Shawnie

Now that im "lernin" the correct way to raising fish, when should I recheck the amonia levels?..yesterday I did the 50% water change and added some cycle(yes i know its not as good as bio, but thats on order online now!) yesterday the amonia levels were off the chart..is it ok to test again today or wait until I do another 25% change of water tomorrow??

capekate

Hi Shawnie
If it has been pretty much 24 hours since your water change, It would seem alright to do a water test at this point. Let us know how it goes!

~ kate

Shawnie

awesome kate..thanks!!!!!!! keeping fingers crossed my amonia is down!!

Shawnie

wellllll...not so good but not as bad.... Yesterday, the amonia was off the chart...lil less than 24 hours, with cycle and a 50% water change, its at 4.0 so still very very high, but lower than yesterday..so my next step, do a water change again today?? or wait till tomorrow and do a 25% change where I did 50% change yesterday?? My poor babies..they dont look stressed a bit but never knowing about amonia, and never measureing for it, maybe they are "amonia tolerant"! JUST KIDDING ...thanks everyone for all your help..

FL CommunityFans

Do another 50% today.

Shawnie

Will that remove some of the cycle that I had to use ??

capekate

Hi Shawnie
well at least it is coming down some. Is this your 75g oscar and JD tank? they are big waste producers for sure. If it were my tank, I would be doing another water change asap. The sooner you get that ammonia down.. the better for them! Do you have any other water conditioner than that cycle product? PRIME is a real good one to use... the cycle product, as you already know will mess up the cycle you are trying to produce. Any way to get a hold of some Prime asap?

~ kate

Shawnie

no kate so ill do a water change now!! and yes its my 75 gal...I wont be able to get prime until tomorrow ...

FL CommunityFans

What are you using to treat the water with before changing it?

You need something like prime (as already suggested), aquasafe, etc etc. Cycle, to my knowledge does not treat the water prior to adding it to the tank.

Shawnie

I had the tank already going for a few weeks and added cycle yesterday as I couldnt get my hands on bio-spira ...ill get prime tomorrow and do a water change today!

sirdarksol

You're in good hands with Kate, so I'll just say "Good Luck with your tank."

Shawnie

I thank you all! ever so much!

SereneReyn

you're not going to want to use prime with the bio-spira. they're incompatible and the prime will cause the bio-spira to be less effective to potentially pointless.

Shawnie

hmmmmm so if i can get prime first, as bio is on order, should i use it?? or wait a few days for bio? im still doing the water changes tho!

Blub

SereneReyn

the thing about prime is that it binds ammonia into a form that's safer for fish, but unusable by bio-spira. i prefer to use Novaqua as a water conditioner, but then... my ammonia isn't an issue. i'd be reluctant to use prime at all, considering how expensive and hard to get bio-spira is. even after your cycle is complete, your bacteria will still need that ammonia to live. alot of people here swear by prime, and i'm not trying to argue the merits of the product... i'm only saying i prefer another.

edit - btw, i looked up the bala shark thing (responded to your moved post) and you need about 3 for them to be comfortable, they get to be about 14" and need a minimum of at least 75g all to themselves.

capekate

Hi Shawnie
Did they say how long til the bio-spira is delivered?

~ kate

Shawnie

said up to 7 days kate..so for now, im adding no more cycle...just the one time yesterday..and im doing 50% water changes daily...

capekate

Hi Shawnie
well, if you keep up with those water changes, your fish should do ok til you get the Bio-Spira. Keep up the good work! Your doing great!

~ kate