New tank cycling

[Noodlesmom]

I’m in the process of cycling a new 20 gallon tank. Ive only had the water filled half way the whole time and I’m realizing now that I need to fill it up the rest of the way. I know I’m close to the end of the cycling based off of the levels. Is it bad to just add water to fill it up the rest of the way while it’s cycling? Will it effect my cycle?

 

[wolfen]

leave it till it's finished cycling then top it up with dechlorinated water. If you top it up now you will be waiting longer for it to cycle because by adding any ammonia to the previous level (which is normally 4ppm) you will have doubled the amount of ammonia that it was cycling with. do bare in mind though one of the reasons a full tank is dosed at 4ppm ammonia is to ensure it can cope with a high bio-load. provided the filter is large enough it will be fine with being cycled in the equivalent of a ten gallon tank as the bacteria colony will grow with the axolotl (in a cycled tank the majority of bacteria grown whilst cycling starve and die back anyway as a small axolotl is unable to produce such high amounts of waste to feed all the bacteria)

 

[Noodlesmom]

leave it till it's finished cycling then top it up with dechlorinated water. If you top it up now you will be waiting longer for it to cycle because by adding any ammonia to the previous level (which is normally 4ppm) you will have doubled the amount of ammonia that it was cycling with. do bare in mind though one of the reasons a full tank is dosed at 4ppm ammonia is to ensure it can cope with a high bio-load. provided the filter is large enough it will be fine with being cycled in the equivalent of a ten gallon tank as the bacteria colony will grow with the axolotl (in a cycled tank the majority of bacteria grown whilst cycling starve and die back anyway as a small axolotl is unable to produce such high amounts of waste to feed all the bacteria)

I have a proper filter that’s supposed to support the full 20 gallons. So I guess right now it’s only supporting maybe 10 gallons because it’s filled up half way

 

[wolfen]

I have a proper filter that’s supposed to support the full 20 gallons. So I guess right now it’s only supporting maybe 10 gallons because it’s filled up half way

sounds about right, on filters they normally have two capacities for example 20 gallon up to 100 gallon, always go by the lower number,

 

[Noodlesmom]

sounds about right, on filters they normally have two capacities for example 20 gallon up to 100 gallon, always go by the lower number,

Okay. So it’ll be alright to add more water after it’s done cycling? I’ll make sure to test the water levels for a day or two after to make sure they stay.

 

[wolfen]

Okay. So it’ll be alright to add more water after it’s done cycling? I’ll make sure to test the water levels for a day or two after to make sure they stay.

that's fine

 

[Noodlesmom]

that's fine

Okay thank you. I actually have another question that isn’t really about this tank but the tank my axolotls in right now. So I had gone away for a couple days and had someone watch over him which I was comfortable with because his tank was running perfectly before I left but when I got back his tank was so cloudy I couldn’t even see him and the water had evaporated a lot and nitrite above .25 ppm. So I put new water in and put in the nitrifying bacteria. The next day the nirtite levels went down and after two days they’re 0ppm. However the tank is still cloudy, it’s not as bad as it was but it’s still cloudy. What would be the best way to get rid of the cloudiness?

 

[wolfen]

it sounds like over feeding with a resulting bacteria bloom, when you do a water change rinse the filter media with old tank water to get all the muck out. it will take time for the water to clear unless an external canister filter is used (because externals used different foam grades the water goes through a sifting process which traps the bacteria). although annoying provided there is oxygenation in the tank bacteria bloom is harmless.

 

[Noodlesmom]

it sounds like over feeding with a resulting bacteria bloom, when you do a water change rinse the filter media with old tank water to get all the muck out. it will take time for the water to clear unless an external canister filter is used (because externals used different foam grades the water goes through a sifting process which traps the bacteria). although annoying provided there is oxygenation in the tank bacteria bloom is harmless.

Okay, so it’s not like something that’ll harm him? Also I have a sponge filter, if I clean it out will it lose all the progress I made with the cycling? I also have a eco stone in the tank, I don’t know if that’s important to know.

 

[wolfen]

provided it is cleaned in the old tank water it wont harm the bacteria, eco stone are a high porous stone that allow bacteria to grow on and sometimes in them allowing the break down of ammonia,nitrites and sometimes nitrates. the bacteria in a bacteria bloom consist of the same bacteria found in the filter media, in a filter they get the oxygen from the water flowing through the filter where as in a bacteria bloom they get oxygen from the surrounding water which is why having an air stone is quite important to keep the water oxygenated.

 

[Noodlesmom]

provided it is cleaned in the old tank water it wont harm the bacteria, eco stone are a high porous stone that allow bacteria to grow on and sometimes in them allowing the break down of ammonia,nitrites and sometimes nitrates. the bacteria in a bacteria bloom consist of the same bacteria found in the filter media, in a filter they get the oxygen from the water flowing through the filter where as in a bacteria bloom they get oxygen from the surrounding water which is why having an air stone is quite important to keep the water oxygenated.

Okay, awesome. I’ll do that then. Great thank you so much!