OK, so I am gonna do a trial by fire on Dr.Tim's One and Only Live nitrifying bacteria. I have my 38 Gal Fowlr up and running. It has dry rock and dead sand from Marco's Rocks. The tank ran bare for 3 days with fresh water(to check for leaks). I have added 44# of dry rock in the sump and DT, 30ish # of sand, and 38gal water in the tank and 20gal in the sump for a total of 58ish gallons. I am going to use a 4oz bottle of Dr.Tims which is rated for 60 gals and I will use the whole bottle(was just delivered from amazon on Friday, been sitting in my basement beside the tank since then).
The water is RO/DI out of my Buckeye field supply unit, that tested at 0 TDS w/ Hanna meter. I used Seachem Reef Salt(as always ;P) Mixed to 1.025 SG measured with a refractometer.
I ran the tank for a few hours with only a filter sock on the over flow just to clean up any debris or pvc trimmings that may have been circulating around the tank since adding the rock and sand. I have however removed the filter sock as suggested in the instructions prior to adding Dr.Tim's. I also will not be running a skimmer or any other filtration during this period... He has advertised a 3-6 day cycle on average. The bottle suggests adding a fish immediately, I will forego this process, and follow the fish less cycle, where Tim advises that we can either use ammonia, or Feed the tank.. I will be feeding the tank for my source of ammonia. I will feed twice a day as I would normally for the inhabitants. The lights will remain off during this period, and the tank is set at 78Deg.
I will be listing the tank perimeters as I go every day.
The tank has been running for 6 hours.
0 - Ammonia detected
0 - Nitrites
0 - Nitrates
Temp: 78.1
SG - 1.025