Cycl 10 gallons shrimp tank with dr tims one and only, ammonia . Need some advice please.

[Paul lim]

I'm cycle my tank for 11 days, add the one and only product and dr tims ammonia into the tank .stuck at 2-4 ppm for 6-7 days. Nitrate 0 nitrite 0. heater ,sponge filter and light are on. What should I do ?

Thanks

 

 

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[zodiac]

do a water change,drop it to 1 pmm.

4 ppm is bad for the bacteria.

[Paul lim]

How much WC do I need to do? Thanks


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[zodiac]

do 50%.

test in a few hours.

if it's 1-2 ppm,that's fine.

 

if you can,turn up the heat to low 80's.

test for nitrites in 2 days.

[Paul lim]

If follow the dr Tims products instructions, it should have nitrate and nitrite increase and ammonia will decrease and add more ammonia to spike the nitrite then cycle done! But my cycle after 6-7 days ammonia stay 2-4 nitrate 0 nitrite 0. I suspect the one and only Bactria is not working at all , I do research online and several people's have the same thing happened. So right now if I want to start over the cycle without those products what should I do? Need advice please.
Thanks


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[Shrimple minded]

 

Wait.

 

6-7 days isn't necessarily enough time for your cycle to progress.  Consider the following graphs and approximately where Nitrite levels increase:

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=nitrogen+cycle+graph&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjDo7_gxcjSAhUL94MKHV_JBhQQsAQIGw&biw=1680&bih=920

 

Water changes are good, just keep your ammonia over 1 ppm and below 4 ppm.

[Paul lim]

 
Wait.
 
6-7 days isn't necessarily enough time for your cycle to progress.  Consider the following graphs and approximately where Nitrite levels increase:
 
https://www.google.com/search?q=nitrogen+cycle+graph&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjDo7_gxcjSAhUL94MKHV_JBhQQsAQIGw&biw=1680&bih=920
 
Water changes are good, just keep your ammonia over 1 ppm and below 4 ppm.

Thanks a lot! Guess I've to be patience. WC how often while cycle? 50% WC ?


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[Paul lim]

do 50%.
test in a few hours.
if it's 1-2 ppm,that's fine.
 
if you can,turn up the heat to low 80's.
test for nitrites in 2 days.

Ok thanks a lot.


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[zodiac]

i wouldn't use bacteria in a bottle on a "fishless cycle".

if the bacteria works,you have to keep adding ammonia.

you want natural bacteria to grow.

 

3+ ppm very little bacteria will grow or survive.

you don't need much ammonia for a shrimp tank.

ammonia bacteria is fast growing.

when nitrite drops down,then you can add more ammonia to keep the cycle going.

i'm in the first week of a cycle.

day 2 i had nitrite .(i used RO water)

[Paul lim]

I'm using tap water right now, when the cycle is done then I'll use bottled distilled water. Is that ok ?My area can't get any RO water.


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[chappy6107]

1 hour ago, Paul lim said:

I'm using tap water right now, when the cycle is done then I'll use bottled distilled water. Is that ok ?My area can't get any RO water.
 

 Yes that is a better way to do it.  I used Dr Tims bacteria and RO water.  My cycle got hung in a stalled state for at least a month.  I later found out that because I was using RO water with no buffers, my Ph bottomed out which stalled the bacteria growth.  If you use tap water you should already have some kh to help stabilize the ph.  

  Just let it run its course.  It will speed itself up if you increase the temp.

[OMG Aquatics]

Pretty sure the bacteria from one and only is for ph 7.0+ but can also work for 6.0+ pH but not as effective.

If your tank's pH is say 5.5, the bacteria you added most likely was just wasted.

 

I used one and only in neo tanks successfully. They failed every time in low pH tanks. 

You should be able to see results within 2-4 days if pH is 7.0+ or at least I did.

[Paul lim]

Ph is around 6.8-7.0 . Ammonia 1.0 from tap .after I add dr tims 1 drop per gallon ammonia went up 2-3. Will wait and see what happens tomorrow .

Thanks


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[Paul lim]

today parameters


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[Paul lim]

 
Wait.
 
6-7 days isn't necessarily enough time for your cycle to progress.  Consider the following graphs and approximately where Nitrite levels increase:
 
https://www.google.com/search?q=nitrogen+cycle+graph&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjDo7_gxcjSAhUL94MKHV_JBhQQsAQIGw&biw=1680&bih=920
 
Water changes are good, just keep your ammonia over 1 ppm and below 4 ppm.

Thanks


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[Paul lim]

after 2 week results


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looks like not much different. How long do I still need to cycle?

[ruuuey]

I used Dr. Tim's for all my tanks, and for me, it took ~2 months to cycle my 12" cubes and 20 gallon longs when I added 2ppm ammonia. Give it a few more weeks and you'll start seeing nitrite/nitrate
 

[Paul lim]

I used Dr. Tim's for all my tanks, and for me, it took ~2 months to cycle my 12" cubes and 20 gallon longs when I added 2ppm ammonia. Give it a few more weeks and you'll start seeing nitrite/nitrate
 

Do you change water while cycle? Should I add more ammonia? I'm thinking use my old tank sponge filter add to the cycle tank do you think it will help to speed up the cycle?
Thanks


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[ruuuey]

5 hours ago, Paul lim said:

Do you change water while cycle? Should I add more ammonia? I'm thinking use my old tank sponge filter add to the cycle tank do you think it will help to speed up the cycle?
Thanks


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Personally, I didn't start changing water until I saw nitrates. By that point, the presence of high nitrites and nitrates was driving the pH way lower than I wanted, so I performed some water changes. You can do water changes whenever you want, just make sure there's a steady source of food (ammonia) for the beneficial bacteria to establish. 

