BOMBreef Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 (edited) Last March, I had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Tim Hovanec speak at the Marine Aquarium Expo (MAX) in Orange County. He was a guest speaker and spoke about biodegradable polymers to remove nitrate and phosphate in the home aquaria. Although he talked about bio-pellets I was really intrigued by the scientific research he has done and his science based approach regarding bacteria, specifically nitrifying bacteria. He explained why "bacteria in a bottle" doesn't work, and how he found the bacteria responsible for nitrifying in his PhD dissertation. After the presentation I did some more research and figured it would be perfect to try on my newly set up 34g Solana. Here is a featured video of Dr. Tim on MrSaltwaterTankTV. Watch it! Bacteria in a Bottle: Snake Oil or Worth Trusting So yesterday I ordered a 2 Oz. bottle of One & Only Reef-PURE Live Nitrifying Bacteria from drtimsaquatics.com and a bottle of ammonium chloride solution (which is included FREE if you buy the bacteria!) Although I ordered in the early afternoon I was surprised to see it shipped and at my door in 1 day! So far I'm very pleased with the transaction. My goal is too see how well and how fast this product works at cycling a new aquarium. I currently have approx. 28g of water, 20lbs of fiji pink sand, and 24lbs of dry (dead rock). I have added the appropriate amount of ammonium to achieve the suggested 2ppm and added the WHOLE bottle of One & Only to my aquarium (skimmer turned off). I will be monitoring ammonia (NH3) and Nitrite (NO2) on a daily basis to see how long it takes to cycle. So does bacteria in a bottle work? We'll find out.... Day 0: NH3 0.5-1.0ppm NO2 0ppm Day 1: NH3: 0.5ppm NO2: .25ppm Day 2: NH3 0.5ppm NO2 0.5ppm Day 3: NH3 0.5ppm NO2 0.5ppm Sorry for the lack of updates there was no change in colors except for nitrite which has been steadily creeping up. Day 9: NH3 0.25ppm NO2 2ppm Day 12: NH3 0ppm NO2 0.5ppm Day 21: NH3 0ppm NO2 0ppm Conclusion: Well 3 weeks from the start and the cycle is officially over. I was hoping it would have cycled faster, but overall I'm pleased. IMO I hope it's better in the long run having the "right" bacteria present in the first place. I really appreciate Dr. Tim's contributions to the aquarium community and I will definitely buy his products again in the future. Edited August 5, 2011 by BOMBreef Quote Link to comment
BOMBreef Posted July 16, 2011 Author Share Posted July 16, 2011 Well day 2 and I must say I'm surprised to see a change let alone any nitrite present only after 1 day! WOW There's also a more notable difference in the ammonia which seems to be closer to 0.5ppm. Does anyone else concur with the color chart comparison? Quote Link to comment
Nolesx4 Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 I used it to cycle with dead rock. I think it went rather well, psychological or not. Quote Link to comment
MatthewStarr Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Yup my tank cycled with the stuff in about a week. I added one dose of the ammonia that comes with it. Then after the ammonia started to decline I added chromis to keep ammonia going to feed the bacteria. After that the cycle was done in a week. all 0 ppm ammonia, nitrite, nitrate is the only thing that took a while to get out of the system. A few water changes helped. Quote Link to comment
BOMBreef Posted July 16, 2011 Author Share Posted July 16, 2011 I used it to cycle with dead rock. I think it went rather well, psychological or not. Yeah I'm really pleased with it so far....usually no changes in ammonia or nitrate take place in the first 2 days! So obviously this stuff is working. Today ammonia looks the same. Nitrite on the other hand is climbing which is a great sign. I'm hoping maybe another 4-5 days and I can order my CUC from reefcleaners! Quote Link to comment
Asureef Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 I believe this stuff do work. Though, it took me 3 weeks with dry rock before ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate read 0. I had a stall with nitrites at 2 weeks at .25ppm. I contacted Dr. Tim and he recommended adding more ammonia to 2-3ppm and wait 24hrs. Within 2-3 days, the ammonia dropped to 0 and nitrite 0. Once nitrate dropped to 0, I added some clean up crew. I now have a Picasso clownfish pair and a yellow assessor in the tank, they're doing just fine. I also went a head and added corals, which were mainly sps and they seem to be doing great. I had polyps extension within 5-10mins of being added to the new tank. I have yet to do a water change and I'm now also running my skimmer, carbon, and Phosban reactor. I will be using more of Dr. Tim's product and would recommend it to everyone. Quote Link to comment
BOMBreef Posted July 18, 2011 Author Share Posted July 18, 2011 I believe this stuff do work. Though, it took me 3 weeks with dry rock before ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate read 0. I had a stall with nitrites at 2 weeks at .25ppm. I contacted Dr. Tim and he recommended adding more ammonia to 2-3ppm and wait 24hrs. Within 2-3 days, the ammonia dropped to 0 and nitrite 0. Once nitrate dropped to 0, I added some clean up crew. I now have a Picasso clownfish pair and a yellow assessor in the tank, they're doing just fine. I also went a head and added corals, which were mainly sps and they seem to be doing great. I had polyps extension within 5-10mins of being added to the new tank. I have yet to do a water change and I'm now also running my skimmer, carbon, and Phosban reactor. I will be using more of Dr. Tim's product and would recommend it to everyone. Good to hear! Glad you shared your experience with this product. Can anyone compare their color card with the nitrite test? It looks like 0.5ppm, but I'd like to get a second opinion. Quote Link to comment
Nolesx4 Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 My nitrite stayed there for what seemed the longest time. I thought it was my test kit for a while, then went to 0ppm overnight. Quote Link to comment
lordraptor1 Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 sadly i have to say after trying one and only and dr tims ammonia used per directions ( followed in every detail) it does NOT work, i saw no difference between just adding ammonia vs adding dr tims one and only in the mix. so personally i recommend you save your money. 3 different setups, 1 ammonia does only, 1 old school fish + stability method, and 1 ammonia does + dr tims i have to say the fish+ stability was good on the ammonia and nitrite being processed after 7 days where as after 2 weeks with ammonia only and ammonia + dr tims one and only are sitting at 1ppm ammonia, 5+ ppm nitrites, and 160+ ppm on multiple test kits including api, red sea, salifert, and cheap test strips. i tried reaching out to dr tims aquatics and have currently been waiting 3 weeks for a reply now and have chalked it up to a horrible customer service experiance and a take the money and run company in other words lots of money wasted on one and only adn i do NOT reccommend it at all in fact after the lack of customer service and support i also do NOT receommend ANY product from DTA. at this point it wouldnt matter if the company contacted me or not i have already drained the tanks and started over ( testing turbostart 900 currently and have already reached out to fritzx for guidance and at least they will answer a phone and return messages putting them way ahead of dta). again do NOT buy anything from DTA it is snake oil 2 Quote Link to comment
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