Hi
I've been using my neighbor's water out of their hose for water changes because mine has like 120ppm+ nitrAte. Theirs is 0-5ppm. The problem is, I'm having a bit of a nitrIte spike. It was up to 3ppm, so I did a 30% change, then another 30% change half an hour later. That exhausted all of the water I had stored from their house, but I need to do another change. Normally I fill my containers then add Prime and let them warm up to room temperature overnight. Obviously I don't have time to do that now, so I'm forced to use my own water.
1) I figure temporarily elevated NitrAte is better than the high NitrIte I have right now, right?
2) This is a 30 gallon tank. Prime says to add 1 capful for 50 gallons. I'm not really clear on how to add prime when I'm adding water directly from my sink. Do I add about a capful to the tank after I drain the water (little more than full dosage for the whole tank) then add the new water directly into the tank? Will it dechlorinate the water fast enough before it can harm the bacteria? I'm scared to risk it until I have a clear answer, but I'm in a bit of a pinch here and have to act fast!
EDIT: The reason for the NitrIte spike is that I set up the tank and added fish right before finding out about fishless cycling. I'm just doing what I can to get through it with no casualties :/
EDIT2: Sorry for the second edit, but I forgot to ask how big a change I can do if I match temps close enough.
I've been using my neighbor's water out of their hose for water changes because mine has like 120ppm+ nitrAte. Theirs is 0-5ppm. The problem is, I'm having a bit of a nitrIte spike. It was up to 3ppm, so I did a 30% change, then another 30% change half an hour later. That exhausted all of the water I had stored from their house, but I need to do another change. Normally I fill my containers then add Prime and let them warm up to room temperature overnight. Obviously I don't have time to do that now, so I'm forced to use my own water.
1) I figure temporarily elevated NitrAte is better than the high NitrIte I have right now, right?
2) This is a 30 gallon tank. Prime says to add 1 capful for 50 gallons. I'm not really clear on how to add prime when I'm adding water directly from my sink. Do I add about a capful to the tank after I drain the water (little more than full dosage for the whole tank) then add the new water directly into the tank? Will it dechlorinate the water fast enough before it can harm the bacteria? I'm scared to risk it until I have a clear answer, but I'm in a bit of a pinch here and have to act fast!
EDIT: The reason for the NitrIte spike is that I set up the tank and added fish right before finding out about fishless cycling. I'm just doing what I can to get through it with no casualties :/
EDIT2: Sorry for the second edit, but I forgot to ask how big a change I can do if I match temps close enough.