Mini-cycle, please advise!!

[rads]

I recently upgraded from a 20L to a 40 breeder. My tank was cycled prior and I never had an issue with ammonia. When I upgraded I expected a mini cycle, and I was getting .25ppm readings after a few days but with daily 50% water changes everything was going good and staying at .25. Normally I use TopFin for my water conditioner but I never stop hearing about Prime (and learned topfin isn’t advised due to the aloe in it) so I decided to switch since it seemed great for my mini cycling tank. I also dosed with stability as directed because it has all the goodies.

A few days later, I’m now getting consistent readings of 1-2ppm despite doing 50% water changes daily. It should be non-toxic, according to primes directions.

Do I just ride this out and only keep dosing prime without water changes?
Do I do water changes with prime AND dose prime for the ammonia?
Do I just keep doing water changes with prime and that will suffice?

Prime is supposed to allow the bacteria to still break down the ammonia, but it would seem as thought that’s not what is happening?

When I upgraded I kept all the filter, substrate, decor, and plants in tank water to keep the bacteria alive as well.

Ammonia: 1ppm, maaaaybe 2ppm
Temp: 64.5°F
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrates: maybe 3ppm-5ppm?

 

[Fishfrogsandfriends]

How many animals are stocked in the tank and what kind of filter are you using?

 

[rads]

How many animals are stocked in the tank and what kind of filter are you using?

Just two axolotls, same as before. I’m using a sponge filter rated for 40-55 gallons

 

[wolfen]

when you measure ammonia you are measuring TAN (total ammonia nitrogen nh3-nh4), nh3 is free ammonia and is toxic, nh4 is ammonium and is non toxic, when a conditioner detoxifies free ammonia it locks it into ammonium so it will still read as having ammonia with a tan test. bacteria can easily consume/convert free ammonia but have great difficulty consuming/converting ammonium so even though a ammonia detoxifier detoxifies the ammonia it is made harder to break down. unless there is a major ammonia spike in the tank a detoxifier shouldn't be used directly.
tap water contains chlorine and chloromine, when declorinators remove the chlorine it leaves a certain amount of ammonia behind so if you test after a water change it will read as having ammonia, always test no sooner than 24hrs after a water change to avoid this.
when a tank is running well there is no need for water conditioners/detoxifiers, just dechlorinate the water before adding to tank and allow the filter bacteria to deal with the remnants of ammonia.
stability is just aerobic/nitrfying bacteria which will top up the filter bacteria in the cases of do a filter clean or after using medications etc..

 

[rads]

when you measure ammonia you are measuring TAN (total ammonia nitrogen nh3-nh4), nh3 is free ammonia and is toxic, nh4 is ammonium and is non toxic, when a conditioner detoxifies free ammonia it locks it into ammonium so it will still read as having ammonia with a tan test. bacteria can easily consume/convert free ammonia but have great difficulty consuming/converting ammonium so even though a ammonia detoxifier detoxifies the ammonia it is made harder to break down. unless there is a major ammonia spike in the tank a detoxifier shouldn't be used directly.
tap water contains chlorine and chloromine, when declorinators remove the chlorine it leaves a certain amount of ammonia behind so if you test after a water change it will read as having ammonia, always test no sooner than 24hrs after a water change to avoid this.
when a tank is running well there is no need for water conditioners/detoxifiers, just dechlorinate the water before adding to tank and allow the filter bacteria to deal with the remnants of ammonia.
stability is just aerobic/nitrfying bacteria which will top up the filter bacteria in the cases of do a filter clean or after using medications etc..

I’m using prime though… which from what I understand is everyone’s go to for dechlorinater, but it also happens to bind the ammonia up. So should I switch to a different dechlorinator for the time being?

I forgot about the chorine/chloramine to ammonia. I’ll keep that in mind for next time. But I don’t think that was my issue for today’s water testing as I did a 50% the day before (over 24hrs ago).

All fantastic information, but it still didn’t entirely address my question of:
Do I continue to use prime and dose the tank for ammonia AND water changes?
Do I simply do water changes with prime and stop dosing the tank?
Or, do I stop water changes and ONLY dose prime in the tank?

At 2ppm of assumingely detoxified ammonia (ammonium), is my next step a water change? Or just dosing again in 24 hours?

 

[wolfen]

I’m using prime though… which from what I understand is everyone’s go to for dechlorinater, but it also happens to bind the ammonia up. So should I switch to a different dechlorinator for the time being?

I forgot about the chorine/chloramine to ammonia. I’ll keep that in mind for next time. But I don’t think that was my issue for today’s water testing as I did a 50% the day before (over 24hrs ago).

All fantastic information, but it still didn’t entirely address my question of:
Do I continue to use prime and dose the tank for ammonia AND water changes?
Do I simply do water changes with prime and stop dosing the tank?
Or, do I stop water changes and ONLY dose prime in the tank?

At 2ppm of assumingely detoxified ammonia (ammonium), is my next step a water change? Or just dosing again in 24 hours?

don't dose the tank itself let the bacteria deal with the ammonia.
prime does seem to be the go to for dechlorinator/detox, only use it for the water before adding to tank.
I just use 1.25ml sodium thiosulphate dissolved into 25 litres of water prior to being added to the tank, sodium thiosulphate is the chemical that most manufacturers use in dechlorinators to dechlorinate the water and can even be used to dechlorinate the water for human consumption.
just do weekly water changes only, dechlorinate the water prior to being added, 50% water change at most depending on the nitrate levels.

 

[rads]

don't dose the tank itself let the bacteria deal with the ammonia.
prime does seem to be the go to for dechlorinator/detox, only use it for the water before adding to tank.
I just use 1.25ml sodium thiosulphate dissolved into 25 litres of water prior to being added to the tank, sodium thiosulphate is the chemical that most manufacturers use in dechlorinators to dechlorinate the water and can even be used to dechlorinate the water for human consumption.
just do weekly water changes only, dechlorinate the water prior to being added, 50% water change at most depending on the nitrate levels.

Gotcha, thank you so much!!!