DrTim's fish less cycle

[bogart]

Looking for some expert opinions on my cycling progress. I have a new 50 gal tank. First time I've cycled a fresh water tank in a long time. I decided to go with DrTim's products and process. It seems to be going in the right direction, but is taking longer then the 5 - 7 days he suggests.

On 3/27 I added 4oz, good for up to 60 gal, of DrTim's One and Only live nitrifying bacteria and 50 drops, one per gal, of ammonium chloride to the tank.
I test the water every 24 hours. I won't bother you with the early test results. Starting on 4/4 here are my results:

ammonia. .74. 1.0. .60. .50. 1.0

Nitrite. .75. 2.0. 2.0. 1.50. 2.0

Nitrate. 5.0. 5.0. 7.50. 10.0. 10.0

PH. Between. 7.73 and 7.91

After every test I add 25 drops, half a drop per gal, of ammonium chloride

Does this look like its on the right. The ammonia and nitrites are not coming down, on the other hand they are not going up, even though I'm adding ammonium every day. The nitrate is building up, but I think that's a good sign.

What do you think?

 

[Luananeko]

You'll find varying opinions here on those "bacteria in a bottle" products, ranging from people swearing they work all the way to people swearing that they actually backfire and give you an unstable cycle or flat out do nothing. The majority seem to lean toward the unfavorable end of the spectrum...

 

[bogart]

Does this look like it's working or not. DrTim's has a great reputation in the salt water world, so I decided to give it a try.

 

[jlk]

Does this look like it's working or not. DrTim's has a great reputation in the salt water world, so I decided to give it a try.

Dr. Tim's also has an a great rep in the goldfish niche as well as coldwater tanks can be notoriously more difficult to cycle. It appears something is definitely happening and your cycle is progressing forward. I would try skipping the ammonia dosing for 1-3 days and wait to see if your ammonia and nitrite will completely zero. You then can gradually increase the dosage if your seeking a hefty bio filter.

 

[bogart]

Good advise, that's what I've decided to do. I went back and viewed DrTim's video and I have been over feeding the ammonium.

 

[jlk]

Good advise, that's what I've decided to do. I went back and viewed DrTim's video and I have been over feeding the ammonium.

Keep us posted on your progress! I think you will see everything zero out fairly quickly once the bacteria have a bit of a break to get up to speed.

 

[bogart]

This is an update on finishing the DrTim's fishless cycling process. This took longer than it should have and that's my fault. I continued to add ammonium too fast and didn't let the process catch up. Once I stopped adding the ammonium I achieved 0 Nitrites the next day. However I was still having trouble achieving 0 Ammonia. On the day I got to 0 Nitrites the Ammonia was reading .50. A couple of days later I was no lower than .35. I had been communication with DrTim's organization though this process, they are very open and helpful. Their advise was that I was making this too hard. That I had finished the cycle and should do a water change and add my first fish. They said test kits have a problem measuring low Ammonia. I did a search on Aquarium Advice and found the following super article:

Community Moderator
jetajockey's Avatar
Your Guide to Ammonia Toxicity
If you haven't read, this is must reading. I believe I would have finished the cycle in 7 days if I had not added too much Ammonium on the front end and it I'd know about the Ammonia Toxicity Chart.

I highly recommend DrTim's cycling process, very easy and quick. Before doing so you should Google DrTim's. There is an excellent article and video on the process.