Fishless cycle help....
- Thread starter NJNewbie
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jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Ph crashes are common especially towards end of cycle. Your bb are processing a huge amount of ammonia which requires carbonates (buffers)- as they use them up, the ph becomes unstable. The nitrates are a non-issue until your prepping for fish. if you have time for a water change, go right ahead! If you dose amm to 4 for another night without a wc, you can fully expect your ph to crash completely and you will have a tank of very unhappy bacteria (ph shock). Easier to prevent it with a wc & then dose back to 4ppm. A few more days of steady zeroes & your officially cycled!!! 
Ph crashes are common especially towards end of cycle. Your bb are processing a huge amount of ammonia which requires carbonates (buffers)- as they use them up, the ph becomes unstable. The nitrates are a non-issue until your prepping for fish. if you have time for a water change, go right ahead! If you dose amm to 4 for another night without a wc, you can fully expect your ph to crash completely and you will have a tank of very unhappy bacteria (ph shock). Easier to prevent it with a wc & then dose back to 4ppm. A few more days of steady zeroes & your officially cycled!!!
Ok so sounds good....but I have a question...do I do 100% water change and wait 20-30 minutes and then test the water and if Nitrates are not down to under 20 do another 100% water change??? Or just do 1 water change don't test and just add 4ppm ammonia again???
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Dont worry about your nitrates (different than nitrites)! You can worry about them when you are getting your tank ready for fish. The water change is strictly to restore the buffers to your tank & stabilize your ph to keep your cycle progressing forward & prevent it from stalling due to a ph crash. Dont want to stall things now that its just about finished! Wc & redose ammonia. Just keep a close eye on your ph!
The water change is strictly to restore the buffers to your tank & stabilize your ph to keep your cycle progressing forward & prevent it from stalling due to a ph crash. Dont want to stall things now that its just about finished! Wc & redose ammonia. Just keep a close eye on your ph! Oh nooooooo I'm an idiot!!!! God I hope we didn't screw this up......first I had my wife help me with the tank refill and I was walking our dog as it was finishing to empty when my wife started to refill the tank. First she forgot to add the prime until the tank was 1/3 of the way refilled and then when she was filling the cap and a half she overfilled the cap over the tank and spilled in about 2.5 - 3 caps instead of 1.5 cause she was so worried she forgot.....what do I do???? Empty the tank again and refill??? Wait and just test water in 20-30 minutes???? I haven't redosed the ammonia yet.....please help
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Nope!!! Relax! The prime got in there even if it was a bit overdosed. No big deal! Just make sure you inform her in the future to add the prime before refilling the tank. A simple 5 or 10ml syringe makes dosing alot more accurate & will prevent future misshaps. Just a quick question- I am assuming everything was turned off when she was refilling?
yes I unplug the heater as well as shut off the power strip which has my 2 emperor filters and my air pump plugged into before I begin to remove the water with my python and then once refilled I turn everything back on and plug the heater back in.....This is correct right????
So just to be clear adding double the dose of prime will not affect my tank in anyway??? I shouldn't re-empty and refill the tank with the correct doseage of prime and I can just go ahead and add my 9ML of ammonia now????
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Yes, its a good habit to be in to shut everything off when doing a water change! Even just from a safety perspective, its a good idea to have electrical appliances turned off before sticking your hands in the tank. Now, if your filters had been running before the prime was added, then you may have been in quite a bit trouble. Disaster averted!!! No big deal- theres just some extra prime in the tank. Even if there was fish in the tank, this will not have harmed anything. Add your ammonia & we will see how things look tomorrow!
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Thats great!!! See, nothing bad happened! Ok, dose to 4ppm again. After 3 or so days of straight zeroes, you can get ready for fish! Do you have the temp bumped up (i dont remember)?
Ok, dose to 4ppm again. After 3 or so days of straight zeroes, you can get ready for fish! Do you have the temp bumped up (i dont remember)?Yeah the temp is raised to 82 degrees. I don't plan on getting fish until this coming weekend. Probably sunday. So if all zeroed out tomorrow I expect the nitrates to be 160 so I will do a 100% water change and then I guess just keep dosing the ammonia up to 1ppm until Saturday to keep the bacteria feed. Then on Saturday I will turn down the temp and do another 100% water change and then Sunday get some fish....
Does this sound correct???? Thanks again for all the help JLK....I will post if there are any changes.
Does this sound correct???? Thanks again for all the help JLK....I will post if there are any changes.
Stephen Rollins
Aquarium Advice Freak
NJNewbie said:
I would continue to dose with ammonia till the night before you get fish and do a 100% water change then.
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
No need to do a water change UNLESS your ph starts to drop. The high nitrates will not affect your cycle's progress. Start dropping your temp by 2 degrees each day until your at the temp you want for your fish. The night before you plan on purchasing fish, skip the ammonia & do a 100% wc. Wait 15-20mins & retest your nitrates. You want to drop them down to your tap level. Dont be surprised if it takes a few wcs to do this! If your not familiar with 'drip acclimation', check out U-tube for easy how-to videos. Thats about it! Keep dosing amm in the meantime. If you encounter any problems, let us know! Look forward to seeing pics of your new fish!
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Keep dosing your ammonia to 4ppm until the day before fish, btw!
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