 

Using an old tank sponge filter (seeded filter) should speed up the process by a bit. It would be a good idea to throw that in there

[OMG Aquatics]

What is the pH of your tank?

 

If it's below 6.0, you pretty much dumped a bottle of bacteria into your tank that will do absolutely nothing.

 

Not sure why Dr Tims doesn't add this info onto his website. If you email him, he'll tell you that yet won't inform potential customers prior to their purchase by posting this info on his website.

[OMG Aquatics]

14 hours ago, ruuuey said:

I used Dr. Tim's for all my tanks, and for me, it took ~2 months to cycle my 12" cubes and 20 gallon longs when I added 2ppm ammonia. Give it a few more weeks and you'll start seeing nitrite/nitrate
 

If it took 2 months for you, Dr Tims bacteria did little to nothing for you. It takes 1-3 months to cycle without adding bacteria additives. 

[ruuuey]

16 minutes ago, OMG Aquatics said:

If it took 2 months for you, Dr Tims bacteria did little to nothing for you. It takes 1-3 months to cycle without adding bacteria additives. 

To clarify, I used Dr. Tim's Ammonium Chloride for fishless cycling. I didn't use any bacteria additives.

Edit: After reading the earlier posts more carefully, I see that OP used Dr Tim's Nitrifying bacteria. I had thought he was talking about Dr. Tim's Ammonium Chloride Solution.

 

IME, things labeled as 'nitrifying bacteria' never sped the cycle process up for me.

[TheGlassBox]

Tried Dr. Tim's twice.  It was a fail for me both times.  The pH doesn't matter.  And I don't think he really cares what you say about him, you can't leave feedback on his website And good luck with his e-mail customer service ever getting back to you...   They won't.  Dr. Tim is snake oil.  Tetra Safe Start is good stuff.  I've used it to speed a cycle along, but not to rely on it....  But I always have a bottle in the fridge in case of an emergency.  Had a mini cycle once from changing out too much sand.  Happened another time and I was never sure why but I have my suspicions.....  But I always kept a bottle on hand after that.   Worked overnight on a 40 gallon breeder during both of those mini cycles.  (I dumped in the big bottle).   Dr. Tims = Thumbs down.  I don't care how famous he is....    Get a bottle of Safe Start.  It'll look like your cycled in a day or two.  Maybe overnight, depending on how much you use.  But keep feeding it ammonia for a week or two longer, you need to build up the bacterial colonies.  Tetra Safe Start has Nitro Spira in it (that's a bug that breaks nitrite down into nitrate).  A lot of the others don't.  Or they just don't list what's in it.  That's when you should question their product.  I consider Safe Start part of my medicine cabinet, along with speeding up a cycle...  It's pretty good stuff! 

 

[TheGlassBox]

IMHO 1.75 - 2 ppm ammonia is a good concentration to cycle.  I think 4ppm is high. 

[OMG Aquatics]

3 hours ago, TheGlassBox said:

Tried Dr. Tim's twice.  It was a fail for me both times.  The pH doesn't matter.  And I don't think he really cares what you say about him, you can't leave feedback on his website And good luck with his e-mail customer service ever getting back to you...   They won't.  Dr. Tim is snake oil.  Tetra Safe Start is good stuff.  I've used it to speed a cycle along, but not to rely on it....  But I always have a bottle in the fridge in case of an emergency.  Had a mini cycle once from changing out too much sand.  Happened another time and I was never sure why but I have my suspicions.....  But I always kept a bottle on hand after that.   Worked overnight on a 40 gallon breeder during both of those mini cycles.  (I dumped in the big bottle).   Dr. Tims = Thumbs down.  I don't care how famous he is....    Get a bottle of Safe Start.  It'll look like your cycled in a day or two.  Maybe overnight, depending on how much you use.  But keep feeding it ammonia for a week or two longer, you need to build up the bacterial colonies.  Tetra Safe Start has Nitro Spira in it (that's a bug that breaks nitrite down into nitrate).  A lot of the others don't.  Or they just don't list what's in it.  That's when you should question their product.  I consider Safe Start part of my medicine cabinet, along with speeding up a cycle...  It's pretty good stuff! 

 

pH DOES matter.

 

There's a reason why they tell you to wait 24-48 hours after adding products like Prime which detoxify ammonia.

The bacteria TSS and Dr Tims require ammonia. Prime as well as low pH turns ammonia into ammonium so the bacteria you add simply just dies off since there's no food source.

 

As for all LIVE bacteria, it's a hit/miss. Products get mishandled often before it reaches the consumer hands.

Not every bottle of TSS and One and Only I purchased worked. Some worked, some were just a waste of money.