End Of Fishless Cycle - Help With Next Steps Please

so Day 25 I believe I have completed the fishless cycle for my 55 gal tank. I have been redosing ammonia to 3-4 ppm every day and it is gone the next day. Nitrites were up to 5 for a long time and went to zero 3 days ago and stayed there. Nitrates are 80. I did the final re-dosing of ammonia yesterday and this morning both it and nitrites are zero. It is a planted tank but no fish.

So I assume next steps is full water change, I would like to make sure I am doing this correctly.
Here is the snag -- my stupid tap water has 1-2 ppm ammonia in it! (actually after discussion with the water company, they add it to get chloramine so that is probably what is really is but API liquid test kit will show it as ammonia.

I want to use our Python Siphon to remove all the water in our tank and put fresh water back in. I will turn off the heater and filter.

1. For removing the water, it is ok to siphon it all out, even with a fully planted tank?

2. Next I put the new water in. Since I am putting it straight into the tank with the Python, not using buckets, do I add the full tank appropriate amount of Prime to the tank as the water is going in?

3. Do I need to add anything else to the water? I have read that Prime will give false ammonia reading for 24 hours so don't bother testing until then. (can I test for nitrates to see if they are gone or lower?)

4. What will Prime do with the ammonia/Chloramine in my tap water? Will it be enough to feed the beneficial bacteria in there until I get fish?

5. If everything tests out ok after 24 hours, am I ok to get a few (not a lot) of fish and add?

Obviously I will turn heater and filter back on after the water has been changed out.

anything else I need to do or do differently?

THANK YOU for your help, I don't want to screw this up!

 

so Day 25 I believe I have completed the fishless cycle for my 55 gal tank. I have been redosing ammonia to 3-4 ppm every day and it is gone the next day. Nitrites were up to 5 for a long time and went to zero 3 days ago and stayed there. Nitrates are 80. I did the final re-dosing of ammonia yesterday and this morning both it and nitrites are zero. It is a planted tank but no fish.

Sounds like you are cycled!

So I assume next steps is full water change, I would like to make sure I am doing this correctly.
Here is the snag -- my stupid tap water has 1-2 ppm ammonia in it! (actually after discussion with the water company, they add it to get chloramine so that is probably what is really is but API liquid test kit will show it as ammonia.

That's okay! Definitely manageable.

I want to use our Python Siphon to remove all the water in our tank and put fresh water back in. I will turn off the heater and filter.

1. For removing the water, it is ok to siphon it all out, even with a fully planted tank?

There's no real need to siphon it all out in this case. A 75-90% change will do!

2. Next I put the new water in. Since I am putting it straight into the tank with the Python, not using buckets, do I add the full tank appropriate amount of Prime to the tank as the water is going in?

You can dose Prime after you have filled the tank.

3. Do I need to add anything else to the water? I have read that Prime will give false ammonia reading for 24 hours so don't bother testing until then. (can I test for nitrates to see if they are gone or lower?)

Prime shouldn't give a false reading. However, it will not change your readings of ammonia or nitrites. So even if you dose Prime to protect your fish from ammonia and nitrites, they'll still show up on the tests.

You don't need to add anything else if you add fish within 24 hours of adding ammonia last.

You can test for nitrates, but you don't need to. With a large water change and no nitrates in your tap, they will go down. The 1-2 ppm ammonia in your tap will cause them to go up some as it is processed, but you don't need to worry about that.

4. What will Prime do with the ammonia/Chloramine in my tap water? Will it be enough to feed the beneficial bacteria in there until I get fish?

It will make them safe for your fish. It will not make the ammonia unavailable to your bacteria.

5. If everything tests out ok after 24 hours, am I ok to get a few (not a lot) of fish and add?

You don't need to wait 24 hours. You can add your fish right after the water change.

Obviously I will turn heater and filter back on after the water has been changed out.

anything else I need to do or do differently?

THANK YOU for your help, I don't want to screw this up!

