Dr Tim's Fishless Cycle - Did It Work? Cycling a Frag Tank - EPISODE 2

[@juliussatter2765]

In my instructions, it tells me in fine print, dont add if over 2 ppm ammonia water change from top of water Column. Do not disturb sand if over 2 will stall out cycle. From too much ammonia

[@ARealReefHobbyist]

That is correct. My instructions were the same.

[@juliussatter2765]

@ARealReefHobbyist & was no chlorine before adding bacteria. If # drop at all, there is working bacteria. Move temp up to 82°

[@ARealReefHobbyist]

Yes I only use RO/DI water

[@sammys222]

Answer to all my recent questions!! Thank you for sharing this video 😊

[@ARealReefHobbyist]

I'm so glad!

[@mechamouse3d]

Watching dr tims video, i don't think we should be adding more ammonia until we see the levels drop. Looking forward to episode 3 as I am attempting this as well😂

[@ARealReefHobbyist]

I think we need to continue the ammonia to provide the ammonia breaking down bacteria food to survive and thrive. Without ghost feeding or fish, those bacteria will not have a food source.

[@tigcarn]

I'll have to look it up again. I remember reading somewhere that adding to much ammonia after the initial phase can stall or even restart the cycle. This didn't apply to just Dr. Tim's but all fishless cycling. It also appears that some of these ammonia drops recommendations on the bottles can result in double what you actually need.

[@mechamouse3d]

@@tigcarn I ended up completing the cycle but it took over a month for me. I would recommend 2 drops per gallon of ammonia as 4 is too much. And I think it's possible high nitrite can stall the cycle. What I ended up doing was continually add ammonia (every other day once I saw it drop it zero in 24 hours) as @arealreefhobbyist stated and perform water changes if the nitrite levels got too purple

[@glowwurm9365]

Just starting this and i am only on day 6 and the ammonia is off the charts, i cant in good conscience feed more into the tank as per the instructions so going to wait 24/48 hours to give the bacteria a chance.

[@mechamouse3d]

@@glowwurm9365 the ammonia phase is relatively quick. I would give it a bit longer until you notice the ammonia drop. Once you do your nitrites may go off the charts and I would probably do water changes then and continue dosing until both your ammonia and nitrite is cycled within 24 hours

[@dazsboxofwater]

For when you don’t have loads of room for live rock I’d recommend maxspect bio ball, great surface area & are strong for their size so only use 2-4 cause in the long run they work too efficiently. Good luck

[@ARealReefHobbyist]

Great tip! I’ll dig into that a bit.

[@Jose.Q_]

Great vid 👍👍 The same happened to me , im on day 13 doing a fishless cycling with dr tims one and only bacteria and im using dr tims ammonia too , things were going great 2 days ago cause my PH is at 7.2 and the ammonia dropped to 1.0ppm which is good , but then when i checked nitrite it spiked up from a light purple 0.50ppm to a dark purple 2.0ppm so i didnt add any ammonia again since my nitrite is high , so i did a 20% water change yesterday and when i tested today the nitrite didnt go down my question is do i wait it out a extra day or 2 to see if the bacteria lowers the nitrite ? ....... cause my nitrite been up at 2.0 for 2 days even with the 20% water change ? ......ive been reading online some conflicting answers , from do another 20 to 50% water change , add alittle more dr tims bacteria , then some other just wait and keep testing for a day or 2 if it doesnt go down do another water change , water changes too often could disrupt the cycling process , to be honest its really confusing to me because there's no 1 definite answer

[@ARealReefHobbyist]

It sounds like you’re in the swing of things - it’s normal to see those kinds of fluctuations! I’m someone who rides the course and doesn’t perform water changes unless the pH drops too low. Then I’ll do small one to bring it up.

[@Jose.Q_]

​@@ARealReefHobbyist......ooh ok , I'll just wait it out to see if things change.......thanks for responding back

[@LuisRivera-bn9ts]

Did you leave the sponge and charcoal in the Fluval Aqua 50 when you added the One N Only with the ammonia?

[@ARealReefHobbyist]

Yes I leave the sponge in for more surface area to grow. I then only rinse in with tank water that I drain during a water change. I do not use carbon during cycling.

[@downwiththedrums1999]

my nitrites spiked high on day 4 for me, is that bad?

[@ARealReefHobbyist]

What did ammonia and nitrites do? Did they increase then drop to zero?

[@downwiththedrums1999]

@@ARealReefHobbyist They also spiked, im on day 6 today

[@glowwurm9365]

I put my skimmer on 48 hours after the start of the process as my PH was starting to decline rapidly (works better with higher PH and was worried lack of oxygen would impact the cycle), now on day 6 and the ammonia is off the charts, planning to delay the adding of additional ammonia till i see a noticeable fall in it and a rise in nitrites. At this pace ill need to do a complete water change and restart if they dont kick in soon...

