Dr. Tim'S One & Only Nitrifying Bacteria Does It Work?

[rebrn]

Hmm ... seem to be at a stand still here no changes in 48 hours ... just when I was starting to have hope for the product .... well we will see what the next test brings

12 hour testing updates in first post.

 

[rebrn]

hello, I just posted the last few water checks ... sorry for the delay couldn't get on to the fourm I am assuming for the lay out change ... nice new look by the way.

 

[rebrn]

Well guys it has been 7 days ... what is your opinon? Do you think it is working? I am not sure if it is or not...I am thinking that if it is working it is not working fast enough for me, or am I just expecting too much?

(all updates in first post)

 

[fatheadminnow]

Personally I do not think it is working all that good. I mean, it may be working, but like you said, it is not working fast enough. I have seen fishless cycles, without any aids, have ammonia drop to zero within the first 8-9 days.

-FHM

 

[rebrn]

I agree FHM, mind you my 12 gallon tank sat in a fishless cycle with no aids for 2 weeks with no change at all ... ammonia started at 4ppm and stayed at 4ppm. The only activity I saw in eithor of my tanks was a 50% reduction of ammonia AFTER I added the bacteria product, so I don't know ... maybe it is just me. The last time I had a tank 10 years ago it was a distaster and I gave up ... maybe this very slow cycle is a sign ... I am not meant to have fish, but darnet I am bound and determined to break my bad luck with aquariums

 

[OldMan47]

I am sorry to find that we have yet another product that is not working, at least not the sample you got. I regularly spike new filters with the right bacteria by cleaning an old filter in a new tank. With the amount of time you have already given yours, I would be fully cycled using that method. It looks to me like the stuff you used did not have many of the right bacteria in it to get you going. It may have had some, but not enough to really give much of a leg up.

 

[drobbyb]

I am sorry to find that we have yet another product that is not working, at least not the sample you got.

I was really hoping that there would be some sign that it works by now. I have to agree with OldMan47, this one too looks like it just dosen't work.

Mature media is still the best option.

 

[backtotropical]

I must admit I'm very disappointed to hear that it isn't working. I've been waiting a long time to find someone who is testing this stuff.

Timothy Hovanec wrote 3 pioneering scientific papers on nitrifying bacteria in aquariums in his quest to produce what we know now as Bio-Spira.

Unfortunately, Dr Hovanec left Marineland (who manufacture Bio-Spira) and reports suggest that Bio-Spira no longer works like it used to.

Hovanec owns the patent on aquarium bacteria solutions containing Nitrospira (the bacteria responsible for nitrite oxidation in aquariums, previously thought to be Nitrobacter before Hovanec's research), so I assume that he isn't allowing Marineland to use "his" formula any longer.

Is the new one a refrigerated product?

 

[rebrn]

Hello everyone, In answer to the question is this a refridgerated product, the answer is yes and no. It states that it does not need to be refridgerated it can be kept at room temperature, but if at room temp shelf life is 6 months, if regridgerated then 1 year shelf life.

So I was very dissapointed in the product so I decided to contact Dr. Tim and let him know ... I was able to find an email address via his website. Anyway, I expected to get a form letter providing me with proper instructions etc. However, to my suprise, Dr. Tim him self emailed me back. This is what he told me:

1. His product reccomends an ammonia concentration of 2ppm, if you have a geater ammonia level you need proponiately more product. ie - ammonia of 4ppm requres double the product.

2. I used a water conditioner that contained an aldehyde - this can effect his product, although as my water sat for 2 weeks prior to adding his product he did not feel that was the primary issue.

So what to do, as I still had product left, he suggested using the remaining product in the tanks (bringing my total dosed amount to 3.5 ml/gallon in each tank). Low and behold 12 hours after adding additional product sucess! The5 gallon tank still showed no nitrItes but had a nitrAte reading of 5ppm. The 12 gallon also showed no nitrItes but had a trace amount of nitrAtes (definately not orange put a slight orange tinge to the test).

So perhaps it did not work as quickly as I did not fully following the directions. He said that the amount I used would still work with ammonia of 4ppm it would just take longer. The instructions state best results with ammonia of 2ppm and no higer then 5ppm.

I will update the first post with the results after adding more product ... at work right now and don't have the log with me.

Thanks

 

[waterdrop]

Well thanks rebrn, continues to be interesting!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[rebrn]

Ok I have caught the first post up with the test results. Now I know what some of you are thinking, because I am thinking it too. That the nitrAtes seen could have arrived as a result of the natural cycling process and adding additional doseage of bacteria product could have just been a coincidence. I do agree with this thought and remain skeptical of the product thus far, however, I do find it courious that I had essentially no activity at all in the tank untill I added the additional dosing, and it would appear that I have skipped the nitrIte spikes and gone straight to nitrAte. So while I remain skeptical, I am now hopeful that this product is actually working.

Oh and sorry I mis spoke in the post above, it was 12 hours when I saw a trace nitrAtes and 24 hours before I saw definate 5ppm nitrAtes in the 5 Gallon. The 12 Gallon was 24 hours before trace - have not seen definate nitrAtes yet but I think I am being overly cautious about what I call orange and just really dark yellow

 

[waterdrop]

I suppose its possible the reason Dr. Hovanec's mentioning 2ppm is because he's adding in the fact that the majority of the organic material in the bottle (my guess here) will just go out into the tank and add a dose of material that the heterotrophs can munch on, creating still more ammonia, thus potentially raising the concentration above 5ppm and encouraging the wrong species of autotroph.

Dr. Hovanec himself, I believe, is the one who taught us about the alternate species coming in around 8ppm concentration and blocking out the Nitrospira (& possibly the Nitrosomonas, not sure) that we want. So, if I'm remembering that correctly and I'm pretty sure I am, I would expect him to be one of the ones concious of not taking the concentration above 5ppm.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[OldMan47]

I am sure it was Dr Tim who gave us that tidbit. He is also the one who observed that excessive use of dechlorinators, more than a double dose, would greatly slow the bacterial development.

 

[rebrn]

It was Dr. Tim, that info is actually on his website in one of the papers that he wrote.

 

[rebrn]

hello everyone, sorry I haven't added the updates in a while, I was having problems with my internet. At anyrate, I have caught up the testing results in the first post. The 5 gallon is coming along quite nicely, actually moving fairly quickly now . The 12 gallon is still taking its time ... but today got a definate nitrate reading of 5 which is great because if it follows the 5 gallon it should start to move quickly now. At any rate, I think I can safely say that the product didn't necessarily hurt anything but I don't feel it speed up the process at all. I could be wrong in that, I am afterall an impatient person, so perhaps I was expecting too much from the product (I was kinda hoping for the miracle overnight cycle product ). But I suppose it did help somewhat (espically after adding the second dose) in the 5 gallon tank but not really that much and certainly hardly at all in the 12 gallon tank.

I suppose the final verdict is try it if you want it didn't seem to hurt anything, the cost isn't that much, about $10 for 2 oz. Just remember if you do decide to try it, be sure that your ammonia is around 2ppm (definately not above 5ppm), and if your ammonia is above 2ppm make sure to add double the dose, and also be sure that your dechlorinator does not contain an aldehyde procuct. If you follow those guidelines it may help to speed your cycle a little bit, but don't expect miracles.