Started 3 29 gallon tanks for a research project in biology.
Tank 1: Plain Water with ammonium chloride as ammonia source.
Tank 2: APIs Quick Start with ammonium chloride as ammonia source.
Tank 3: DrTim's One & Only with ammonium chloride as ammonia source.
Ammonium Chloride was purchased from Amazon (DrTim's Ammonium Chloride Solution for Fish-less Cycling). Each tank was prepared with a standard dechlorinator (It is important not to use any product that binds or "locks" ammonia, as it is required for the cycle to progress). Water was allowed to rest for 24 hours, filters and heaters running, temps set to 80.5F, 30 LBS of standard gravel in each tank. Each tank received an initial dose of ammonium chloride of 29 drops (one drop per gallon), which raised ammonia to ~2.0 PPM.
Caveats: If you use an API test kit, you will likely see about half the expected ammonia concentration. The test is not accurate at low levels, and does not measure the type of source used as well as other master kits. Be concise with the dosing and you are fine. You can use a Nutrifin NH3/NH4 test or other high grade ammonia detection kit that measures NH3 and NH4. Do not adjust water parameters or add water for several days. If you must adjust water parameters, do so slowly. Water should only be added if it has been allowed to rest after 24 hours once treated with dechlorinator.
Results at 6 days:
Tank 1: Barely detectable amount of ammonia reduction, zero nitrites, zero nitrates.
Tank 2: Some reduction in ammonia, zero nitrites, ~20PPM nitrates.
Tank 3: .50 PPM Ammonia, zero nitrites, 50 PPM nitrates
Tank 3 has had one water change already, and is ready for the second due to rising nitrates. It is processing enough ammonia at this point to equal ~11 inches worth of fish. Ammonia has been added to this tank daily to sustain the cycle, as fish were never going to be introduced. I will be adding fish to this tank however, and reducing ammonium chloride dosing. Decided to keep this tank.
Myth 1: There are many posts on the Internet about fish-less cycling. Many of which suggest the use of off-the-shelf ammonia that you find in your local grocery or hardware stores. While some of these sources might be safe, most are not. The ammonium chloride is cheap, and will cycle many, many tanks. Consumers are generally unaware of the fact that not all ingredients need to be listed on products not intended for human consumption. Therefore, they see water and ammonia listed on a label and assume there is no surfactant in the off-the-shelf product. This is simply not the case. Most of these products do in fact contain other ingredients that are not safe for fish, and will destroy the bacteria needed for the aquarium cycle. This can be seen in one of the other reviews. The result was, the tank did not cycle as anticipated. If you want good results and have gone to the expense of purchasing a bacterial additive, spend the extra couple of dollars and get a pure source of ammonia.
Myth 2: Some postings on the Internet suggest that these products use terrestrial strains of bacteria. All nitrifying bacteria need soil or other surface. Therefore, all can be considered terrestrial. They are commonly found on the bottom of lakes and streams. Our filters and substrate mimic this environment. While evidence in my experiment suggests that not all products are created equal, some products do work -and work exceptionally well.
Myth 3: The cycle will crash because it isn't the right bacteria. Fact: If the bacteria were unable to sustain, we would not see the substantial growth noted in tank 3. In order for the ammonia to be processes and nitrite to nitrate, a large colony has to exist. Once these bacteria undergo binary fission (how they multiply), there is no logical argument that would support this cycle failing. If you have an environment where they will multiply, that will continue until there is no food source. Any crashing would be the result of that food source not being adequate for the colony. Another possible source of crashing, high nitrates (more than 50-75 PPM) as this will kill the bacteria. It is also possible that once the cycle begins to establish, that the consumer adds too many fish before the colony is large enough to sustain.
If you opt for fish-less cycling, use a pure source of ammonia (ammonium chloride). If you opt for fish-in, make sure you do not use an ammonia binding product to dechlorinate the water. Let the water rest for a full 24 hours before you add fish and the product. You may test for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate -but only adjust your parameters if the results show >2.0PPM Ammonia or >50PPM Nitrate. Other than that, leave it alone for at least a week. If you do need to reduce any of the parameters via a water change (25%), fill your bucket the day before and add your standard dechlorinator to the water and let it rest for a complete 24 hours before adding to the tank. Keep your filters wet at all times (bacteria will die).
I consider this product a 5-star purchase. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
This stuff worked for me just as advertised. Levels set in quickly and stabilized. I put fish in quickly and had no problems at all.
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I had something strange happen during a new tank set up. I used old gravel and it caused an ammonia spike. I did wash it and even used bleach but after farther testing with some left over it still released ammonia's into the water. I've been a fish keep for years and never had this happen before. I used One & Only and it helped a bunch. Still took a little while but worked great. Two days after setting up this tank my ammonia was off the chart. I ordered One & Only about 2 weeks after set up and in 2 weeks my tank was completely cycled.
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The product was very helpful, it instantly cycled my 10 gallon fish tank within a week. Prior to that, I had waited for over a month to cycle my new tank, and as result of such waiting game, I was becoming very disenchanted with fish keeping. The trick was simple, add ammonia chloride as food source for the bottled nitrifying bacteria to eat. Also, make sure you don't add too many fishes all at once because you new tank bacterias may not break the high intensity of ammonia. Slowly, and gradually start adding fish in you tank. Live plants are also conducive, but I would rather opt for moss balls because it is helpful algae that keeps your water crystal clear.
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I had doubts as to the ability of Dr Tim's (or any other products) claims. However, after my first use I'm a believer Five Stars. I was suddenly placed in a bind by my father-in-law brought over a peanut butter sized jar full of young guppies for my two year old daughter. She absolutely loved the fish and couldn't stop talking about them, so I had to get a tank together and fast. We rushed off to the store, and in no time had nearly $300 in tank and supplies for our FREE guppies. With great haste I assembled a 10 gallon tank, with lots of live plants and rock features. Even with an oversize filter running the water was too toxic, and would lead to the demise of the young guppies. A close friend, with a nice saltwater tank suggested Dr. Tim's One and Only. While guppies are a hardy fish I had to make the water safer. The very first treatment brought reduced the Nitrite and Nitrate levels from dangerously high to safe in 12 hours. Over the last week the levels have decreased further and seem to have stabilized at very low (and healthy) levels. Dr. Tim's One and Only is Magic! My tank is health and my daughter is happy.
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These BiOrb plants are nicely sized for medium tanks. Both are are relatively the same size, (the purple one is larger, though, which is kinda ironic because the picture show the purple on smaller.) They are almost too tall for my 3.9 gal/15 L vertical tank. (I don't own a BiOrb.) I recommend this for 5 gallon tanks and up. Good quality, semi-unrealistic up close, though. When I first got them I was disappointed because they looked very fake, but after I rinsed them and put them in my tank they looked pretty good. My female Betta loves to hide in them, as she is a shy fish. The bases look a little awkward, unless you cover it with a lot of rocks or you've got lots of gravel.
