Cycling help- when to do water changes and how often?

I have a 29 gal tank. I had some fish (2 honey gouramis) in there but the nitrites spiked so I took them out and have them in a different tank for now. Ammonia has been at 0ppm for a few days and my nitrites were between 2-5ppm (purple is incredibly difficult to read). I did a 90% water change. Nitrites were then at 0.25ppm and now are back up to 1-2ppm. Nitrates have been at 5ppm for about a week now. Do I need to add a source of ammonia while my tank continues to cycle? I don't want it to stall or restart if I don't have any source of ammonia. Thoughts? This is a new tank. I have established media in my HOB filter I received from someone else in the hobby.

 

How long have you been cycling for? Beneficial bacteria needs a source of ammonia, but you could add some fish food to the tank.

 

How long have you been cycling for? Beneficial bacteria needs a source of ammonia, but you could add some fish food to the tank.

Tank has been cycling since 12/26/21 so almost 3 weeks.

 

Usually the cycling process takes around a month to 1 1/2 months.
I would do a water change every three to four days and add some fish food after the WC. Do you add any beneficial bacteria?

 

Usually the cycling process takes around a month to 1 1/2 months.
I would do a water change every three to four days and add some fish food after the WC. Do you add any beneficial bacteria?

Okay, I will try water changes every 3-4 days and add fish food after. I do have beneficial bacteria I add after water changes. I have a bottle of Fritzzyme 7 and API's quick start. Not sure which works better so I got both.

 

Ok. Sounds great. Keep me posted

 

If there's no fish there's no need to do WC. Let the beneficial bacteria do it's thing undisturbed. But yes, you do need an ongoing ammonia source. Whenever ammonia gets to 0 add a bit. Fish food will work but must decompose before being available ammonia. The bottles of aquarium specific ammonia become available to your BB instantly, and have the important benefit of allowing you to know exactly how much you are dosing. Fish food is a guessing (and waiting to see) game.

Also, good you have seeded media. That's your beneficial bacteria and way better than anything in a bottle.

 

If there's no fish there's no need to do WC. Let the beneficial bacteria do it's thing undisturbed. But yes, you do need an ongoing ammonia source. Whenever ammonia gets to 0 add a bit. Fish food will work but must decompose before being available ammonia. The bottles of aquarium specific ammonia become available to your BB instantly, and have the important benefit of allowing you to know exactly how much you are dosing. Fish food is a guessing (and waiting to see) game.

Also, good you have seeded media. That's your beneficial bacteria and way better than anything in a bottle.

Thank you for this! I just bought some bottled ammonia. What should I keep my ammonia at? 0.25ppm?

 

Thank you for this! I just bought some bottled ammonia. What should I keep my ammonia at? 0.25ppm?

0.25 is within the margin of error for the test. I believe most fishless cycle gurus recommend raising it to at least 2 ppm, and some say 4 ppm.

I have a 29 gal tank. I had some fish (2 honey gouramis) in there but the nitrites spiked so I took them out and have them in a different tank for now. Ammonia has been at 0ppm for a few days and my nitrites were between 2-5ppm (purple is incredibly difficult to read). I did a 90% water change. Nitrites were then at 0.25ppm and now are back up to 1-2ppm. Nitrates have been at 5ppm for about a week now. Do I need to add a source of ammonia while my tank continues to cycle? I don't want it to stall or restart if I don't have any source of ammonia. Thoughts? This is a new tank. I have established media in my HOB filter I received from someone else in the hobby.

I assume the tank you moved them to is an established, cycled tank? If not you might as well put them back in the original tank and treat it as a fish-in cycle (do a water change first to get the nitrites down, then test often and do water changes as needed to keep the combined ammonia and nitrites below 1.0). You obviously wouldn't add ammonia if this is the case.

I'm sorry if this seems like a dumb question, but I've seen posts here about people keeping a fish in a temporary un-cycled tank or tub while waiting for the other tank to cycle.

 

Thank you for this! I just bought some bottled ammonia. What should I keep my ammonia at? 0.25ppm?

