DrTim's Aquarium Podcast

March Q&A #2

Do you have a question? Send us an email at info@drtimsaquatics.com

Timestamps:

00:00 Start

05:31 - 1 - 40 gallon tank,I seeded with live sand and live rock that came from another tank 

13:16 - 2 - Day 8 ammonia is almost gone. My nitrite is now reading 5ppm+ and my nitrates are hovering at around 80ppm. Is this a normal stage of the process and I need to be patient or should I do a water change?

14:34 - 3 -How does Waste Away work to remove the nutrients in Freshwater?

20:16 - 4 -My tank has some sludge looking stuff on the surface- dinos maybe, it scrubs right off and is kinda flaky if that makes sense, it's not attached at all. The tank is an all in one with no skimmer. Would you recommend just refresh or waste way?

23:22 - 5 -Is it possible to just convert over to saltwater by adding the saltwater bacteria?

24:41 - 6 - The Red Sea test kit for my reef tank cycling. The test kit provides ammonia results in NH3/NH4 format. However, the quick guide I'm following on your website indicates a NH3-n/NO2-N measurement? Is there some type of conversion I need to do??

25:57 - 7 -Can I use First Defense in a QT tank that is dosed with copper?

29:36 - 8 -  We have also done 3 cycles of the recipe for success of Re-Fresh and Waste-away. The algae gets a little better but then bounces right back. We have struggled with Algae for years!

March 2024 Question and Answer

Do you have a question? Send us an email at info@drtimsaquatics.com

Timestamps:

00:00 Start

05:31 - 1 - How do you lower nitrates quickly besides doing a water change? 

13:16 - 2 - When I added One and Only, there was no "cloudiness". Is this ok/normal?

14:34 - 3 - My numbers stalled out on day 9 of my fishless cycle. Is this normal?

20:16 - 4 - How much One & Only do I use for these water changes?

23:22 - 5 - Accidentally added ammonia to 8ppm. Have I stalled my cycle or killed the bacteria?

24:41 - 6 - Which of your products, if any, benefit from being refrigerated for longer storage life?

25:57 - 7 - What is the approximate length of time before I’d need to add ammonium chloride to maintain the bacteria that developed during the cycling? If there is an extended delay before we can get the fish we are seeking, I don't want the aquarium to have been fallow for long enough that we lose the nitrifying bacteria.

29:36 - 8 -  Do I need to turn the skimmer on for any period of time, during the treatment for dinos? If so, how long should I run it?

31:35 - 9 - I recently used ReFresh to treat cyano and my water turned green.

35:44 - 10 - When and would you treat with waste away and then use the gel pack as maintenance? Would you use the aqua cleanse initially?

ASF and Reptile Systems

Do you have a question? Send us an email at info@drtimsaquatics.com

Timestamps:

00:00 Start

01:33 History of ASF  

6:23 Clownfish 

6:55 Turning a passion into business 

7:33 Our reason why 

9:55 Product Testing

19:32 ASF and Reptile Systems warranties 

21:35 Italian made pumps 

25:19 Reef Shots 

29:25 Where to find Reptile Systems and ASF products 

33:43 New Reptile Systems products for the US market in 2024

 

ReptileSystems.com

AquariumSystems.com

DrTimsAquatics.com

 

US Socials: 

@reptile_systems_us

@asf_usa 

@drtimsaquatics 

 

European Socials

@reptile_systems

@asf_aquariumsystems 

Question and Answer Feb 2024

Do you have a question? Send us an email at info@drtimsaquatics.com

Timestamps:

00:00 Start

10:43 - 1 - Is it ok to use Dr Tim’s First Defense when treating salt water fish with copper? 

11:27 - 2 - Can I use eco balance and waste away at the same time to treat sludge?

16:41 - 3 - Is it ok to use ozone with your products?

20:21 - 4 - Are the menhaden, salmon, river shrimp and Gammarus in your Benefishal fish food farm-raised or wild caught?

21:02 - 5 - What is your reasoning behind not keeping Red Tails?

26:41 - 6 - How do I clear algae from my tank without using so many chemicals?

34:18 - 7 - What species of fish successfully use the mop heads to lay eggs?

36:18 - 8 - Can I use the waste away gel in my planted tank if I’m running CO2?

37:00 - 9 - Fish facts 

39:16 - 10 Is there a probability for the sturgeon to get an infection on the wound from caviar removal?

Bacteria and winter weather

Do you have a story to share about your pond or aquarium and extreme weather? Send us an email at info@drtimsaquatics.com

Timestamps:

00:00 Start

00:53 Intro  

1:12  Things you should know about bacteria in aquariums 

09:38 What products need the winter shipping kit

10:58 My product arrived and it’s slushy. Is it still good?

