DrTim’s Aquatics Ammonium Chloride Solution – 2 oz – for Fishless Cycling in Freshwater & Saltwater Aquariums – Treats 100 Gallons

So when I bought my 54 gallon aquarium... I did not know much. I was told at the LFS to buy this API quick start (good product) and some stress cost stuff and all good start adding fish... so I setup this tank and put the API quick start in and planted plants - one melted and the others did well but 3 days later my tank had a chalky appearance. So I took the filtering system apart EHEIM ( great product) washed the pre-filter and everything cleared. Perhaps it was the rotting plant? Needless to say I had to take the tank down and reset it up at home- same thing chalky after 3 days. So what I learned is that is a bacterial bloom but i provided no fish and no ammonia (fish excrement). So basically the bacteria bloomed and died. Ok I got this now. So did a 50% water change and started over again after receiving the DR Tim’s Ammonia Chloride. Put in API Quick start again and now added 216 drops of ammonium chloride- tested in the morning after. Ammonia was NOW at 4ppm. That evening tested and had a twinge of nitrite - just a barely there. Next morning tested and ammonia about 3ppm and definitely at .50 nitrite.Tested that evening now at 3ppm ammonia and 2.0 ppm nitrite - tested nitrate just a smidge.This thing is just rocking and rolling along in days!!! Only days !!!Following the exact path line! Wish I knew then what I know now - don’t use raw fish or raw shrimp or a bunch of fish food to generate ammonia - get a good product for starting quick with bacteria and this ammonia AN you’re set! This sooo speeds up the process!!! I’ll keep updating...UPDATE: next day: ok now ammonia is at 2ppm; nitrites at 2.00ppm; and nitrates SMIDGE... between 0ppm and 5.00 ppm. Plants in tank are thriving NOW!UPDATE 4 days in:Ammonia 2 ppm down from 4ppmNitrites 5ppm up from 2ppmNitrates now 10ppm up from trace5 days - ammonia 1 ppm (when it gets down to about .50 I’m gonna have to add some more in)- nitrites 5 ppm- nitrates 20 ppm now6 daysAmmonia at ZERO - gotta add a full dose again.Nitrites 2 ppmNitrates looks like 2 ppm a teensy bit darker but only a smidge - Nitrates going down?WELL water is crystal sparkling but apparently I have to add more ammonia....so gonna do itPlants looking REALLY good - I wonder if the plants are taking care of some of the nitrates?Tested Ammonia after 6 hours after putting it in and ammonia is back up at 4ppm7 daysAmmonia BACK DOWN to only .25 ppm!Nitrites at 2 ppmNitrate at 5 ppm <- I believe the aquatic plants are using up the nitrates! And keeping it in check.8 daysAmmonia 0 ppm (adding another 1/2 dose 2 drops per gallon approximately 106 drops)Nitrites 2 ppmNitrates 2 ppm

Great for cycling your fish tank.

Right now i’m currently in the nitrite reading stage of the cycle. Took 2 weeks for that to happen. It also works way faster with a higher pH. My first attempt i had really soft and acidic water and there was no change for the whole month i was testing. After a water leak scare (false alarm) i refilled the tank and basically started over but added crushed coral. and like i said, it took about 2 weeks for nitrite to start showing which didn’t happen at all in the first try.This stuff works. Definitely faster than using fish food as an ammonia source.

Not much to say about this stuff. You get what you pay for, and if you want the best, you get DrTim's. DrTim's Ammonium chloride is a tried and true product for aquarists. NEVER add this to a tank with living fish; however if you find yourself with a newly setup tank, or a tank without any livestock, you'll need a source of ammonia to keep the nitrogen cycle running.Using DrTim's and a water tester kit, I was able to keep my filter media healthy for several months, so that when I finally restocked there was no spike in ammonia, and I did not have to wait for the nitrogen cycle to begin -- it was in full force from day 1 and my ammonia/nitrite never even registered, as the bacteria was already more than capable of handling the load placed on it.Would definitely recommend for anyone who needs to keep their filter running without any life. No good if anything is still living in your tank though -- they won't be too happy if you're spiking the ammonia levels.

I ordered 2 2 oz bottles because I could get them overnight vs 2 days on the 4 oz bottle. This is my first time using chemicals to cycle a sw tank. I usually add some raw shrimp to a mesh bag. That way takes about a month to cycle a tank but it’s effective. I have a WB 230.6. The tank has 100+ lbs of dry rock and 120 lbs of Caribsea live sand. The dosage is 2 oz per 100g. Although some of the comments read to use half. I added bacteria the day before and both bottles of the ammonium chloride the next day. 24 hrs later I tested my ammonia using a Sailfert kit and it’s reading 1.5 PPM. I’m happy that the cycle has started but was hoping it would be 2 or higher since there are no fish in the tank. Now I’m asking myself to get to 2 PPM do I order more product? Start adding fish food to the tank? Or let it ride and see what happens?

It’s ammonia, nothing really else to say it works as it’s intended lol. I’m using this to cycle my tank and it works so, w ammonia.

The real deal if u need to cycle ur tank, go on dr tims website for directions

Product had zero ammonia. Not sure if I just got a bad bottle, but I added half a bottle to a cup and still read zero. Had zero ammonia smell as well. Buyer beware. You may need multiple bottles to get a good one.