Ensuring I don't invoke another mini-cycle...

So the half-way mini-cycle is ALMOST over. I never saw ammonia return, only nitrites, which peaked at .25ppm. I did a 40% WC in response to that about 4 days ago (water only, left gravel and filter alone), and since then they hovered about half-way between 0 and .25ppm. That blue but not quite negative result. As of this morning, they've fallen again and are almost completely gone, but not quite. If I hadn't compared the test result to my tap, I would have interpreted it as negative against the color-chart. That's how low they are.

Now, tomorrow would be my normal maintenance day, but I'm wondering if I should skip it until the mini-cycle finishes? If so, how long after the nitrites fully dissipate should I wait to do the next WC?

Now, this is what I was thinking for weekly maintenance on the 29g...

7-8g WC with deep gravel vacuuming over 50% of the gravel. I'm not even going to touch the filters again, since soon they will be moved into the canister for 75g.

I was hoping to get the 75 gallon up tomorrow, but it still needs some more cleaning and I wanted to prepare the additional water 24 hours beforehand so I didn't kill any BB with it and because my pH changes a little. But I didn't get the buckets yet. I spent a lot of money at the LFS and I just couldn't bring myself to go to Home Depot till tomorrow, like splitting it up over 2 days is going to somehow affect the grand total haha.

So it looks like next weekend might be the better option for start-up. Pretty sure they'd appreciate a WC before then, but maybe I should just leave it alone to give the nitrobacter some time to get real comfy first?

 

You could just change the water without vacuuming if you are fearful of extending the minI cycle or you can just vacuum the top of the gravel in a fanning motion to clean up the top particulate.

 

I can't remember if this is a fishless situation in this particular tank. If it is, then I would leave it alone and let the beneficial bacteria build up and take care of it. If this is one with fish, I would observe the fish to see how they're doing. If they're a little reddish around the gills, then I would do a 50% WC. Otherwise, no since the nitrite barely registers.

 

I can't remember if this is a fishless situation in this particular tank. If it is, then I would leave it alone and let the beneficial bacteria build up and take care of it. If this is one with fish, I would observe the fish to see how they're doing. If they're a little reddish around the gills, then I would do a 50% WC. Otherwise, no since the nitrite barely registers.

It's fishy. And it was FINALLY over till I blew it haha.

They look fine. I just put in a little extra Prime and let them be.

 

It's fishy. And it was FINALLY over till I blew it haha.

They look fine. I just put in a little extra Prime and let them be.

Yes, this is the perfect situation for extra Prime

 

Yes, this is the perfect situation for extra Prime

Whew, relieved to hear I made the right call