteFryte]

Best advise I've seen and finally straight to the point!

[@rahjelli]

Great presentation, really put the home aquarist in mind using the most basic layman's terms for us while still putting the science behind it. It's really a cant fail approach if you follow it. Thanks Dr. Tim and BRS for posting!

[@theloneaquarist]

Best presentation I’ve seen this year. So much relevant information.

[@Tilly1770]

I’ve been cycling a tank for an Axolotyl and it’s been hell! This video helped explain it all so much

[@tomkran1]

What a legend!!! The best presentation i have ever seen. This was so educational. Thank you BRS for sharing this with us. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@aliceholbert1246]

Just set up new tank and came across this. Oh boy. Tank is cycling fast like this . Wow

[@timothydillard9507]

Ryan, you need to have Dr Tim on one of your “what’s up uuuuu-tube!” shows. I’d love to have him talk about your 360g tank, Bare vs Sandy bottom experiment

[@timsawyer1311]

Excellent presentation. I'm currently cycling my new dry rock using Dr Tim's one and only and his ammonia drops. It has worked perfectly so far. Can't wait now for my new tank to be delivered ;-) Thanks for uploading BRS

[@amermeer3989]

Great topic for new and experienced. So much good information with real science to back it up. I think many experienced reefers have just learned a thing or two

[@TheClemo]

This Is The Best Presentation So Far

[@thepassionreef]

really very informative talk..Thanks Dr.Tim and Thank you BRS for posting this...

[@detroithammer8869]

Wow, mind blown! thanks Dr Tim

[@edson.jerez1982]

These talks are fascinating!

[@VipeRecon]

Thank you for the supergood advice... I have like NO3 around 100 for 2 years, some corals keep dying and I just dose vodka and bacteria just t block out the good stuff that need to grow... finally a good explanation how to correct my tank in the future :)

[@hotdroper]

Awesome talk, short and sweet full of useful relevant information

[@bluerider0988]

Great video. Who thought I would be interested in a video about bacteria. Very interesting and informative. Thanks for sharing.

[@banasophia]

Excellent presentation, thank you! Will be sharing!!

[@hoohaaa0]

BRS saving the best for last... Very informative, loved the fact he broke up the reason you want a specific strain over another. I wish he spent more time going into carbon dosing, but not relevant to an initial cycle.

[@trojon]

Dr Tims next time then... Shame - already bought Fritzyme 9 - but heard it's also good... Great talk. Reminds me of my first year biology classes.

[@freemansaquatics5326]

This clicked with my mind so well thank you Sir for the great talk :)

[@andres19877]

Enlightening!!!

[@christophernunez6802]

F$$king facinating. Wish I could have heard this in 99 when I had my 300gal reef.

[@jacklawer6389]

Learned a lot

[@reinaldo1504]

great free knowledge, thx doc

[@harlanmichael7088]

Great video! Thanks for sharing!

Great presentation. Thank you

[@joseamaya1934]

Amazing!!! 👏👏👏 very informative presentation.

[@quintin-johnsmith8363]

Very interesting

[@DanBuell]

Brilliant! Why on earth all the thumbs downs?

[@istandwithisreal8883]

Thank you Dr. Tim’s such a helpful video I appreciate it

[@Allbean]

Wish that I had watched this video before starting my cycle - was at 34ppm salinity with Dr. Tims and had chiller working at 25-26 degrees Celsius . ;( slower cycle im guessing.

[@ReefStash]

Excellent! 👍🤙

[@dannycastaneda1974]

I've listened to this several times now to get a firm grasp of the concepts. This last time, he made me think of this. He says the bacteria don't need to be fed 3 times a day like humans but also says it's better if you dose smaller amounts of ammonia several times a day. Why not spread the dose out into several smaller doses? Like humans, it's better to eat several smaller meals than three large meals a day .

[@DOTReef]

Great presentation. But a bit confused as Dr. Tim said that bacteria doesn't live in the water, but his bacteria comes in liquid form and no live rock , or other surface other than the bottle.

[@alexisramos9064]

Also curious on this. How is it harvested exactly to package lol

[@wilsonline90]

Oh shit I should have seen this before!

[@dadehyowroquid9805]

Who can give me a whole package of salt water tank this christmas....

