Seachem Prime and Fishless Cycle

[anne stuart]

I've been cycling a 5 gallon FluVal tank and it's been very slow going. It's been sort of one step foreward one step back. Today I was about to do a partial water change because my PH is dropping and my Nitrites are at or above 5.0. I just happened to really read the directions on the dechlor the fish store sold me, Seachem prime. It not only removes Chlorine and Chloramine, it also removes AMONIA! It also detoxifies Nitrite and Nitrate. So it seems this might be the answer to my problem right? So should I do a larger water change today of 60 or more percent and use a normal dechlor without all the other stuff in it? Or should I do the PWC without declor and then add declor to the tank once the cycle is complete? Whats a good declor for during a fishless cycle?

 

[AtHomeWithTwins]

Prime doesnt remove ammonia, it just makes it non toxic to fish. Its not hurting your cycle. If you have sky high nitrites, ur cycle is progressing normally. Mitrites take a long time to disappear, but your almost there.

 

[Cichfreak]

Wait silly question where is the ammonia(fish waste) to fuel the biological process coming from. I have always, well until recently, cycled with cheap fish. Hardy fish and then flush and replace. I was out of the hobby for twenty years and recently got back in. My first tank back I used API Quick start, truly thought it was SNAKE OIL, but wow completely cycled in 23 days with 9 african cichlids still kick'n it today. Added 3 each weekend. Up to 14 vermin now. Also maybe another silly question but I thought u did no water changes thru cycling process to allow each to peak and the formation of the bacteria colony is started. Just curious. I stepped away for awhile and there has been some changes.

 

[anne stuart]

I'm following the fishless cycle process I found on forums here and also on the Dr. Tim Aquatics site. I used his Ammonia. From what I've read partial water changes are needed if the PH drops or if the Nitrite gets so high it's off the charts. this restores buffers. I've been at this for about 2 weeks now.

 

[AtHomeWithTwins]

Anne... Sounds like ur doing everything right. Now that u have a nitrite spike be sure to only dose ammonia to 1-2 ppm maybe every other day. That will be plenty to keep ur ammonia bacteria happy and keep nitrites from going wildly off the chart. My cycle started quickly like yours, but still took 6 weeks to finish. As i said before, nitrites take a long time to drop quickly. And, yes, watch your ph bc it will drop quickly from the buildup of nitrates. Pwcs will restore it and wont affect ur cycle.

 

[Mebbid]

Wait silly question where is the ammonia(fish waste) to fuel the biological process coming from. I have always, well until recently, cycled with cheap fish. Hardy fish and then flush and replace. I was out of the hobby for twenty years and recently got back in. My first tank back I used API Quick start, truly thought it was SNAKE OIL, but wow completely cycled in 23 days with 9 african cichlids still kick'n it today. Added 3 each weekend. Up to 14 vermin now. Also maybe another silly question but I thought u did no water changes thru cycling process to allow each to peak and the formation of the bacteria colony is started. Just curious. I stepped away for awhile and there has been some changes.

Cycling with live fish in that manner and flushing the living fish is a very unacceptable act nowadays for a number of reasons. Just a word of warning, people will get angry at you for it.

Cycling is now most commonly done with pure ammonia dosed straight to the tank. It's 100% fish safe and generally faster.

Take a look at this article. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...guide-and-faq-to-fishless-cycling-148283.html

I'm following the fishless cycle process I found on forums here and also on the Dr. Tim Aquatics site. I used his Ammonia. From what I've read partial water changes are needed if the PH drops or if the Nitrite gets so high it's off the charts. this restores buffers. I've been at this for about 2 weeks now.

Just keep at it. 2 weeks is very quick already. Just keep your pH above 6.5 and everything will go fine.

 

[Cichfreak]

Cycling with live fish in that manner and flushing the living fish is a very unacceptable act nowadays for a number of reasons. Just a word of warning, people will get angry at you for it.



Cycling is now most commonly done with pure ammonia dosed straight to the tank. It's 100% fish safe and generally faster.



Take a look at this article. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...guide-and-faq-to-fishless-cycling-148283.html







Just keep at it. 2 weeks is very quick already. Just keep your pH above 6.5 and everything will go fine.

Thank u for the information.

 

[anne stuart]

Is it common for everything to drop to 0 overnight? I don't even have Nitrate anymore even though just yesterday it was at 80! Am I done?

 

[bud29]

Your nitrAte dropped to 0? It shouldn't have, you may want to re-test. However ammonia and nitrIte dropping to 0 overnight does mean you are very close. You may want to add some more ammonia today to see if the same drop happens. If so, do a huge water change and then you can add some fish

 

[Fresh2o]

I would repeat the nitrate test. If it is the one where bottle #2 needs to be mixed prior to adding to the test tube, then make sure you shake the crap out of it.

 

[anne stuart]

Thanks! I actually had the same readings yesterday, added ammonia yesterday to see how fast it cycled and it was all gone in the morning.

 

[Fresh2o]

The ammonia and nitrites should be gone but the nitrates will still be there. Unless you did some massive water changes the 80 ppm nitrates from the other day should still present at some level.

 

[anne stuart]

Well I had done a pretty big water change because my PH was dropping. Everything still looked good after adding ammonia so I added 5 endler's livebearers and a Pleco. AFter 24 hours everyone seems happy. Although the Pleco is hiding under something today. He hid for a while then started eating all the algea on the tank yesterday. Today hiding.

 

[Britty]

Parameters can drop to zero quickly. But be astute. Do a full API retest as a double check. If its still zero ammo, zero nitrites and high nitrates then this is positive.

Do a sample test and record ammonia, then roughly time how long it takes ammo and nitrites to drop to zero. If its less than 24 hours then your filter has established its cycle. If its longer might be wise to keep feeding ammonia until the last of the bacteria mature to cut out pollutants in under 24 hours.

Once this is done, do big pwcs until your nitrates come in under 20ppm. Then you're ready for fish!!

Edit: never mind. I see you added the fish already. Well done. Fishless cycling is the way to go!