Did I Kill All The Beneficial Bacteria In My Tank?

[Cywangton]

Hey there, my tank was fully cycled and in good condition (besides from an algae bloom a week ago that's somewhat under control) when my parent thought it would be a good idea to change the water. So, tap water was added in without being conditioned.

This happened at 2:00pm and I immediately added conditioner at 6:10pm when I found out...

My tank has an underground filter, so the beneficial bacteria is probably all in the substrate.

Did all the bacteria die? Tap water was in the tank for 4 hours.

If so, should I add some cultured bacteria like tetra safe start? But the earliest I can get it is in 2 days, so will that be really bad?

 

[DutchAquarium]

You should use a test kit and see what your levels are at. If there was a swing, then you might have problems.

 

[TexasGuppy]

Good chance it was at least harmed. May be a day or two before you see ammonia climbing. Be ready for a fish in (mini)cycle.

 

[Cywangton]

Oh I forgot to mention that it was a 75% water change...
I'm pretty mad about it..

 

[Fanatic]

Yeah, that's definitely going to impact your cycle.

 

[Mom2some]

Do you have a way to monitor your water parameters (ex API master test kit)? If so... follow the fish-in cycle suggested guidelines...
If ammonia + Nitrite > or = 1.0, do a 50% water change with Prime, recheck in 24 hours.
If ammonia + nitrites < 1.0 dose with Prime & recheck in 24 hours.

 

[TexasGuppy]

Petsmart sells an API ammonia alert you hang inside the tank.. It's good for a few months and may be an easy way to monitor constantly. It doesn't do nitrite however... so you'll need to still watch that manually.