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Dr Tim's Ammonium Chloride overdose?


kinetic

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I'm cycling some dead/dry rock and a plate of Marinepure biomedia in a 17 gallon tub. The water is pretty high, but probably only about 15 gallons of water is in the tub.

 

I added 40 drops of Dr. Tim's Ammonium Chloride (instructions say 4 drops per gallon, I decided to go low and just add enough for 10 gallons to start). Tested and the ammonia was off the charts in both my Salifert and Red Sea tests (total ammonia, not free ammonia). Free ammonia registered 0. I added about 4 capfuls of Dr Tim's one and only bacteria for the first 3 days, and now on the 4th day the tests are still off the charts (rather than the 2ppm that it should have started at, or even lower).

 

The Salifert test should test up to 6ppm of total ammonia, which is a super dark blue. But my sensor was black-ish purple after 15 min, then very purple after 30 minutes. It's been this way for 4 days now, and I never added more ammonium chloride.

 

The Red Sea kit should be dark green at 2.0, but it's a dark blue liquid.

 

Am I screwed? Should I just do 100% water change and try again?

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  • 6 months later...

I've posted this in other forums. Many people have the exact same issue. Just start dosage with 1 drop per gallon instead of 4. The instructions are wrong.

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Well, I have been dossing a heck of a lot of ammonia then... :/ Good news is that the tank can process like thirty drops in 24 hours now.

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Hey Guys,

 

Are the instructions on the box? - Because I saw on their website there are two formulations, one with 1 drop per gallon to reach 2ppm and 4 drops per gallon to reach the same concentration.

 

Ammonium Chloride disassociates to Ammonia and NaCl in the presence of water. So you should have free ammonia in the tank correct? - How are you testing for 'Free Ammonia' which reads zero?

 

It is possible depending where you are getting it from, and mfg date might be either type of concentration in the stock bottle.

 

http://www.drtimsaquatics.com/resources/fishless-cycling

 

Curious of any tips you have as I start my Dr. Tims cycle on Wed night.

 

 

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The directions on my bottle show 4 drops per gallon of actual water for 2 ppm. Those are the directions for products made after 2016 according to the website.

 

Quote
  • NOTE – As of November 2016 DrTim’s changed their ammonium chloride solution and you use 4 drops per gallon instead of 1 drop per gallon. Read the label on the bottle you have and follow the directions on the bottle.

 

I have the Salifert Ammonia Profi-Test which tests for total ammonia (NH3 and NH4). This morning I added twenty drops of Ammonium Chloride. I just tested the aquarium and it is reading zero now with that test kit. I also have a Seachem Ammonia Alert badge which is also yellow or safe.

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Dr. Tim changed formulas for his concentrated ammonia a few years back and some of the bottles were mislabeled with the old instructions. The new formula is more concentrated IIRC. I used the new formula last year on a fishless cycle for our biocube and it was 2 drops per gallon to achieve around 2 ppm ammonia in the water. I use Red Sea test kits which are expiration dated. They work for me. YMMV.

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