See responses in green above

 

I would look into getting a chemical media additive to your tank that will help take out ammonia since you have so much in your tap! I believe API make some. It would be located next to the carbon.

I would do a 90% pwc this once since you have no fish. As long as the leaves stay moist they should be okay.

Always dose for the entire volume of the tank. Add it straight to the tank before you add the tap water back in.

I always retest water 1-2hours after the water change if I know I need to do another one. I've never personally experienced the false ammonia readings but it may just be me.

I would wait the 24hrs for the ammonia to cycle out then add some fish.

Also, I recently bought the python hook & I love it! It may be something to look into for the future.

 

I would not use ammonia reducing media. It can mess with your cycle. Your ammonia is low enough that the bacteria will be able to process it in a day or two, even with fish in the tank. Just use Prime to protect your fish (which you'll be adding Prime for the water change anyway, so you're already doing this, and don't need to do anything special).

Since you don't have fish in the tank, you can add Prime after refilling. I would add it before you turn your filters on though.

 

I would not use ammonia reducing media. It can mess with your cycle.

Hmmm even with 1-2ppm ammonia in the tap plus the fish waste?

 

Yes. I think the bacteria will be able to handle the extra ammonia within a few days of a water change (I would even guess within a day or two). The bacterial colony will grow large enough to handle this ammonia.

 

Yes. I think the bacteria will be able to handle the extra ammonia within a few days of a water change (I would even guess within a day or two). The bacterial colony will grow large enough to handle this ammonia.

Hmm I figured the larger colony would die down without that extra tap ammonia after a few days? I could be completely wrong since I've luckily never had ammonia in my tap.

Would there ever be an instance where you'd suggest ammonia reducing media? Like if someone had 4ppm or 6ppm ammonia? (Is that even legal?!)

 

I would if there was high ammonia in the tap, yes. I would cycle the water with ammonia through the media before using it in the tank.

 

I would look into getting a chemical media additive to your tank that will help take out ammonia since you have so much in your tap! I believe API make some. It would be located next to the carbon.

I would do a 90% pwc this once since you have no fish. As long as the leaves stay moist they should be okay.

Always dose for the entire volume of the tank. Add it straight to the tank before you add the tap water back in.

I always retest water 1-2hours after the water change if I know I need to do another one. I've never personally experienced the false ammonia readings but it may just be me.

I would wait the 24hrs for the ammonia to cycle out then add some fish.

Also, I recently bought the python hook & I love it! It may be something to look into for the future.
View attachment 375265

Wouldn't waiting 24 hours to add fish put her cycle in jeopardy? Since OP has dosed ammonia up to 4ppm wouldn't her BB handle the ammonia pretty quickly since she is seeing the ammonia disappear within 24 hours of dosing it? I'm a newbie so I'm not arguing but just asking. Seems like she could just add the fish after her large WC, but maybe because she has ammonia in her tap it wouldn't matter?

 

Wouldn't waiting 24 hours to add fish put her cycle in jeopardy? Since OP has dosed ammonia up to 4ppm wouldn't her BB handle the ammonia pretty quickly since she is seeing the ammonia disappear within 24 hours of dosing it? I'm a newbie so I'm not arguing but just asking. Seems like she could just add the fish after her large WC, but maybe because she has ammonia in her tap it wouldn't matter?

Since it's taking her ammonia 24hrs to cycle out, she can add the fish after it cycles out. So instead of redosing they would use the fish as the ammonia source. They wouldn't want to put fish in a tank full of 4ppm ammonia.

Another alternative is to dose in the morning and do a 75% pwc (or two 50%) at night to get the ammonia down then add the fish if ammonia is 0.25 or under.

 

Sorry, I guess I misspoke...She is done dosing ammonia, but adding her tap water is basically dosing another 2ppm of ammonia. My point was why wait 24 hours after her large water change if she doses Prime to protect the fish and based on her fishless cycle her tank should convert that 2ppm of ammonia within 24 hours and she won't lose her cycle.

Hope that makes sense....