[@freemansaquatics5326]

Speaking of stress keeping tanks someone demolished a power pole last sunday and left us without power for 14 hours i woke up because the transformers blew and homedepot wasnt going to open for 6 hours it was a super stressful...long story short a 700$ generator was purchased ASAP that day now i have no worries...to anyone who has tanks and you dont have a generator GET ONE!

[@Robocopter_fpv]

They sell big battery packs now a day. Might be cheaper then a generator if you wanna just power your tank. They have pass thru so they turn on automatically.

[@freemansaquatics5326]

@@Robocopter_fpv i want the ability to become my own power plant for days if i have too...but i hear ya...take care :)

[@freemansaquatics5326]

@@Robocopter_fpv and i have 7 tanks :/ the generator was cheaper for me and i was able to run my fridge/old 50inch tv/my ps4...cant beat it and next time a ice storm knocks the power out ill be set ;)

[@briandixon4931]

Substrate wins 🏆

[@ReRe-yl6dq]

Did anyone hear if he said anything about the time period for the cycle to take? How long do we leave the tank fishless, high heat, low salinity?

[@Jel0XD]

I was stomped on the marine pure/bright well like media. I thought it was a consensus that they're the most effective type.

[@taryndeclyn1474]

Dr. Tim. - please come over to my house and provide one on one consultation so I construct the most efficient and stable bio filter! You’re a master! Awesome presentation!!!!

[@DougFL66]

Mine is ammonia green but lowering now. Nitrite is purple to pink. Ph is 7.8 not sure how to raise that. Nitrate has a reading now as Amber 20. I’m on the 7th day.

[@nhall00195]

Nice he works in metric like the rest of the world 😁

[@DougFL66]

What do I take out of my canister filter to start this fishless cycle??? Sponges and carbon socks? Just leave ceramics????? I don’t have a power head yet

[@ticklebrown1028]

Lots of good jokes here that went over the audiences heads

[@johnravelo6321]

Can I add de tims to my half cycled aquarium? To speed things up?

[@BRStv]

It certainly wouldn't hurt.

[@salty_systems]

I would be innersted in how much halogenes like F,Br and iodine influenche the growth of beneficial bacteria in a reef tank

[@juliandiaz44]

So do we need to measure ammonia and Nitrite lower than 5ppm per 1 liter aquarium water? or something else?

[@Mikez-nh7jj]

If I change a water to lower salinity, did I have to get more Ammonium Chloride?

[@robg915]

How long before the nitrite spike comes down? I did several water changes and I haven't added ammonia in 5 days still sky high nitrites.

[@BRStv]

The tricky part about the nitrogen cycle is that it's hard to get that final transition from nitrates to nitrogen gas to happen. Water changes will only work in a substantial way if they're larger (30-50%). One piece of advice that was pretty eye opening for me is that a 10% water change still leaves behind 90% of the problem. Alternatively, if your tank is fully cycled, you could consider starting up a refugium.

[@bluebastion]

Well my heater on my tank was just adjusted to 84 degrees.

[@dannycastaneda1974]

I had mine at 85° for a few weeks and am now ramping it down to about 78°, a few degrees each day. Dr Tim didn't mention ramping up the salinity . I was thinking of topping off with high salinity water to bring up to 1.025 from 1.015. Not sure how high or how fast . No fish yet. Only live sand and live rock. Nitrate still takes 2 days to go to 0 but ammonia seems to drop to less than .25 in one day after adding ammonia .

[@manuelegarzelli647]

hi I would like to use the method of dr. Tim to start my aquarium, in Italy the kits do not arrive so I will use simple ammonia purchased in a supermarket and bacteria, the method foresees a salinity of 20, can I still insert live rocks?

[@BRStv]

You can absolutely use live rocks if you wish 😃

[@manuelegarzelli647]

@@BRStv ok, i thought that live rocks being in water at salinity 35, starting them in water at 20 as suggested by dr. Tim, the bacteria they contained died. ok then I insert them and we hope to have a good maturation. Thanks for your suggestions

[@bibabuzemann]

Very interesting talk! Anyone knows how to get Ammonium Chloride in Germany or EU?

