Opening the Mailbox - Dr Tim and Hilary answer your aquarium questions

Dr Tim answers questions that we get from hobbyists via social media, email and other sources.  Questions about cycling your tank, setting-up a new tank, fishless cycling with shrimp not ammonia, high ammonia and/or nitrite and more are covered in this Q & A session. If you have questions please contact us and we will answer them in another session.  

In this episodes Dr Tim talks with Thomas Bertschy from ASF about the ASF cichlid salt which is great for getting your aquarium water to match the water quality characteristics of many cichlid habitats.  Next, we talk with Dale Lewis from Reptile Systems about their all black ceramic Clamp Lamps.  Finally, Dr Tim discusses the DrTim's Aquatics Bene-FISH-al® DIY frozen fish food - easy and quick to prepare without waste this is a wonderful fish and invertebrate food.

Dr Tim talks with Thomas from ASF about MX circulation pumps and then Dale with Reptile Systems talk about new Eco Halogens heat and light systems and Dr Tim ends with a discussion on ReFresh.

Dr Tim talks with Dale Lewis of Reptile Systems about Infrared Heating for reptiles.  Then Dr Tim discusses the ASF MX Pump range with Thomas Bertschy of ASF France.  Finishing, Dr Tims talking about why you get DInoflagellates versus Cyanobacteria and how to get rid of them with better knowledge of water chemistry and using DrTim's Aquatics Re-Fresh and Waste-Away.

Dr Tim is joined by Thomas Bertschy of @ASF about the ASF test kits and the importance of using test kits to maintain water quality and fish health.  Then Dr Tim speaks with Dale Lewis of @Reptile Systems who talks out the New Dawn light systems for growing plants.  Finishing Dr Tim talks about AquaCleanse our product to eliminate chlorine, chloramines and ammonia for your water and First Defense which is a great overall water conditioner and stress relief agent.

Dr Tim talks with Thomas from ASF about Reef Shots and Dale from Reptile Systems about the Ferguson Zone.  Then Dr Tim explains the thinking behind the Waste-Away® Gels.

Dr Tim talks salt production with Thomas from ASF and Ferguson Zone for Reptiles with Dale from reptile systems

Dr. Tim answers your questions! Timestamps: 00:00 Start 1:15- 1"Is it better to add Waste Away to a reef setup once a week,or better to split and dose half twice a week? How long do I need to turn off the skimmer?  5:39-2 How to use Waste-Away and Re-Fresh on my 24 gallon tank. 7:32- 3 "I will be completing the cycle soon, but won't be able to get fish for another 2 weeks, do I continue to dose 2ppm ammonia and how often?" 8:49- 4 "Is it normal for the pH be low during fishless cycling?" 12:01- 5 54g tank on a fishless cycle with high nitrites and nitrates. 16:17-6 ReFresh and sea cucumbers. 17:31-7 "Do I need to remove the floss when cycling?" 18:01-8 "I treated my "milky" tank 24 hours ago with Clear Up, but there has been no change. Can you advise?" 21:43- 9 Fishless cycle and when to use a water conditioner.  23:12-10 "I just received a fishless cycle kit and it was really warm when I got it. Is it still ok?" 27:14- 11 I’m going to use your products to fight Dino, but I’m confused about the waste away and refresh product, there is two versions of them which you recommend? 30:33- 12  I’m on day 5 of a fishless cycle and was wondering if it would interrupt cycle if I added a small amount of dry rock to the tank at this point? 31:13- 13 A 3 week old, 210g tank, with cichlids and nitrites is about 1.0. Is your product still at work getting those nitrites converted into nitrates? 32:52- 14 "Am I able to use the one and only bacteria and nutri seawater?" 34:04- 15  Spike in numbers on Day 10 after adding live sand. Should I do a water change? 36:09- 16 Fishless cycle, with Dr.Tim's ammonia and nitrifying bacteria. After a few days my ammonia is 0 and I am not seeing any nitrates or nitrites. Am I supposed to dose with more ammonia or for nitrites to show up? I have a planted tank with gravel at the bottom. Very hard water, relatively alkaline. I've kept the temperature over 80."

Dr Tim and Hilary dig back into the mail bag for more listener questions!

In this episode, Dr Tim and Hilary talk about ammonia. We start off slowly, giving you the basics before going more in-depth as the episode progresses.