 

thanks everyone for all your help. I got water changed today (with Prime), I did go get a few rainbowfish and going thru acclimation process right now then will let everyone know how it turns out. I really appreciate everyone's suggestions. I assume there is no reason to add any more Prime tomorrow as long as I am not adding more water?

 

thanks everyone for all your help. I got water changed today (with Prime), I did go get a few rainbowfish and going thru drip acclimation process right now then will let everyone know how it turns out. I really appreciate everyone's suggestions. I assume there is no reason to add any more Prime tomorrow as long as I am not adding more water?

I would probably test tomorrow and make sure your ammonia and nitrite levels are zero. If you still have some ammonia, then you should dose with Prime. Repeat that each day until you have zero ammonia and then you should be good to go.

 

Will do. thank u

 

Pics when you can

 

I would probably test tomorrow and make sure your ammonia and nitrite levels are zero. If you still have some ammonia, then you should dose with Prime. Repeat that each day until you have zero ammonia and then you should be good to go.

BTW, I just have to say that this is a big moment for me. TexasDomer agreed with my advice!!!!

 

I would look into getting a chemical media additive to your tank that will help take out ammonia since you have so much in your tap! I believe API make some. It would be located next to the carbon.

I would do a 90% pwc this once since you have no fish. As long as the leaves stay moist they should be okay.

Always dose for the entire volume of the tank. Add it straight to the tank before you add the tap water back in.

I always retest water 1-2hours after the water change if I know I need to do another one. I've never personally experienced the false ammonia readings but it may just be me.

I would wait the 24hrs for the ammonia to cycle out then add some fish.

Also, I recently bought the python hook & I love it! It may be something to look into for the future.
View attachment 375265

Does the Python hook work for taking the water OUT of the tank, or just for adding water? thx

 

Does the Python hook work for taking the water OUT of the tank, or just for adding water? thx

I don't have any experience with it, but if you look online there are a bunch of videos that show how it works. It removes water and fills the tank back up. I've been looking at getting one or Aqueon makes one that has gotten positive reviews as well.

 

My new rainbowfish are still alive but confused about test results (I know they say to wait 24 hours after adding Prime to test but I couldnt help myself). Ammonia and Nitrites were zero, yay, but it showed Nitrates still high at 80! This is after an 85-90% water change yesterday. Why? (Nitrates out of my tap are around 5-10 ppm)

 

I don't have a good answer for why your nitrates are so high. Maybe someone more experienced than me can explain that, but if it were me, I would continue to do water changes until I got the nitrate level down as I think that's really the only way to lower them at this point. Having live plants will help keep them lower but I don't think they would help with levels that high. Again, one of the more experienced folks on here may have better advice for you.

 

Here are a few of the new Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish I added last night. They still seem to be a little nervous, mostly hiding around the plants

 

Beautiful fish! I hope you like them.

I agree, do more water changes! (It's easy to agree with advice when it's good ) Two 50% changes in a row should get it to a safe level

 

Beautiful fish! I hope you like them.

I agree, do more water changes! (It's easy to agree with advice when it's good ) Two 50% changes in a row should get it to a safe level

Yes I love them and thanks to YOU for your recommendation! They are very pretty and now I am learning about distinguishing boys (red fins) from girls (more yellow/orange fins). They are schooling nicely now.
I will test water again late today then do some more water changes ugh

 

Does the Python hook work for taking the water OUT of the tank, or just for adding water? thx

You'd use the regular siphon for taking the water out. Then unscrew it and screw on the hook for adding the water back. My tap at 76° has a slow pressure for adding the water back in, so now the hook allows me to do other things while the water slowly gets added. Plus while I'm at the sink turning the python back to adding water, no one has to hold it at my tank or I don't have to rig it with my hood. It's definitely not a necessity but it's a nice tool to have.

Sent from my SM-G930V using

 

quick update on nitrates - I tested again tonight, it's now been a full 24 hours since the big water change and Prime -- nitrate test is now showing 20 or less instead of 80....not sure why but I wait on any more water change and test again tomorrow. fish are all still going strong and venturing out into the open now!