Fishless Cycling With Dr. Tim's One And Only Report

HI everyone.

So I've begun cycling my new 55 g and opted to try Dr. Tim's One and Only this time. So others have this information on hand in the future, I'll be keeping track of the cycle's progress here.

Aquarium conditions are a 55 G, pH ~8, dGH 3, dKH 7, temperature ~75.

Day 0 (5/30/2017): Added bacteria and Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride (~220 drops, which is supposed to be 2 ppm).

Day 1 (5/31/2017): Ammonia: 1 ppm, Nitrite: 0 ppm, Nitrate: 0 ppm
I retested about 8 hour later and got the same readings. Makes me think the initial ammonia dose was 1 ppm and nothing has happened... yet. On to tomorrow!

 

Yep that first dose of ammonia is basically add it, then sit and wait for something to happen. Usually it's 2-3 days.

Bump your temp up to 84. That is the temp that works the best for cycling. It will speed up the process. With a pH of 8 you are a step ahead anyways.

Good luck!

 

Day 2 (6/1/17) results: Ammonia: slightly less than 1 ppm, Nitrite: Just about 0.25 ppm. Didn't bother checking nitrates. It's a start!

 

Sorry for the late update. The product seems to have worked well, here were the rest daily results (all in ppm):
6/2/17: Ammonia: 0.75-1; Nitrite: 0.5 or less
6/3/17: Ammonia: 0.5; Nitrite: 2
6/4/17: Ammonia: 0.25; Nitrite: 2-5
6/5/17: Ammonia:0; Nitrite: 4-5 (did a dilution to get the reading)
6/6/17: Ammonia: 0; Nitrite: 0.5
- Redosed 1 ppm Ammonium Chloride
6/7/17: Ammonia: 0.25; Nitrite: 0.5
6/8/17: Ammonia: 0; Nitrite: 0
- Redosed 2 ppm Ammonium chloride
6/9/17: Ammonia: 0.25; Nitrite: 2+
6/10/17: Ammonia: 0; Nitrite: 0
- Redose 2 ppm Ammonium chloride
6/11/17: Ammonia: 0; Nitrite: 0.5
6/12/17: Ammonia: 0; Nitrite: 0
- Redose 2 ppm ammonium chloride
6/13/17: Ammonia: 0; Nitrite: 0; Nitrate: 40
- Cycled

So about a 2 week fishless cycle. I hope this info is helpful!

 

Dang. I'm on day 9 or 10 I think. I only dosed the ammonium chloride once, and my ammonia is still sitting at 4, just like it has been the whole time. I'm frustrated