Dr Tim's Fishless Cycle - Did It Work? Cycling a Frag Tank - EPISODE 2
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
- Frag tank cycling without established live rock can be a challenge. But what about a fishless cycle using Dr Tim's One and Only? Will it work?
A sumpless frag tank without a lot of live rock does not provide the significant surface area for a large population of bacteria. Bare bottom tanks provide further challenges as it further reduces areas for bacteria to grow.
In this episode we will take our easy diy 10 gallon frag tank and try to cycle it with a couple pounds of Marco rock and a small HOB filter with a foam insert.
Dr Tim’s One and Only - a.co/d/fWNxMgW
Dr Tim’s Ammonia - a.co/d/5UFuUAA
API Test Kit - a.co/d/1OGF3Gm
System Components
Aquaclear 50 - a.co/d/c81Mnkj
Seachem Ammonia Alert - a.co/d/6XZRT8c
Coralife Light - a.co/d/dKGmsig
Jager Heater - a.co/d/fY4JN68
Jaboe Wavemaker - a.co/d/2lJIxq9
Wyze Camera - a.co/d/5LLL1GB
Wyze Camera Mount - a.co/d/0vcpAcN
Answer to all my recent questions!! Thank you for sharing this video 😊
I'm so glad!
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
Great tip! I’ll dig into that a bit.
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😂
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.
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.
@@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
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.
@@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
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...
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
Did you leave the sponge and charcoal in the Fluval Aqua 50 when you added the One N Only with the ammonia?
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.
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?
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
@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
The base water is RODI, once you add the salt mix you add back the necessary elements to increase ph and buffer the water.
Did you lower the salinity down??? Dr Tim says heat at 84 and 18 to 20 ppt. For first couple days
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
my nitrites spiked high on day 4 for me, is that bad?
What did ammonia and nitrites do? Did they increase then drop to zero?
@@ARealReefHobbyist They also spiked, im on day 6 today
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
You’re definitely cycling! What did you use for an ammonia source? What kind of rock?
@@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
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.
Good luck! Let me know how it goes
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
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.
Also this video was testing using these instructions: www.drtimsaquatics.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/FishlessCycling_prescription_recipe_Nov23.pdf
I'd just get a small fish just to cycle it
Yes I’ve done that as well. Today the more common humane practice is a fishless cycle.