More excitement today... My critter package arrived from [URL="http://www.ipsf.com/"]Indo-Pacific Sea Farms[/URL]! Yay!

[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/ipsf-package1.jpg[/IMG]

I ordered their Mix & Match Special:
[LIST][*]6 Bristle Worms[*]6 Sandbed Clams[*]6 Nerite Snails[*]6 Strombus Grazers[*]6 Micro-Hermits[*]Reef Amphipods[*]Podflakes[*]Live Sand Activator[*]Hermit Homes[/LIST]
...and the Super Mix & Match...

Well it's been 4 days and everyone is still alive! Woohoo!

First a confession... since my last post I've discovered that a pH of 7.8 is actually quite low... so my bad! I've never checked pH before and the brief investigation I did before yielded the wrong answers. Oh well, the tank seems no worse for it, but if anyone is reading this and thinking of trying Dr Tims One & Only Bacteria, I definitely recommend keeping an eye on pH, as it really can drop when you do multiple...

Well as you might have guessed by now, the Amm & Ni weren't 0 the next day.... nor the day after. In fact it ended up taking 3 days. I dutifully added more Ammonium Chloride... and again it took 3 days. Blurgh.

I emailed Dr Tims customer service and they suggested the pH might be too low and to do a WC. I tested the pH and it was at 7.8 ...so I don't think that's the problem. Bah, I've waited over a month and cycled it 5 times, (which is 4 times more than people usually...

3 more days and it's down to 0 Amm and Ni again. I ended up adding a little more Ammonium Chloride than the time before (40ml total,) so I guess that's why it wasn't quicker this time.

Dosed another 40ml this morning. According to Dr Tims website Amm and Ni should now be able to hit 0 in 24hrs; although with the last cycle taking 3days, I can't really see that happening. We shall see tomorrow...

Amm and Ni 0 again today! MUCH quicker that time around (3 days!)

Just added 30ml of Ammonium Chloride; lets see what those little bacteria are made of!