Dr. Tim's Aquatics One & Only Live Nitrifying Bacteria for Freshwater Aquariums, 8-fl oz bottle

One & Only is designed for one job – to quickly establish a biofilter in your newly set-up aquarium so that your fish do not experience New Tank Syndrome (NTS), which is when the water contains such high levels of ammonia and/or nitrite that your fish die. One & Only does this by containing species of ammonia- and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria that prefer to live in the fish tank environment.

Before adding One & Only to your tank, make sure the water has been dechlorinated. Dechlorinators that contains aldehydes in its formula are harmful to One & Only. UV-sterilizers and protein skimmers should be turned off before adding One & Only and remain off for 36-48 hours after dosing.It is important to shake the bottle well before adding One & Only. If you see only a clear liquid you have not shaken One & Only well enough. Pour the One & Only over the biological filter media in your biofilter. If you do not have dedicated filter media it is fine to pour the liquid into the fish tank water.

One & Only should be added after the tank has been set up. At this point the water should have reached the proper temperature and have been dechlorinated. Start the filter and make sure it is functioning and then add One & Only. Fish should be added within 24 hours of adding One & Only nitrifying bacteria. An alternative to adding fish is to add some ammonia to the water.

This is the hardest question to answer because every situation is different. One & Only will dramatically reduce the time it takes to establish a biofilter in your newly set-up aquarium. However, even One & Only has limits.For instance, if you set up a saltwater tank and use uncured live rock, One & Only may not be able to initially control the ammonia concentration in the water because there will be too much decay of organic matter from the uncured live rock.Or if you let every friend of your kids feed the new fish tank such that you are grossly overfeeding the tank, One & Only will not be able to maintain low levels of ammonia and nitrite.Also, some fish species are very sensitive to any amount of ammonia in the water so these fish should be added to the tank in the first 20 or so days after set-up.In general, you can add one giant danio-sized fish per gallon when initially dosing with One & Only. Feed normally and monitor ammonia and nitrite levels in the water. You might see a little ammonia or nitrite for a day or so but this will quickly disappear. You can then add more fish to the aquarium.

No. One & Only should never be frozen, nor should it be kept at temperatures above 95°F. Normal room temperature will not harm the bacteria in One & Only. Perhaps it is easier to think about it this way: One & Only is not like an ice cream cone. Once ice cream is exposed to room temperatures it starts to melt, and if it completely melts you have a mess and no longer ice cream. One & Only is not like this. One & Only will last for 6 months at room temperatures (65 to 85°F). At colder temperatures (around 50°F) One & Only will last one year.

The best way to handle One & Only is to treat it the same way you would treat your fish. You wouldn’t keep the bag of fish you just bought at the fish store in direct sunlight in your car for hours while you continued shopping nor would you let that bag of fish freeze — the same goes for One & Only. Keep One & Only in moderate temperatures and it will be perfectly fine when you are ready to use it.

At a temperature of about 50°F, One & Only will be viable for one year. Each bottle is stamped on the back with the words “best used by” and then a month and year.

Use One & Only when setting up a new tank and after major environmental changes to your aquarium. Examples of major changes include a disease treatment with antibiotics or chemicals that are harmful to the nitrifying bacteria, after a major gravel cleaning which can disturb the bacteria on the gravel and after a failure of the filter.

The choice of whether to use the Freshwater One & Only or the Saltwater One & Only bacteria in a brackish water tank depends upon the salinity (or specific gravity [S.G.]) of your water.If your salinity is less than 10 ppt (1.007 S.G.) then use the freshwater formula.If your salinity is greater than 10 ppt (1.007 S.G.) then use the saltwater formula.