No startup cycle with Mr. Tims.

Has anyone heard about Mr. Tims One and Only? It's something that is said to eliminate the startup cycle. Has anyone used this product and had input? I'm in the hunt for beneficial startup additives to my tank to help speed up my process.

 

Not used that particular product Luke
have used other forms of bottled bacterial cultures

Hagens Cycle is one I have used, as is Microbacter7 from Brightwell

my opinions of both these products I have used, is that they do perform as advertised
and as such I would expect the Dr Tim product to be similar in that respect

having said that

nature will work for you
even when setting up with base/ dry rock, dry sand etc, eventually bacteria will develop in the system and the tank would cycle and be capable of supporting life

you can encourage the efficiency of nature by adding some shrimp (thawed frozen ones are fine) this breaks down in the water and encourages the bacteria we need to process that decaying waste and then the decaying waste of our fish etc

what I would certainly be cautious of is
using any of the bottled bacteria product, and then rushing to stock your tank with fish
especially any sensitive fish species
as that would be a very hard way of learning that it was not as effective as you hoped it would be IMO

The products I have used, have not been used when cycling a tank - I prefer to let nature do that for me

but when experiencing issues with a set up, power out etc, which may have resulted in bacterial die off , or after a fish loss, ammonia is tracebable on a test kit
or having to set up a Hospital tank for temporary housing of fish about to be treated
and most recently, in order to try and ensure species of bacteria, required to take advantage of carbon dosing, are in fact the positive species

all the above are reasons I have had for dosing bottled bacteria product

nature has always proven effective enough, when combined with a gradual stocking process, which allows the bacteria to increase in numbers at the same rate as the additions are introduced
Steve

 

One thing I learned the hard way is not to rush a cycle. The more live rock you use the better. I used more live rock & had my cycle down to around 3 weeks before my first partial CuC went in. I'm not the biggest fan of live sand but some people like it as well.

 

Even though it was hard to wait for my tank to cycle, it did give me time to learn how to check my water params, make saltwater etc. When I noticed something growing, or a large swing in params I did not freak out.

I sent my tank description and parameters to John at reefcleaners.org a couple times until he told me, OK, looks like you are ready for a CUC.

Stick to this site for great advise people, like Steve Wright and John at reefcleaners won't stear you wrong