11:20 What to do with a frozen or slushy product

17:16 My tank is cycled, but my livestock hasn’t arrived

22:09 Waste Away Gels and the cold

25:45 Aquarium equipment and the cold

31:13 Koi ponds and the cold

32:31 Winter preparedness

Jan 24 QA

Do you have a question? Send us an email at info@drtimsaquatics.com

 

Timestamps:

00:00 Start

1:14 - 1 -  During the cycling process, do I run my return pump and keep it running? 

02:42 - 2 -  What size Waste-Away gel should I use in my Fluval 13.5?

05:51 - 3 - Day 25 of a fishless cycle. Am I cycled and do I need to do a 90% water change?

08:23 - 4 -  Do I turn off my return pump when I add one and only? When do I turn it back on?

09:20 - 5 - Day 8 of cycling with no changes, what’s wrong?

12:54 - 6 - How much Waste-Away should I use and how often in my mixed reef?

17:24 - 7 - Can I use One and Only to soak the rocks and establish nitrifying bacteria culture after a crash? 

18:44 - 8 - Tank is 6 mos old. 0 nitrate and phosphate, rapid increase in cyano and algae lately. Can I use EcoBalance and Waste-Away instead of Re-Fresh? 

23:55 - 9 - Can I use one and only freshwater for a saltwater tank?

Coral Nutrition; Bacteria, it’s what corals want

Timestamps:

00:00 Start

00:35 Introduction

01:27 Basic Coral Morphology

02:11 Different Feeding Strategies

04:15 Autotrophy

06:30 Photosynthesis

15:25 Heterotrophy

17:27 Direct uptake of seawater

24:10 Corals and amino acids

24:36 Coral nitrogen budget

29:11 Feeding Brine Shrimp

31:50 Bacteria, its what corals want

35:26 External feeding

 

 

December Q & A

Prescription Card for fishless cycling: https://www.drtimsaquatics.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/FishlessCycling_prescription_recipe_Nov23.pdf 

Timestamps:

00:00 Start

00:49 - 1 - Is it possible that the bacterial strains that are in One & Only have a higher affinity for certain kinds of substrates? Do you have a recommendation as to which media is best?

 

09:18 - 2 -  Help cycling a 112 gallon aquarium? Should I add more ammonia? 

13:31 - 3 - Isn’t a filter sock mechanical filtration??

18:51 - 4 -You talk about heterotrophic and autotrophic bacteria. Can you talk about the different groups of bacteria, what they do, and which kinds are in each of your products? 

25:35 - 5 -Can we do a fishless cycling method in a jar with used aquasoil...without a filter?

28:40 - 6 -Help dealing with a dino outbreak using Waste-Away Gels?

32:48 - 7 - Are the bacteria consuming Nitrates and Phosphates free swimming and not fixed ones?

35:11 - 8 -How about phosphate in our unfiltered tap water? Can promote algae growth as well?

39:38 - 9 - I have some discus fish they are not willing to eat, and some of them they eat but they are too skinny. I am providing them beef heart, Brine and blood worms via mixing with garlic and vitamins. What do you recommend?

44:52 - 10 -How much food should I feed my Flowerhorn?

Nov Q and A

Timestamps:

00:00 Start

1:52 - 1 - How much Only and Only would I need to get for a 100 gallon indoor stock tank with 8, 5 inch koi? How much product do I use for periodic water changes? Also, If I had to do a complete water change would that be like starting over and using the initial startup amount? 

10:05 - 2 -  Do the biopellets need to be seeded with Waste-Away or Refresh? At what point during the algae removing recipe should I put the biopellet reactor online? 

11:50 - 3 - Is it possible to put refresh, waste away and eco balance on an automatic doser with magnetic stirrers to mix it up prior to dosing?

15:51 - 4 - Cycling a 220g reef tank with rock and sand. I'm on day 6, do I add more ammonia? 

24:47 - 5 - What is the difference between the freshwater and the pond/koi one and only?

25:54 - 6 - Fishless cycling a 20g tank. Should I do a water change if my ammonia is still high?

32:26 - 7 - Which of your products do you recommend to help lower nitrate?

36:23 - 8 - Can Ecobalance be used on a dosing pump splitting the dose daily?

39:02 - 9 - Is the one and only product good for just start ups or is it also good for just maintaining a tank?

43:15 - 10 - Does wrapping the tank in black plastic, with the goal of "preventing ANY lights" from getting into the tank include turning off my refugium light and wrapping it in plastic also?

 

Nitrification Rabbit hole

Article: https://www.drtimsaquatics.com/public-aquarium-and-aquaculture/nitrification-in-marine-aquaria/ 

Timestamps:

00:00 Start

3:30 Traditional view of Nitrification

5:28 What Bacteria Look like 

8:29 Nitrification Classification

10:45 Winogradsky column

12:18 Microbiology 101 

14:11 Culture Bias

17:41 Classic 2-Step Nitrification

26:15 Phylogenetics of Nitrifiers

34:29 Anammox

38:59 AOB-AOA Temperature Dependent

46:33 Comammox

51:19 Effect of Salinity