I'm not an expert but my recommendation is 4ppm at first, and once it's at or close to zero maybe 2 at the most.

If you think about it even this amount is likely more than a fully stocked tank would produce per day.

 

0.25 is within the margin of error for the test. I believe most fishless cycle gurus recommend raising it to at least 2 ppm, and some say 4 ppm.



I assume the tank you moved them to is an established, cycled tank? If not you might as well put them back in the original tank and treat it as a fish-in cycle (do a water change first to get the nitrites down, then test often and do water changes as needed to keep the combined ammonia and nitrites below 1.0). You obviously wouldn't add ammonia if this is the case.

I'm sorry if this seems like a dumb question, but I've seen posts here about people keeping a fish in a temporary un-cycled tank or tub while waiting for the other tank to cycle.

I'm new to the hobby so I freaked out when the nitrites spiked. I put them in a different tank, which is also uncycled. I didn't know what else to do and I didn't want to lose the fish. Should I put them back in the tank and do water changes every day to keep my nitrites below 1ppm? So sorry for the dumb questions. I'm still learning.

 

It's 1ppm for a normal fully stocked tank, 2ppm for an 'overstocked' tank, predominantly relevant for cichlid keepers, and 4ppm is a massive stretch goal.

Water changes should always be done for fish-in cycling to keep the fish safe. Even if parameters get to zero with water changes, that's fine because ammonia is still constantly produced daily anyways by fish pooping.

Water changes should only be done in a fishless cycle if it can fix problems when parameters get out of whack and inhibits nitrification and/or growth/reproduction of nitrifiers.

 

I see water changes in your future. (good catch ProudPapa !)

 

I'm new to the hobby so I freaked out when the nitrites spiked. I put them in a different tank, which is also uncycled. I didn't know what else to do and I didn't want to lose the fish. Should I put them back in the tank and do water changes every day to keep my nitrites below 1ppm? So sorry for the dumb questions. I'm still learning.

Yes. They aren't any better off in one tank than they are in the other one if neither is cycled.

Test the water first to make sure the levels are low. And keep the combined ammonia and nitrites below 1 ppm, not just nitrites.

 

Yes. They aren't any better off in one tank than they are in the other one if neither is cycled.

Test the water first to make sure the levels are low. And keep the combined ammonia and nitrites below 1 ppm, not just nitrites.

Nitrites are at 1-2ppm a couple of hours after water changes. I've been doing 75% WC to lower them but it goes right back up after a few hours. Is it just a waiting game for the beneficial bacteria to grow?

 

Nitrites are at 1-2ppm a couple of hours after water changes. I've been doing 75% WC to lower them but it goes right back up after a few hours. Is it just a waiting game for the beneficial bacteria to grow?

Yep. To clarify, right after the water change you do see it being a lot lower, right?

 

Yep. To clarify, right after the water change you do see it being a lot lower, right?

Nitrites go down to 0ppm after a 75% WC. They go right back up to 1ppm after a few hours.

 

Nitrites go down to 0ppm after a 75% WC. They go right back up to 1ppm after a few hours.

Gotcha. Yeah then that implies ammonia oxidation is occurring as needed for the current stocking, but the nitrite-oxidizers are catching up.

Just keep at it with your fish-in cycling. If you have Prime, you can do 1x dosage per 1ppm ammonia/nitrite, up to 5x dosage. That and together with water changes, it'll be fine.

If you don't have a way to detoxify nitrite, then yeah, just keep on doing big water changes.

 

Gotcha. Yeah then that implies ammonia oxidation is occurring as needed for the current stocking, but the nitrite-oxidizers are catching up.

Just keep at it with your fish-in cycling. If you have Prime, you can do 1x dosage per 1ppm ammonia/nitrite, up to 5x dosage. That and together with water changes, it'll be fine.

If you don't have a way to detoxify nitrite, then yeah, just keep on doing big water changes.

Does Prime kill off the bacteria? I've read that it does, so I haven't bought any. Any thoughts on this?

 

Does Prime kill off the bacteria? I've read that it does, so I haven't bought any. Any thoughts on this?

