How do I know my tank is "cycled"?

[Mumma.of.two]

Prime is a great product. It is a necessary when doing a PWC and a great thing to help with a fish in cycle. But it is not a replacement for clean fresh water, especially during a fish in cycle. Why expose our fish to more chemicals than the bare minimum?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Anyone who's been in this hobby or worked in this industry for awhile knows 2x the recommended dose isn't lethal...heck 10x is recommended in some cases with very bad water

I just think it's a lazy 'sollution' to a problem fresh water can fix.

Anyway I dont recall saying 2x the recommended amount I lethal.

 

[nitrifyingNick]

I just think it's a lazy 'sollution' to a problem fresh water can fix.

Anyway I dont recall saying 2x the recommended amount I lethal.

I agree, freshwater is better, but if you can't do daily water changes....You CAN dose with Prime and have better results

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I agree, freshwater is better, but if you can't do daily water changes....You CAN dose with Prime and have better results

If you can't do PWC as needed in a fish in cycle IMHO you should be doing a fishless cycle. Just my 2 cents.

 

[BacteriaBob]

If you can't do PWC as needed in a fish in cycle IMHO you should be doing a fishless cycle. Just my 2 cents.

I just don't see any reason to do a fishless cycle anymore...If you can't do the water changes, Prime works perfect, if you can, even Better....But what are the benefits to fishless?

 

[Fishkeeper26]

Prime doesn't work perfect, it temporarily masks the problem. While water changes fix them. Big difference.

 

[BacteriaBob]

Prime doesn't work perfect, it temporarily masks the problem. While water changes fix them. Big difference.

What prime does is it detoxifies the Ammonia and nitrites so the Nitrofying bacteria is better able to 'eat' it and grow...What water changes do is take away that Ammonia and nitrites so the bacteria have nothing to eat

Fresh water is great, don't get me wrong

 

[Fishkeeper26]

What prime does is it detoxifies the Ammonia and nitrites so the Nitrofying bacteria is better able to 'eat' it and grow...What water changes do is take away that Ammonia and nitrites so the bacteria have nothing to eat

Fresh water is great, don't get me wrong

Yes but the Prime conversion only lasts for 48 hours... Building up the chemicals over time can lead to a lethal dose

 

[davePM]

I just don't see any reason to do a fishless cycle anymore...If you can't do the water changes, Prime works perfect, if you can, even Better....But what are the benefits to fishless?

The benefits of fish less are no danger to any living creature and the ability to get a tank started and have to do a minimum amount of work on it while it cycles. I have always fish less cycled, as I said before that is my preference, but I see no reason why not to chose whichever method suits your circumstances and laziness level.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I just don't see any reason to do a fishless cycle anymore...If you can't do the water changes, Prime works perfect, if you can, even Better....But what are the benefits to fishless?

Fishless is for the people that don't want to expose their fish to any ammonia or nitrite at all and don't want to do daily PWC.
I have never done a fishless myself. Only fish in (with and without seeded media). I have the time to do PWC. My opinion on extra prime, unnecessary medications (for diseases that can be cured with salt and fresh water) and other chemicals people dump into their tanks without really thinking about anything but the 'quick cure' it promises is they are not needed. But as I've said that's my opinion on the matter.

 

[davePM]

Fishless is for the people that don't want to expose their fish to any ammonia or nitrite at all and don't want to do daily PWC.
I have never done a fishless myself. Only fish in (with and without seeded media). I have the time to do PWC. My opinion on extra prime, unnecessary medications (for diseases that can be cured with salt and fresh water) and other chemicals people dump into their tanks without really thinking about anything but the 'quick cure' it promises is they are not needed. But as I've said that's my opinion on the matter.

+1 to this. In 20+ years I have never put anything in a tank except water and conditioner. I don't have time for daily PWC so I have always done fish less cycles. I can completely understand a fish in cycle if you have the knowledge, time and test kit!
IMO fresh water beats anything artificial.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

IMO fresh water beats anything artificial.

Definitely!

 

[OasisKeeper]

What prime does is it detoxifies the Ammonia and nitrites so the Nitrofying bacteria is better able to 'eat' it and grow...What water changes do is take away that Ammonia and nitrites so the bacteria have nothing to eat

I have never seen the claim of 'better able to eat it' from any of the product manufacturers. Do you have a reference for this?

Never seen a claim regarding nitrites either, come to think of it.

 

[OasisKeeper]

Okay, I found it at the Seachem site:

Q: How does Prime make a difference in reducing Nitrates?
A: The detoxification of nitrite and nitrate by Prime (when used at elevated levels) is not well understood from a mechanistic standpoint. The most likely explanation is that the nitrite and nitrate is removed in a manner similar to the way ammonia is removed; i.e. it is bound and held in a inert state until such time that bacteria in the biological filter are able to take a hold of it, break it apart and use it. Two other possible scenarios are reduction to nitrogen (N2) gas or conversion into a benign organic nitrogen compound.
I wish we had some more "concrete" explanation, but the end result is the same, it does actually detoxify nitrite and nitrate. This was unexpected chemically and thus initially we were not even aware of this, however we received numerous reports from customers stating that when they overdosed with Prime they were able to reduce or eliminate the high death rates they experienced when their nitrite and nitrate levels were high. We have received enough reports to date to ensure that this is no fluke and is in fact a verifiable function of the product.

 

[archie.atkinson]

Hi if it's a small tank just for shrimp you could try dosing a small amount of pure ammonia and see if it disappears within 24 hours. Just use pure ammonia (Ace hardware brand is best) without surfectants, dyes or perfumes. Do you have a test kit? How large is the tank? I'd add a few drops of ammo and wait 30 minutes and test the water's ammonia level. Try to get it to about 1-2, which should be more than enough. Then test again in 24 hours. Redose each day and test again the next day; if ammonia clears continuously in 24 hours and there aren't any nitrites and nitrates show, then you have a cycled tank.

how long should i do that with the ammonia for

 

[Fishkeeper26]

Until all ammonia disappears in 24 hours

 

[librarygirl]

how long should i do that with the ammonia for

Sorry your thread was hijacked.

Adding fish food would feed the bacteria but it's inaccurate as it's hard to know how much fish food is needed to get a good ammonia reading and how fast the food decays (plus it's messy). Dosing pure ammonia is easier and more accurate.

I'd say dose ammonia to 1-2 PPM for a few days. If after three days the ammonia drops to 0 each day and no nitrites appear I'd say you are safe to add shrimp.

 

[archie.atkinson]

Sorry your thread was hijacked.

Adding fish food would feed the bacteria but it's inaccurate as it's hard to know how much fish food is needed to get a good ammonia reading and how fast the food decays (plus it's messy). Dosing pure ammonia is easier and more accurate.

I'd say dose ammonia to 1-2 PPM for a few days. If after three days the ammonia drops to 0 each day and no nitrites appear I'd say you are safe to add shrimp.

okay around 18 hours ago i out the ammonia in and tested 2-3pm a few minutes ago i tested and got .5 ammonia 0 nitrite and no nitrates. is that good or should I have a few nitrates?