May Q & A

Dr Tim answers your questions! 

Time stamps:

2:02 my cycle is stalled with Ammonia reading of 2ppm going on for 2 weeks.

6:20 Things to think of when moving.

11:57 Would you recommend leaving out all mechanical filtration while cycling with this bacteria? That way the only thing they can get stuck to is the substrate, rock, and biological filter media?

14:01 Just came out of my 3 day blackout. I’m dosing waste away now. The Dino’s are gone for now. But my alk is sky high and my corals are stressed. I don’t want to do a water change because it will spark the Dinos again. What should I do here?

18:45 I set my tank yesterday and followed everything you say but my ammonia reads between 0.50 and 1.0 is this okay or should I start over?

22:05 I’ve been using NP active pearl & waste away liquid form for half a year But now I am interested in Waste away gel. Do I need to remove NP Active pearl while introducing waste away?

25:20 I noticed that the protein skimmer has been overflowing with clear water in the collection cup right after I introduced waste away. As I don’t see cloudy water - how long should I remain turning off the protein skimmer?

29:00 I am on day 16 and nitrates are still high, and climbing, I'm getting ready to do a partial water change.  Is it possible my bottle was dead? On your website that shows a chart where it shows constantly adding ammonium, but in the video Dr. Tim said never to add unless both Ammonium and Nitrite are low.  Should I still be adding ammonium or not?

34:00 New BiOrb and One and Only... should I remove or turn off this air pump or remove the sponge? I just don't want all the helpful bacteria to end up in the cartridge that's going to be replaced at some point. 

35:45 First Defense, Eco-Balance and Waste Away gels - can these products be used in the same tank? Once my aquarium is established, it seems the process should be - water change (using AquaCleanse), Then add First Defense, wait 7 days and add  Eco-Balance, just replace the gels when needed, is this correct?

39:40 Would it be advisable to use Dr.Tim's One and Only on an established system to help fight off diatoms? 

42:02 Which of the Eco Balance products-freshwater or saltwater- would be best suited for a brackish water system?

44:00 ASF lights- how much do they run, and would they be anemone grade?

48:59 I’ve used secondhand Marco rock. It’s leaching out some phosphate into the water. My Hanna checker is reading 0.248ppm. I would normally just use PhosphateRX to knock these back down to 0.03ppm. But I don’t have any filters on the system yet and I don’t know is PhosphateRX will affect the one&only?