No, Prime does not kill beneficial bacteria.

I wouldn’t recommend more than a single dose of Prime. If you need more than a single dose, it’s time for a water change.

 

No, Prime does not kill beneficial bacteria.

I wouldn’t recommend more than a single dose of Prime. If you need more than a single dose, it’s time for a water change.

Okay awesome. I will go ahead and buy some Prime. Thank you all for your help! I will keep you all updated.

 

Okay awesome. I will go ahead and buy some Prime. Thank you all for your help! I will keep you all updated.

Prime is great stuff! Unless it’s used in lieu of water changes IMO.

 

Prime is great stuff! Unless it’s used in lieu of water changes IMO.

If I'm dosing prime, would you recommend 50% water changes every other day? Or should I not do any WCs?

 

If I'm dosing prime, would you recommend 50% water changes every other day? Or should I not do any WCs?

The amount of water you change and how frequently you change it depends on your daily test results until the tank is fully cycled.

I recommend changing enough water to keep the combined level of ammonia and nitrites at or below 0.50 ppm. Dose a single dose of Prime at each water change based on the total volume of your tank.

When there are fish in a tank, water changes aren’t optional!

Make sense?

 

The amount of water you change and how frequently you change it depends on your daily test results until the tank is fully cycled.

I recommend changing enough water to keep the combined level of ammonia and nitrites at or below 0.50 ppm. Dose a single dose of Prime at each water change based on the total volume of your tank.

When there are fish in a tank, water changes aren’t optional!

Make sense?

Yep! Thank you! I'll keep y'all updated!

 

Yep! Thank you! I'll keep y'all updated!

Yep, keep us updated and come back here with questions. Good luck!

 

Does Prime kill off the bacteria? I've read that it does, so I haven't bought any. Any thoughts on this?

Nope. There is zero evidence that Prime kill of the bacteria (or any other microorganism performing nitrification). People have thrown this about simply without even trying to understand how Prime may work.

We dose Prime all the time during the cycle (and after in fact), to zero issues.

After all, if you think about it. Every time someone does a water change and add Prime, if that also kills of nitrifiers that'd be pretty bad.

 

I think this whole Prime killing bacteria comes down to the Tetra Safe Start threads when people add the TSS too soon after the dechlor. It doesn't kill the bacteria. I believe it is because the Prime detoxifies the ammonia that is present in the TSS and it makes the product not work the way it is supposed to.

 

I think this whole Prime killing bacteria comes down to the Tetra Safe Start threads when people add the TSS too soon after the dechlor. It doesn't kill the bacteria. I believe it is because the Prime detoxifies the ammonia that is present in the TSS and it makes the product not work the way it is supposed to.

Probably this is the origin yeah.

Which makes TSS so weird as a product to use. Given Prime never has issues causing ammonia and/or nitrite to be available to other nitrifiers.

I am also curious why TSS nitrifiers supposedly are so susceptible to ammonia. 2-3ppm harming them sounds quite alarming, given other products contain nitrifiers that can easily handle far higher.

 

Yeah I dont know either but that stuff is too creepy for my blood. 14 days in a new tank with no water changes and FISH....pass for me. Others swear by it though.

 

Yeah I dont know either but that stuff is too creepy for my blood. 14 days in a new tank with no water changes and FISH....pass for me. Others swear by it though.

Same. I can't recommend TSS just because how finicky it is compared to other products. Having to keep ammonia low, not doing water changes, and that Prime can all interfere is too much effort. Like for that much effort, one could just do a normal fish-in cycling, or fishless with FritzZyme or something (or established biomedia) where none of those things is a problem.

 

Same. I can't recommend TSS just because how finicky it is compared to other products. Having to keep ammonia low, not doing water changes, and that Prime can all interfere is too much effort. Like for that much effort, one could just do a normal fish-in cycling, or fishless with FritzZyme or something (or established biomedia) where none of those things is a problem.

ANY dechlor can interfere if you dont follow the directions to a T. But yeah I have heard that Fritz stuff is pretty good.