evening update: ammonia is now a bit shy of 1 ppm. It's definitely progressing, just much more slowly than I had hoped.
Dr. Tim's One and Only
- Thread starter FishFixation
- Start date
You'll never know if Dr Tim's is solely responsible for the progress. You used other bio-boosters in the same tank before and the tank has been running since Dec. Thus, the progress could be attributed to (1) Dr Tim's, (2) bacteria from other boosters finally being alive and kicking, (3) natural development of nitrifying bacteria, or (4) any combination of those 3 possibilities.
If I were you, I wouldn't bother cycling a 3g. Good luck!
You're right. I can't attribute this 100% to the Dr. Tim's, but I had honestly seen no consistent progress until the past few days. If the stability were going to help, it should have done so weeks ago. The Bio-zyme packaging looked old, so who knows how good it was. Given the other options, the most likely candidate for kick-starting this is the Dr. Tim's... if anything. Maybe it just finally went on its own, but I doubt it.
As per why I'm even bothering... I just want to do it the right way this time. *sigh* :/
FishFixation - Congrats on working on doing it right. It's a little rough when you are just starting to sift though all the conflicting things out there.
Now as to the bacteria in the bottle. It sometimes works and it sometimes doesn't. Its very much a hit or miss thing.
First off Nitrobacter, Nitrosomas, Nitrospira, Nitrococcus, etc.. genus of nitrifying bacteria are very hardy. They can withstand starvation in aerobic condition for up to 4 months at 20C. They can also withstand freezing, drying, and pH fluctuations without problems. The term "ubiquitous in nature" is commonly applied to them. With the fishless cycle you rely on them surviving in small quantities from the tap water or else floating in dry on air currents. Pretty tough little buggers to survive either of these conditions.
If frozen they can last for many years. It's actually been postulated that they might be able to survive interstellar travel. However after being frozen there is a significant "lag" time before the bacteria are up to full speed again.
Like everything else there is a limit to their survival time under certain conditions. In anaerobic conditions at room temp there survival is a couple of months at best. In anaerobic conditions in the refrigerator the survival time is extended quite a bit longer.
So when buying bacteria in a bottle it depends on how long ago it was bottled. A responsible company selling the stuff will figure out how long the bacteria will survive in the container and compare it to the average shelf time of the product. If the majority of the product is sold prior to the complete loss of effectiveness, then most of the customers will be happy with it.
Biospira got pretty good review because the consumer had a decent success rate. However, refrigeration is expensive and cuts into margin quickly. Corporate number crunchers generally don't like to see small margins for some reason (crazy accountants). The unrefrigerated version has a lower success rate but higher margins. A careful analysis of their target market probably showed that most people who bought the product had no real understanding what it was for. So they swapped for the less effective but higher margin room temp version of the product. Their consumer base generally didn't know that there was any difference. They have wisely not placed expiration dates on the product as then the stores would have to throw away the expired product. This of course cuts into the bottom line severely......
So basically it is a roll of the dice with that stuff. It may work but odds are it is just stinky polluted water in the bottle when you buy the stuff.
Now as to the bacteria in the bottle. It sometimes works and it sometimes doesn't. Its very much a hit or miss thing.
First off Nitrobacter, Nitrosomas, Nitrospira, Nitrococcus, etc.. genus of nitrifying bacteria are very hardy. They can withstand starvation in aerobic condition for up to 4 months at 20C. They can also withstand freezing, drying, and pH fluctuations without problems. The term "ubiquitous in nature" is commonly applied to them. With the fishless cycle you rely on them surviving in small quantities from the tap water or else floating in dry on air currents. Pretty tough little buggers to survive either of these conditions.
If frozen they can last for many years. It's actually been postulated that they might be able to survive interstellar travel. However after being frozen there is a significant "lag" time before the bacteria are up to full speed again.
Like everything else there is a limit to their survival time under certain conditions. In anaerobic conditions at room temp there survival is a couple of months at best. In anaerobic conditions in the refrigerator the survival time is extended quite a bit longer.
So when buying bacteria in a bottle it depends on how long ago it was bottled. A responsible company selling the stuff will figure out how long the bacteria will survive in the container and compare it to the average shelf time of the product. If the majority of the product is sold prior to the complete loss of effectiveness, then most of the customers will be happy with it.
Biospira got pretty good review because the consumer had a decent success rate. However, refrigeration is expensive and cuts into margin quickly. Corporate number crunchers generally don't like to see small margins for some reason (crazy accountants). The unrefrigerated version has a lower success rate but higher margins. A careful analysis of their target market probably showed that most people who bought the product had no real understanding what it was for. So they swapped for the less effective but higher margin room temp version of the product. Their consumer base generally didn't know that there was any difference. They have wisely not placed expiration dates on the product as then the stores would have to throw away the expired product. This of course cuts into the bottom line severely......
So basically it is a roll of the dice with that stuff. It may work but odds are it is just stinky polluted water in the bottle when you buy the stuff.
Very informative post! I enjoyed reading that - thank you. Just one correction. BioSpira's replacement, supposedly new and improved - Dr. Tim's One and Only does have a Best Used by date stamped on each bottle. I believe it is one year out from manufacture. They say it is at it's best within 6 months at room temperature and for a year if refrigerated. They also have Do Not Freeze warnings - at least on their site. I can't remember if it was on the bottle, but I believe so.
It is also not produced by the same company. Dr. Tim left Marineland who produced BioSpira and went out on his own with this new product. SafeStart is Marineland/Tetra's replacement.