[@ARealReefHobbyist]

Agreed. I wouldn’t add more ammonia if it’s off the charts. Also, be careful with test kits. API reads very high while the Ammonia Alert was much more stable

[@simonellis6760]

Couple of noticeable mistakes I saw was there was no real oxygenation going off in the tank aside from surface/water movement, and also when the pH dropped you should have added a little bicarbonate of soda to raise the pH back up and in turn, raising the alkalinity (KH). Was the water change dechlorinated?

[@ARealReefHobbyist]

Actually there is plenty of oxygenation, the only time the tank dropped was during that cycling phase. Since then it’s been very steady at 8.1-8.2. The drop is common when the ammonia sources are added as they break down. Also this was a demonstration of the Dr Tim’s Fishless cycle. Per the instructions using this method, “If the pH drops below 7 perform a 25-30% water change taking the water from near the top of the water column. Do not disturb the substrate or remove the filter pad. Do not manipulate pH during the cycling period - the higher the pH the better (up to 8.5).” And yes I only use reverse osmosis deionized (RODI) water. Never use straight tap water with conditioner

[@simonellis6760]

@ARealReefHobbyist well there's your issue then. A pH drop is caused by Nitrosomonas bacteria and Nitrobacter using up the carbonates in the water as they convert Ammonia to Nitrite, and Nitrite to Nitrate. Then on top if you use RO, the water is very much void of carbonates anyway as it strips everything from the water. The water change Dr Tim referred to was simply to add minerals back to the water, a method of increasing KH back to where it should be as it is used up by the Nitrifying bacteria. Where was the oxygenation during this testing stage and establishing the media? As I didn't see any

[@ARealReefHobbyist]

The base water is RODI, once you add the salt mix you add back the necessary elements to increase ph and buffer the water.

[@DougFL66]

Did you lower the salinity down??? Dr Tim says heat at 84 and 18 to 20 ppt. For first couple days

[@ARealReefHobbyist]

The review and steps for this video were based on the instructions here: www.drtimsaquatics.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/FishlessCycling_prescription_recipe_Nov23.pdf

[@rulasmays8132]

Dr.tims did not work for me had 10 pounds of sand 12 of dry rock on a 14g tank and I had same results as you even with all that surface area I added 5ml of microbacter 7 and the next day ammonia dropped and started getting readings of nitrite nd nitrate in 24h

[@ARealReefHobbyist]

Yeah seems to be interesting how people have different results

[@paulsmith744]

Tried dr Tim's took over a month to cycle. Then tried atm colony that cycled in less than a week. Currently building a bigger aquarium and going to use fritz turbo start as for some reason in the uk nobody seems to have any atm.

[@ARealReefHobbyist]

Good luck! Let me know how it goes

[@SvLv2018]

hello i just want to add my results im on day 4 and i have 2 ppm nitrite and 40ppm nitrate, my ph 7.8, and ammonia 4

[@ARealReefHobbyist]

You’re definitely cycling! What did you use for an ammonia source? What kind of rock?

[@SvLv2018]

@@ARealReefHobbyist hey I used Dr.tims ammonia 4 drops per gallon and I got CaribSea liferock the purple one and special grade sand, seems like the bare bottom makes a big difference

[@GETBNT1]

Used way to much ammonia and stalled the cycle

[@ARealReefHobbyist]

This test was done using the Dr Tim’s instructions and measurements

[@tmanning4usa]

I think if you would have read the instructions correctly in the first place the cycle would not have taken so long from watching this video you did it wrong at the start if you are using live rock or live sand you need to check the ammonia level before adding any ammonia if to much is added it will stall the cycle that seachem sticker you are using is only to alert you of ammonia it doesn't tell you how much so next time read the instructions before reviewing dr.tims

[@ARealReefHobbyist]

The rock was base rock, not live rock. There are 2 tiny pieces of rubble from an active tank. Also it was bare bottom. Additionally, ammonia alert does give ammonia readings, not just presence of ammonia. Finally, when the process started, the ammonia alert detected 0 levels of ammonia.

[@ARealReefHobbyist]

Also this video was testing using these instructions: www.drtimsaquatics.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/FishlessCycling_prescription_recipe_Nov23.pdf

[@ultramaximusreviews]

I'd just get a small fish just to cycle it

[@ARealReefHobbyist]

Yes I’ve done that as well. Today the more common humane practice is a fishless cycle.