[@federicomanglavite9897]

I got it from eBay, or amazon.com. They have "amazon global" shipping"

[@SuperMeerkat]

I have a question. Lets say you start a sterile process with dry rock and you mix your own salt. And dont seed the tank with a friends sand or rock. Where do these bacteria come from. Because after a while the tank will cycle.. it will take way longer without seeding but it will happen. Where are there bacteria coming from?

[@rja9784]

Good grief! This is far more educational from anything BRS offers. This is second level chemistry collegiate information. Thank you for this information!

[@Trenton.D]

This is actually more like high school chemistry.

[@dannycastaneda1974]

So how would we go about increasing salinity over 2 to 4 days, to say 1.025 from 1.015 after cycling and before adding fish? I am not losing enough water to evaporation. How much extra salinity would I add to water change water?

[@BRStv]

Check out this awesome water change/salinity change calculator 🙂 www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/TargetSalinity.php

[@dannycastaneda1974]

Ha! You are awesome. I found that! Too

[@dannycastaneda1974]

I also figured, I could add what amount of salt I didn't mix into the 1.015 solution that I began with... 5 gallons of water to 1.75 cups instead of 2.5 cups for 1.025 target solution. So for every 5 gallons I would add 1.75 cups. Split up into two waterchanges.

[@scatpack1381]

What happens if you pour this in without fish and without lowering the salinity. Will it still work but take longer to cycle?

[@BRStv]

That's correct. It'll just take a bit longer

[@scatpack1381]

@@BRStv thanks 👍

[@rodaempat1223]

whats the conclusion? i just dont get it :(

[@JasonGerrish1]

Back in the 80s / 90s...under gravel filters were considered the best... water flow forced through the massive gravel bed. It was cheap plastic grates under the gravel with 1 or 2 power heads. Think of the surface area (with good water flow) for all this bacteria growth. Why did the industry get away from that filtration approach? I hope it wasn't to sell more expensive filter equipment.

[@shannontan6216]

he didnt mention about the PH levels best suited for the bacteria to grow

[@dannycastaneda1974]

Not here , but on his website mentions doing a water change if pH drops below 7

[@Kungpaoshizzi]

Take that forum naysayers! :P I had to say it...

[@trojon]

Merely a year later, common consensus is just to buy the bacteria and pour it in haha

[@joenewman6494]

Ya Dr. Tim now sells it in a bottle 🤣

[@NRG-ds5hc]

so whats the concrete advice for cycling now? - lights off and PSU 25? Am i right?

[@jyliang1917]

equation not balanced?

[@TheYear2525]

Well, he's a biologist ;D

[@brickhunter9537]

After using Dr Tims and Dr Tim’s ammonia, day 20 and nothing is happening 🙄

[@BRStv]

You're not seeing any ammonia build up, or you aren't seeing the ammonia come down? If you aren't seeing any ammonia build up, but are adding ammonia, that could actually be a very good thing and mean your tank is cycled.

[@brickhunter9537]

@@BRStv ammonia has started out 2ppm but after day 7 it dropped to 1ppm. Nitrite is been sitting at 1.0 and nitrate has also been sitting at 20 with out change since day one. I’m 20 days in.

[@thebeigesheep6132]

@@brickhunter9537 whatever happened? Did it straighten out?

[@brickhunter9537]

@@thebeigesheep6132 i gave up on Dr Tim, after hearing from others who had same issues as me using Dr Tim. I dosed Microbacter Start XLM, it’s been 10 days and my tanks is cycling. Ammonia dropped to zero, Nitrate at 50 and Nitrate is 80

[@isoaqua5825]

SCIENCE BITCH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@plaidjoker1321]

This man is fucking hilarious and nobody is cracking a laugh. I hope the mic just isnt picking it up.

[@jacklawer6389]

What do u mean ??

[@plaidjoker1321]

@@jacklawer6389 I watched this a long time ago... But in the short bit I watched, he cracked a joke about about reading his paper and curing insomnia.

[@cairnsreefer4658]

Hi

[@harlemscarlet]

I can't be the only one with a headache after watching this🤦🏽‍♀️. He's very knowledgeable and I'll buy the products from this point forward based on that alone, however, it's all Greek to me and I CAN'T be the only one🤷🏾‍♀️

[@BRStv]

This is definitely more than the average hobbyist really needs to know. It's ok if not all of it made sense 🙂

[@84DavidM777]

Why is this not common knowledge?

[@bunzgaming7416]

First?