Daniellee's cycling journey

Sounds good!

 

10/12
11 am
pH 7.4*
Ammonia 0.25
Nitrite 1 ppm
Nitrate 20 ppm? the orange is pretty dark

*For my high pH test, I always get a super basic number around 8.4-8.8 first then I retest and get 7.4.....so idk

 

Am I reading that right that you have nitrites again? of 1.0 after the water change? Do you have nitrites in your tap water?

I would dose prime asap.

 

I dosed some API ammo lock this morning but I'll put some prime in now. I don't believe I have nitrites in the tap but I'll test right now, I have a pitcher of treated water sitting on my bookshelf I use to tap the tank off every day if the water gets low so I'll test that now

edit: going to also retest the actual tank water for nitrite again

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Tap water is 0.
Nitrites is 1. It's like halfway between 1 and 2 though....

I think I need to buy a better water conditioner or maybe I didn't put enough in when I did do the change.

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Maybe I should do another water change sometime later tonight and see if that lowers everything? The Nitrates really spiked too from yesterday..or should I fast him tonight and tomorrow and see if that helps?

 

You were for the most part cycled so I'm a bit confused. You didn't throw out any filter materials or rinse in tap water did you? You remembered to use prime or another water conditioner when you did the water change?

I would do another water change. In a cycled tank you will never show ammonia or nitrites so something happened over the last couple of days.

 

Nope I never touched the filter during the change other than unplugging it briefly while I put the water in. Both the filter and heater had to be unplugged since the heater would burst since the water level went below the minimum line unless that did it. I had a thing of water sitting out overnight with my dechlorinator. How much water should I change out?

 

Well you want to get those nitrites back close to 0, so I'd say 75%. Seems like you could use another bottle of TSS+! It will catch up on its own but you'll have to do lots of water changes.

 

10/14
pH 7.4
Ammonia 0.25 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 5 ppm

 

Nice!

 

I'll test again tonight since Nitrate is kinda low. It almost looked yellow

 

That's just from the large frequent water changes.

 

Okay I'll give it time

 

I just did some tests on my tap water out of curiosity and found that my untreated tap water, treated tap water and tank water are all containing ammonia at 0.25 ppm. Hopefully the prime will fix that when it comes monday.

 

I just did some tests on my tap water out of curiosity and found that my untreated tap water, treated tap water and tank water are all containing ammonia at 0.25 ppm. Hopefully the prime will fix that when it comes monday.

Yeah it will detoxify it for 24-48 hours after a water change which is plenty of time for your filter to convert it over to nitrates.

 

Ammonia 0.25
nitrite 0
nitrate 0

 

Ammonia 0.25 but it wasn't as lime green as usual so I think it's coming down
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0


I have another bottle of TSS+ coming in tomorrow with Prime so i'm going to add that in. Two days ago I fried my extension cable due to water damage and the filter briefly got unplugged then so maybe that might have lost the cycle?

 

How long was it unplugged for? With things the way they are I wouldn't add the TSS yet, I'd wait to see if you really need it.

 

With me fumbling around trying to see it the plug could be saved and rerouting the cord since it was wrapped up with a hair tie, about 15 minutes

 

No big deal at all.

 

ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0

 

I'm not worried about the 0 nitrate readings after all the water you changed out as long as ammonia and nitrites don't start rising. I wouldn't add the TSS+ unless you see that begin to happen indicating a cycle bump.

 

Okay so is it okay I don't have nitrates? I think i'm cycled and the bioload was reduced in my tank since I had to rehome my mystery snail after my Betta started being aggressive.

 

Depending on the water changes done in a small cycled tank you can have 0 nitrates. As long as you don't see ammonia or nitrites I would think its still cycled.

 

I plan on changing the water tomorrow or thursday since I have the most time on those days. Most likely thursday, my prime arrived today but I didn't get a notification from the package place in time since I'll be in class when it closes so I'll have to pick it up tomorrow.

 

Ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0


I just dosed prime today since it came in the mail

 

ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0-5 (dark dark yellow but not orange)

I added a small of TSS+ yesterday, like not even 10 ml.

 

Everything still looks good.

 

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0

I've still been dosing prime every day so i'm not sure if i'm cycled and its just reducing my nitrates?

 

You're cycled or you would see ammonia or nitrites by now for sure I would think. They'll show up, I wouldn't worry about it as long as ammonia and nitrites are remaining at 0.

Prime doesn't reduce nitrate readings.

 

Should I keep dosing prime daily?

 

No, as long as there is no ammonia and nitrites you can stop for now, just keep your eye on it.

 

Sounds good. I plan to change water again tomorrow so hopefully it all goes good so I'll probably test water again through this Sunday but only once a week after but I'll update this thread if I ever find anything unusual

Thanks for your help again! It's so appreciated

 

You're welcome

 

Sorry forgot to post yesterday. I did a 30% water change also

Ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0

 

Ammonia 0.25
nitrite 0
nitrate 0

should I add more tss or prime? Idk why I have ammonia again

 

If you dosed prime yesterday you're fine, I don't think you need to dose it again today.

 

pH 7.4
Ammonia 2
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0

Okay i'm immediately dosing prime I have no idea why the ammonia has spiked so bad all of a sudden....should I put more tss in?

 

Yeah, weird, you shouldn't have lost your cycle just because you left your filter off for such a short while. I'd re-test, maybe you used too many drops.

 

Okay I retested...hopefully that's it. I did redose prime just because I got scared and I hadn't tested for 2 days. I just noticed also that there was that biofilm stuff again on my filter so I did up the flow which explains why my boy was able to make such a huge nest this weekend.

Ammonia is now down to 0.5 from 2..should I keep dosing prime daily? I can change water again tomorrow between classes.

 

Much better!

Yes as long as you have ammonia I would dose prime daily, a single dose will be fine.