Cycling with bacteria question

[nicksteele7]

Hi,
I'm trying to cycle my tank with Dr. Tim's One and Only. I used an 8 oz bottle (entire bottle, shaken and inverted) for a 20g bare bottom tank. There is a lot of sediment at the bottom now. Is this normal? Can it harm fish? If I remove the sediment, will that slow the cycling process? Should I transfer it to the filter? Here's a picture:

 

[skjl47]

hello; This is just a guess as I have not used the stuff, but the bacteria likely needed to be grown on some sort of substrate and that may be what you see.

That was not why I decided to post on your thread. The tank looks to be empty of fish. If so then the bacteria from the bottle will need some nutrients, namely ammonia. I do not think you should add fish to the tank just yet but some other source of ammonia. That can be bottled pure ammonia or a couple of raw shrimp left in the tank to rot.

Do you have a water test kit?

 

[nicksteele7]

I have been using Dr. Tim’s ammonium chloride and I have the API master test kit. My question is, once the tank has finished cycling (I can add 2ppm ammonium chloride and reach 0 ammonia and nitrite within 24 hrs) should I remove the sediment at the bottom or put it in the filter? Thanks!

 

[skjl47]

once the tank has finished cycling (I can add 2ppm ammonium chloride and reach 0 ammonia and nitrite within 24 hrs) should I remove the sediment at the bottom or put it in the filter? Thanks!

Hello; Yes once the tank is cycled that stuff can be removed.
Are you running the filter now?

 

[TonyS20]

Not used this brand but i guess the process is similar. I used Fluval Cycle, added fish on the same day as the bottled bacteria and we are now 17 days in with no cycle detected.

Just make sure the bacteria has the required nutrients and you should be fine. Don't touch the sediment, just leave it in the tank even after adding fish and gravel if your going to add it.

For most people, this product would be added to a tank with gravel so the sediment would not be removed or disturbed.

Edit it could be removed after the tank is cycled but you could likely be removing beneficial bacteria or a key process that affects the beneficial bacteria. This wouldn't be beneficial even after the tank is cycled. So unless the instructions say to remove the sediment i would just leave it in.

 

[skjl47]

Hello; I looked at the picture again. Does the tank have any water in it?

 

[Gourami Swami]

Normal, I would not remove it until the tank has been established for a month or so. I usually pour my Dr. Tim's mostly into the filter, so that's where the white stuff ends up in mine. I would say your better off putting it in the filter after the cycle but it doesn't matter, at that point you should have bacteria in the filter anyway.
Do you have enough water circulation? If the dr. tim's is sitting on the bottom now, that's also what fish poop will do once the fish are pooping.

 

[nicksteele7]

Yes it has water. I think I’ll add the sediment to the filter once it’s cycled. There is a 200gph filter but it doesn’t seem to effect the stuff at the bottom. Maybe I’ll add a power head along the bottom?