Cycling problems need help

Karebear13

Karebear13

New member
Joined
Aug 9, 2012
Messages
42
Reaction score
1
Points
0
Country
United States
Hi guys,

So I have had my tank + axie for about 2 months and 2 weeks. He is in a ten gallon tank and I am doing a "fish in" cycling... He is about 4 months himself or her lol

Anyway my tank seemed to be cycled, but then I moved and its been not so fun... Apparently my new apt's tap water has ammonia of about .5 ppm so it kind of ruined my cycle. Because of this I started using Prime to reduce the ammonia in the water and make it a bit safer. I have been doing daily water changes about 50% but I can't get the ammonia down. I can tell the tank is trying to cycle because the readings have been:

ammonia: .5ppm
Nitrite:.5 ppm
Nitrate Not totally zero but not necessarily 5.

I have plants in there too to help I have java moss, java fern, and pothos roots.

Im just concerned because I hate having my baby living with such exposure to toxics. He doesn't seemed bothered by it but still I don't want this to have an affect on his health later. Please help me! I don't know what else to do
 
As I learned the hard way Prime does not remove the ammonia it just masks it. It is not suitable for cycling the tank. Get Amquel+ which I switched to and it been so much better.
 
I know I didn't want to use Prime. I was originally using Aquaclear but that switched to Prime since my tap water has Ammonia.

Will the one you suggest not ruin the cycle?
 
What's wrong with Prime? I've used it while cycling plenty of tanks. Prime detoxifies ammonia by converting it to ammonium which is still usable to the beneficial bacteria that is colonizing your tank.
 
I was told on here that Prime is not effective for cycling tanks just passing on info given to me by Kaysie on here.
 
Prime is good under certain circumstances- I happen to use it as my primary dechlorinator- the problem comes from how it is used- you can use it on the entire tank, knock out all the ammonia and then be left back at the start of the cycle. OR (and this is how I use it), mix it up in pretty exact proportions in the water going into your tank- so I'm currently recycling my little guppy tank after being given some new guppies (my lone guppy from my previous colony's reaction was "OMG, there are OTHER fishies!! Whatdoidowhatdoidowhatdoidoooo???"), and so every day I'm taking out about 25% of the water volume (15 litre tank, 12 guppies (Will see how they go together, but a few of them will likely be shifted into my pond within the next few days/weeks to explode in population so my axies have some nommable companions) and a few shrimp who didn't immigrate to the shrimp tank), which is about four litres. I have a jug which is 2L, so I put ONE drop of Prime in the bottom, which is enough to treat those 2L, then pour it into the tank. That way, the amount of ammonia etc the Prime can react with isn't the entire volume of the tank.

Another thing that will help with the cycle process is to have heaps of surfaces for the bacteria to colonise. One trick I've been using with the guppy tank is not to take out the cartidges from the bubble filter I've got running once I switch over. That way there is plenty of surface area for the bacteria to colonise (Not forgetting that it is difficult for bacteria to get a really good hold on glass and other non-bumpy surfaces. Perhaps adding in a few (LARGE) rocks to increase the surface area available to your bacteria may increase the speed of the cycle. Or adding in a sponge filter/another sponge to provide that extra bit of biofiltration.
Hope this helps :)
 
Okay that sounds alright... So normally I treat 5 gallons of water and I add ten drops of prime so if I add only 5 then that should be okay for the ammonia... what about the chlorine won't that leave in some Chlorine?
 
Dose it per the instructions. Again it doesnt remove the ammonia it converts it to ammonium. Your bio filter can process ammonium and the conversion only lasts 24 hrs then it switches back to ammonia.
 
Doing any water change or using any water conditioner will slow your cycle, but is required so you dont burn your axolotls. Nothing will "cycle" your tank. Will it slow it down? Yes. Will it hurt your growing bacteria? No.
 
If you want an almost instant cycle I have used "dr Tim's one and only" as well as turbo start 700 which have worked perfect for me I know some people will disagree but I swear by them.
 
Does anyone recommend Seachem Stability?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
    There are no messages in the chat. Be the first one to say Hi!
    Back
    Top