confused - fish deaths

[TheTodd]

Dr Tim's One & Only is worth it. Check out their website. Heck, I'd call them when ordering and tell them your story. If it were me over there, I'd give it to you for free and overnight it . With dr Tim's, you can do a fish in cycle. Clowns would be ideal as they are usually tough. Should cycle a tank in about a week or less. I'm not sure I would trust the other brands that are normally in the store. I've heard mixed results on several of them.

I've decided that my tank has MV so I'm just going to break it down, clean it out and start fresh too. Thinking if plumbing my chiller through the back while its dry too.

 

[Minkota]

Dr Tim's One & Only is worth it. Check out their website. Heck, I'd call them when ordering and tell them your story. If it were me over there, I'd give it to you for free and overnight it . With dr Tim's, you can do a fish in cycle. Clowns would be ideal as they are usually tough. Should cycle a tank in about a week or less. I'm not sure I would trust the other brands that are normally in the store. I've heard mixed results on several of them.

I've decided that my tank has MV so I'm just going to break it down, clean it out and start fresh too. Thinking if plumbing my chiller through the back while its dry too.

Dr. Tims is a very good product. if you can get it, as it is not available in all areas and you may have to order it online. I would recommend it over some of the others but if it is a time concern, you can use another product. Another great product from Dr TIms is the Waste Away.

 

[Jbaygurl78745]

Ok I will order dr tims now. I think they have it on dr fosters web sit. I'm off to get the 15 g for the clowns and I will let the dt run its curse and keep the Cromis in writ till he's better.

 

[marsh]

Good plan, I get my dr Tim's one and only off drs foster and smith and they pack it in a cool pack so it arrives refrigerated and potent! It's the only bacterial additive I have seen solidly recommended across the board. Just keep the bioload to the clown only if you want to avoid introducing a wild card fish and hope the clown comes in tip top condition. Then you should be set I add flowers and plants from the craft store to save on decorations but anything you can bleach is reuse able as far as what you have in the DT now, and try dipping any corals you have but qt them longer if you wany and redip as many times as you like. Can't hurt if our main objective is keeping Nemo happy

 

[Trueerfan]

Amazon is cheaper. It's winter time who needs a ice pack?

 

[Trueerfan]

Order the Dr Tims ammonia and do a fishless cycle, don't be cruel.

 

[marsh]

Order the Dr Tims ammonia and do a fishless cycle, don't be cruel.

No cruelty doing a fish in cycle! I have done both ways and dr Tim's does provide a nearly instant cycle with a low-bioload like a single clown in a cube such as Jbays

 

[TheTodd]

Not sure how true it is, but I've heard that using fish with DrTims is not all that bad, due to the quick cycle. Its a day or two, not weeks. They do sell a supplement that you can add to feed the bacteria though.

I'm thinking that in this special case, where you have a little guy with limited time, I'd think a few extra days of happiness outweighs the little stress on a couple of clowns. People can disagree with that, but if it were me, my kid (in a situation like we have here) outweighs just about anything else in life.

 

[mr_X]

I don't believe that. in my opinion, Dr Tim misconceives people as he is interviewed. He states that all along people have been using the wrong bacteria and his stuff is the right bacteria. So, he's saying that everyone who cycled a tank before his product was introduced, did it wrong.
That's total nonsense.
Not only that, but they did the test using a 90 gallon tank and only 2 tiny clowns. I'm not sure you would see ammonia withOUT using Dr Tims in a tank of that size.

Show me technical data. I would like to see microscope slides showing how different the strains of bacteria are in this snake oil as they are in my tank.

 

[TheTodd]

I don't honestly know if everyone else has different, ineffective bacteria. I've used their product twice and both times, my tank cycled in days, not weeks. To me, that is the proof that it works differently than using a shrimp. End result seems the same, but something is Happening to make it work in less time. I've heard mixed reviews on other brands and that seems to be based on questionable shelf life in a LFS. Again, I'm not sure. It could easily be something totally different.

If I needed a quick cycle, as this OP does, I would go with what worked for me in the past.

 

[Trueerfan]

+1 to Todd

 

[mr_X]

I don't honestly know if everyone else has different, ineffective bacteria.

Yes you do. Unless of course you believe that no one has kept a successful salt water tank until Dr. Tim's came out.

 

[TheTodd]

I've always thought that his point was that some other bottled bacteria companies were not using the "right" bacteria for saltwater. Not that a properly cycled tank would not end up with the same type of bacteria that he uses. Almost like he was saying they use bacteria for freshwater and that would be ineffective for saltwater. Letting it occur and multiply naturally just takes much longer. It's been over a year since I watched the interview in their site, so I might be forgetting his exact statements.

 

[marsh]

I thought it was hilarious at the time, reminds me of you types and I'm now part of the hobby so I mock myself... But a 20-something tall tattooed guy at my lfs heard that I had ordered dr Tim's one and only and he busted out a 30-day graph of his tanks params using the product, initial spike and flatline for next 30 days. It convinced me 100% to use the dr Tim's.
No, I don't have the dude's graph but I'm positive he showed a bunch of people on the Internet already. He looked like somebody who enjoys being RIGHT about stuff. Ah-hem.

Sorry- didn't expect this to run off-topic OP

 

[Jbaygurl78745]

Its ok. We got the 15g up and going with dr tims gunna let it run till Monday than he'll be hopefully able to go and pick out his own clowns but if his fever still above 104 the clowns will have to brought to him. I bought a new gravel vac for this tank and such.

 

[marsh]

Its ok. We got the 15g up and going with dr tims gunna let it run till Monday than he'll be hopefully able to go and pick out his own clowns but if his fever still above 104 the clowns will have to brought to him. I bought a new gravel vac for this tank and such.

What is the ammonia source? If you put dr Tim's in the tank it will need to have ammonia to kick start the cycle so put a fish in right away, get a loaner sailfin Molly until the cycle is complete. Literally took a day and a half for my ammonia and nitrite to get down to 0.0, so use any old fish and swap it for the clown, or a few drops of ammonia if you got it

 

[TheTodd]

But it has to be the right kind of ammonia.

Dr Tim's does sell something that goes with the One & Only to feed the bacteria, i believe.

In all honesty, I think the clowns will be just fine. I did my cycle with two Chromis and both are still fine ( even with MV in my tank that has killed other fish...but that is another story).

 

[Jbaygurl78745]

We got a blue cromis to get it going.

 

[mr_X]

Why can't you just pour in some ammonia?

 

[OscarFan76]

Sorry to hear about your fish troubles. I would find someone with an established tank and get some live rock off them to setup your 2nd tank. It will already be cycled and if it is a well established tank without additions for a quite a while then you know it is velvet/parasite free. I would also check local forums or Craigslist for fish. Again if someone has had them for a year they are probably parasite free. It is not a foolproof way of preventing parasites/disease but I think it is a better option than using a fish store and cycle products. Stores in my area are infested with ich.

Very sorry to hear about your son and to see the thread derailed into how/what to cycle. Good luck with the hobby.