so far so good....hmmm

[patagonia]

well..the tank has been up for a week and the 2 fishies look just great...swimming around and eating well....testing the water every other day and readings have been always the same...ph=7.6, ammonia=0.25ppm, and nitrites&nitrates=0ppm....so...its gonna be a week tomorrow...do i change 10% of the water or no???
the other thing is i was using big al's water conditioner before, and after i treated the water it was still showing some ammonia...so i went to the lfs and they sold me seachem prime to treat it (of course they sold me something! thats what they are there for no?) but its still the same...but the problem i have is that i would be changing about 2 L every week (its a 5 gal(40L) tank) and i would have to add an extremely small amount of prime that i cant measure...the rate is 1mL every 40L of water to be treated so if you do the numbers for 2 L youll understand...can i use the big al's again? its easier to measure and it claims to neutralize chloramine as well...
one last thing...THANK GOD FOR ALL OF YOU GUYS!!!

 

[Jchillin]

You don't need to add anything to the water. You should see ammonia during your cycle...it's supposed to be there. Keep in mind that with your current bio-load, your cycle is going to take awhile (@4-5 weeks). You will see your ammonia level spike and at that point, you will begin to see positive tests for nitrite. When your nitrite spikes, you will get readings for nitrate.

The conditioner is only to be used during PWC's., not to remove ammonia.

As stated previously, there will always be some trace of ammonia in your tank...the bacteria need this to live. When your tank is cycled, although your test may read 0, the ammonia is there...just not enough to register on the tests.

Small PWC's can be done during this time (weekly) and can be increased depending on your ammonia levels.

Good luck...your heading in the right direction.

 

[patagonia]

thanks...so i will do a small water change tomorrow...the question about which conditioner to use was for the new water i would be adding to replace the one i will be changing tomorrow...before i added the fish in the tank i treated the 5gal in the tank with seachem prime...but now i cant measure the amount i need to replace the 2L i will be changing so i was wondering if i can use big al's...i know is no good for the fish to mix chemicals and since the water that is already there was treated with prime would it be harmful to use the other one now?

 

[TomK2]

The conditioner is only to be used during PWC's., not to remove ammonia.

The confusion is caused by "removing" versus "detoxifying" ammonia. Prime has the chemical that will bind to ammonia to make it "less toxic or non toxic to fish." Thus, the ammonia is not removed, just bound to the ingredient in prime so that it is not supposed to hurt fish, but still can be used by the biofilter. Thus, it is "detoxified." Patagonia's test kit still shows ammonia because the ingredient in prime doesn't give any false results with a salicylate test kit. The detected ammonia before and after Prime is the same. Patagonia actualy adds ammonia to her tank when she does a water change because her water has chloramine in it. In the presence of any dechlorinator, chloramine is converted to free chlorine and ammonia. Prime is supposed to free the chlorine to diffuse out, and detoxify the ammonia while it awaits the biofilter to convert it to nitrite and nitrate. The amount of ammonia detected in her tank could be from the chloramines, could be from fish. Unless tested ammonia gets higher than the chloramine level in the tap water, there is no dilutional benefit to a water change. Until she has a an established bio-filter, her water will always test positive for ammonia since her tap water has chloramine in it. Remember, the salicylate test measures ammonia by how much chloramine it can be converted into. So untreated chloramine water will turn a salicylate ammonia test's color, and chloramine treated with many conditioners will also still turn the test's color.

They do market Amquel, ammo-lock and other conditioners as treatments of ammonia spikes because of the binding effect. One manufacturer alleges that Amquel treated ammonia will not show up on a salicylate test, thereby confusing aquarists into thinking the ammonia was "removed."

For what its worth, I vote no water change unless ammonia gets above 1ppm considering the 0.25 - 0.5 ppm chloramine level of the tap water. And no more chemistry lectures either, everyone must be sick of them by now!

 

[Jchillin]

What are the directions on the label? Usually it reads something x amount per gal. You would then add an amount equal to the amount of water being replaced. The measurement will probably be a little more than needed...that's not a big problem.

 

[patagonia]

directions on the label: 1mL per 40L of water...
so i have to treat the 2L of water for my water change with 0.05mL of prime...how am i supposed to measure that?

 

[Jchillin]

Very small measuring cup? I don't have metric equipment handy. But a simple rule is that you can measure down from 2L (how is that measured by the way?). As stated above, you may be adding a little more than is needed but that is not harmful.

On a lighter note, can you translate your quote? My Spanish needs a little trabajo.

 

[TomK2]

Hmm, Ill take a stab.

La vida es un tango, las solitarias mesetas en mi lejana patagonia y un mate con amigos.....

Life is a tango, the only something in my something patagonia and a something with friends.
Hows that!

 

[patagonia]

life is a tango, the lonely and far away mountains of my beloved patagonia and sharing a mate with friends...

 

[mattrox]

Due to water tension, a drop is about 1/15th th a mL. Roughly 0.07 of a mL. One drop will treat 2 L. rember 15 drops to the mL it helps with all types of dosing rates.