Dr. Tim's One and Only... Is this stuff for real or not?

[Scutterborn]

I'm looking for anyone who has used this or knows of anyone personally tha has experience with it. Some folks swear by it, some folks say is "Snake oil". Well, fellow MAASTards. What say you? I'll be in the setup phase within the next few weeks on my 185 and I am gettin Eco Rock from BRS. Gonna seed it with some established LR and possibly some "grunge" from Garf. Need some opinions.

[rrasco]

I setup my new tank with Fiji from BRS, wish I would have bought Eco Rock, but I didn't know the difference between all the dry rock they offer at that time. At any rate, I soaked my DR in LC for a few weeks to leach out the p04 and then seeded with a grapefruit sized LR. Tank cycled fine, but it did take a while. The dry rock has been curing since mid Feb. You can skip the LC step with eco rock since it doesn't have any organics on it.

I've been genuinely curious about Dr. Tims as well. I do plan to add some life soon in the form of some kind of beneficial additive or do a sand swap with someone.

[Scutterborn]

I've also thought about getting a bucket o' critters from a fellow reefer as well. I'm not trying to cycle it in a day as the ads say but, less than 6 weeks for sure. I'm at least willing to admit that patience has never been my strong suit. Imma go getter!! The 16oz bottle (240gal) is $95 tho. I don't make enough dinero to throw it away.

[rrasco]

I got ya. I wasn't going to cycle this long, I only did because I had the 210 cycling, it broke, moved cycling rocks to brute for about a month, got replacement tank, setup and let cycle more, and now I'm waiting to finish other parts of the build before I can move anything to it. I am cycling for a long time, but it wasn't intentional by choice. LOL.

The GARF grunge is a little pricey too.

[Scutterborn]

I hadn't checked on the price for the grunge yet. I already feel like I was cheating the amount of "one and only". My total system volume will be about 325g if I were to estimate.

[rrasco]

We use two types of grunge in each reef. In the main tank Garf Grunge Original™ is used. In new tanks we use one pound for each 3 gallons. We also use it to revitalize old tanks, and we add one pound for each 5 gallons of water.

20Lbs for $99.99. Their recommendation for a new tank would run you $500+.

http://www.garf.org/#garf%20grunge%20buttons

[Europhyllia]

I have used Fritz bacteria before. It's refrigerated and shipped overnight. Commercial seahorse breeders/importers use a similar product. I would still cycle it with ammonium chloride rather than put in live fish right away.
The refrigerated/overnighted stuff definitely works (see my seahorse 60g cube thread) - not sure about the bottled with a 1 year shelf-life stuff
As for dryrock I love Pukani. So lightweight.

[rrasco]

Pukani is awesome. You just have to be careful to get rid of anything on it that will leach p04.

[Scutterborn]

I, too, really like the pukani rock. The only reason I'm not going that route is because the Eco Rock isn't from an active reef. That "captive bred" idea is the theme for the entire tank. The area vs weight is really impressive as well. Could save me a bunch of cash because I wouldn't need to order as much. I'm gonna order about 200lbs and build an island with 125-150lbs. The rest goes in the sump.

[Europhyllia]

yes that fossilized reef rock they harvest from mines is a great idea in regards to preserving reefs. I tried it but in the end I disliked it so much I gave myself permission to be selfish on the rock. That fossilized rock is heavy stuff.
In my defense I managed to reuse the pukani in more than 1 tank so at least it got recycled (without po4 problems I may add).
If you get bacteria and need some ammonium chloride let me know. I may still have some and it doesn't take much.
http://www.maast.org/showthread.php?64428-60-Gallon-Reidi-Cube-gazillions-more!-%28new-pic-and-vid%29&p=811756&highlight=fritz#post811756

[rrasco]

To be fair, I think everything is dense and heavy in comparison to Pukani.

[Scutterborn]

Karin, it looks like your tank cycled in about 48hrs with the Fritz stuff huh?

[Europhyllia]

yes keep in mind that I stocked fairly conservatively though after slightly overdoing the ammonium chloride.

[Scutterborn]

The only fish that will get moved over are 2 juvenile black ice clowns (1 1/4 and 1 3/4") and a 2" yellow tang. Very little bio load for an estimated 340 gallon system. I'm going to be transferring from a 28g nano cube.

[Europhyllia]

oh I bet they'll think they are back in the ocean lol

[Scutterborn]

Lol! Supposedly the yellow tang was captive bred and the clown are ORA black ice. I've also got a red mandarin but he's not captive. He'll stay in the 28g. I checked on the fritz bacteria an it's way cheaper than the Dr. Tim's stuff. Like half the cost!

[Europhyllia]

it will be a little more because of the overnight shipping. but I can vouch for it to be legit stuff.