Cycling

[joeyprice]

I've seen posts other places that people cycle in 2 to 5 days with Dr. Tims and an ammonia source. It's been 5 days at this point and my ammonia is still testing in the 3 to 4 ppm range.
What is a realistic cycle time with this stuff?

 

[mphammer]

I am not 100% but I think there are quite a few factors that play into the speed of your cycle. Did you start with live rock or dry rock? Did you use "live" sand? (lots of disagreement on the live sand) What size is your setup?

I was able to cycle my latest tank, around 300 gallons of total water volume, in 12 days using a combination Dr Tims and biospira... a lot of biospira lol
I think @hzheng33 was able to cycle even quicker with same combo

 

[york1]

7 days on my last tank using birospira. I used one large bottle of biospira when i set it up and dropped a raw piece of shrimp. everything was testing good in 3-4 days. At 7 days I dumped another bottle in and added 2 fish

 

[SaltwaterGardening]

We started with Seed for first two weeks, then moved to Dr Tims. We were fully cycled in 2 months, with proof that we could consume ammonia after dosing. We started with dry rock and live sand, so our system was too clean.

 

[york1]

I wouldn't recommend trying to cycle a tank that quickly. It can go wrong very quickly. Also I would get someone else to test your water just to verify what you are getting from your testing

 

[hzheng33]

I had 3 bottles of biospira and 3 bottles of dr Tim all thrown into a tank with new rocks and sand. I cycled my tank in 3 days. Now because of these chemicals, I couldn’t run skimmer for 2-3 weeks but all in all I had to do so. My wife/kid were coming back and I didn’t have time on my side

 

[joeyprice]

Dry rock and live sand. I'll look in to some biospira.
Thanks

 

[york1]

Dry rock and live sand. I'll look in to some biospira.
Thanks

Make sure you check the use by date on the bottom of the bottle.