Dr Tims One and Only = Didn't Work for me

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HaleMoana

Candiru
MFK Member
Feb 27, 2009
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I posted this in another thread, but thought I would let everyone know about my experience considering this was a fairly pricey product.
I have always been skeptical of these "snake oil" type products that advertise quick cycling. I guess I'm a naturalist and like to do my cycles the old fashioned way... respecting the Nitrogen cycle. But this time I thought I would try this product. I was ordering from DFS anyway, so I figured why not? I have made much worse investments over my lifetime in this hobby, so why not try it?!?! There was a large write up in last months DFS catalog and I was curious. So...

RE: Dr Tim's One and Only.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...m?pcatid=18986

FWIW... I used this product to "cycle" my tank last week. It didn't work. I dosed it on Thursday and added a fish about 4 hours later. the directions say to add a fish within 24 hours.

I tested today and I still have Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates. This product might speed up the cycling process, but it certainly doesn't give you a fully cycled tank in 24 hours as it advertises.

Just letting my fellow hobbiests know.

I also wrote a Testimonial for DFS stating my experience with the product. Of course, they have not put it on their site.
 
Wow , im rather surprised it being one of the more expensive types. Thank you for sharing your experience and sorry for the disappointment. This happens. I had Seachems stability work for me.
 
I wasn't actually expecting much and would have been REALLY surprised if it actually worked.

This was more of an experiment that I wanted to try out. Needless to say... it turned out to be a good experiment because now I know it's garbage and I can share it with all you guys! :D
 
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HaleMoana;3066024; said:
I wasn't actually expecting much and would have been REALLY surprised if it actually worked.

This was more of an experiment that I wanted to try out. Needless to say... it turned out to be a good experiment because now I know it's garbage and I can share it with all you guys! :D
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Which I appreciate a great deal.
 
Of course, "Dr. Tim" is Tim Havonic, who characterized Biospira while working at Marineland. Yes, his product is prohibitively expensive for use with larger tanks. This product also requires shipping on ice...an additional expense. My guess is that qualitatively, this is probably a pretty good product...certainly as good as Biospira, but the way it is used troubles me. Imagine that you fill a new tank with dechlorinated water and then toss these live bacteria into it. There is NOTHING for the bacteria to live on. This is essentially a sterile environment...no ammonia, no amino acids and no carbon source. Of course, the bacteria are going to die...and they're going to die rapidly. I think it is far better to put the fish into the tank the day before and allow some ammonia and other crud to accumulate before the inoculation with such products . You can even spike the water with either ethanol or sugar, for the bacteria to use as a carbon source.
 
brianp;3066114; said:
Of course, "Dr. Tim" is Tim Havonic, who characterized Biospira while working at Marineland.
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Yes, I do know that we are talking about THAT Dr Tim. That was one of the reasons that I gave it a chance. He is well respected in this area.

And I did actually have an ammonia source already in there. The tank had been running for 2 days before I dosed the product. I had a raw shrimp in there to spike the NH3 very slightly before dosing. I, like you, was very skeptical about the directed usage.

I also want to be clear that I am not trying to discredit Dr Tim or any of his accomplishments. Just wanted to share my experience with this product. If anyone has had any positive experience with this product, I'd be curious to hear about that as well.
 
Adding beneficial bacteria with no food source means you're adding biological waste. A lot of the "quick cycle" products are a bottle of ammonia with some most likely dead bacteria.

You can't rush cycling, only over feed the responsible bacteria colonies. Stick to ammonia cycling, it's the fastest way to do it.
 
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HaleMoana;3065972; said:
I also wrote a Testimonial for DFS stating my experience with the product. Of course, they have not put it on their site.
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This is the part that is bothering me now. :irked: they've now had over a week to review it and post it. Seems that they don't like posting negative testamonials as it might hurt their sales. This compromises the integrity of their testimonials.

Other hobbiests need to know!!!
 
HaleMoana;3082644; said:
This is the part that is bothering me now. :irked: they've now had over a week to review it and post it. Seems that they don't like posting negative testamonials as it might hurt their sales. This compromises the integrity of their testimonials.

Other hobbiests need to know!!!
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Its a million dollar industry this bacteria in a bottle. I wouldn't be surprised if you never see that testimonial again.
 
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