How Fast Does Prime Work?

I know I'm a little late on getting my water tested and all. Didn't quite have the money for all of it and honestly didn't know I needed everything I did since I'm just learning. Anyways my pet shop gave me and ammonia tester strip and a gh,kh, ph,no2,no3 test strip. Here was the readings...

Gh: 0-30
Kh: 80-120
Ph: 6.5-7.0
NO2: 0-0.5
NO3: 0-20
Ammonia: 1.0-3.0

I can post the pictures of the bottle and the test strips if need be. When I put the prime in, will it be safe for the fish and how long does it take to get the water to where it needs to be with the prime. Thanks in advance!

 

Not sure what your asking but prime does not remove ammonia, nitrites or nitrates. Water changes will reduce them then prime will detox 1 ppm combined of ammonia and nitrites for 24 hours.

 

Prime doesn't get rid of ammonia. It detoxifies it if it is under 1ppm, making it safe for the fish, but only for 24 hours. It doesn't magically get the water where you want it to be.

If your ammonia is over 1ppm, the prime will not help protect the fish.

If I were you I would do small daily water changes with prime, until the tank completes it's cycle.

 

Prime’s main purpose is as a dechlorinator, not a detoxifier of ammonia. This process (diffusion) happens quite quickly, so treated water can be used almost instantaneously.

 

Glad you’re taking the steps to educate yourself and taking an active role in getting on the right track.

So now that you have a way to dechlorinate water and detox ammonia, study “Fish In Cycle”. You’re gonna need to test the water daily and act accordingly.

 

I

Glad you’re taking the steps to educate yourself and taking an active role in getting on the right track.

So now that you have a way to dechlorinate water and detox ammonia, study “Fish In Cycle”. You’re gonna need to test the water daily and act accordingly.

I still have to get more test strips. My pet store is WAYYY over priced. I'll start doing daily water changes. In the beginning I was feeding them wayyyyy too much and I know that's what was causing the ammonia. So daily water changes should help that right?

 

Feeding less and water changes will help temporarily but the key is cycling your tank. Test strips aren’t very accurate and a test kit like API Master test kit is recommended. A cycled tank will have:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20 ppm or less.

What you could do to get your tank cycled is get some used filter media from your LFS. Put the used media in with your filter media and the used media from the LFS will seed your media.

 

Feeding less and water changes will help temporarily but the key is cycling your tank. Test strips aren’t very accurate and a test kit like API Master test kit is recommended. A cycled tank will have:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20 ppm or less.

What you could do to get your tank cycled is get some used filter media from your LFS. Put the used media in with your filter media and the used media from the LFS will seed your media.

I tested my tap water and the ammonia in that is pretty high too. I'm not sure what to do there. I'm doing daily water changes. About 25% and adding prime to it. But is it really going to make a difference when my tap water is just as bad?...the ph level is pretty high too, but I read that guppies like a kinda high ph. Found a fish dead when I came back from getting more tests...honestly I think he or ahe might have already been doing bad when I got it...there was a bunch of dead fish In the tank at the fish store.




So this is an ammonia test I did on my tap water, bottle water and fish tank...they are all pretty much the same. .on the box it's between stress and harmful. Guess I'm not meant to keep fish where I live.

 

Prime doesn't get rid of ammonia. It detoxifies it if it is under 1ppm, making it safe for the fish, but only for 24 hours. It doesn't magically get the water where you want it to be.

If your ammonia is over 1ppm, the prime will not help protect the fish.

If I were you I would do small daily water changes with prime, until the tank completes it's cycle.

A standard dose of Prime neutralizes 1 ppm of ammonia or nitrite for 24-48 hours. From my research (the product page for Prime) and per the Seachem responses on their site it’s safe to use up to 5x dosage to neutralize up to 5ppm of either if needed it seems. Have you found it does not work if over 1 ppm?

 

Yeah, I've added more than the normal dosage. It was well is between 1-3 last night, so I added a little more...checked again today and it was the same.

 

A standard dose of Prime neutralizes 1 ppm of ammonia or nitrite for 24-48 hours. From my research (the product page for Prime) and per the Seachem responses on their site it’s safe to use up to 5x dosage to neutralize up to 5ppm of either if needed it seems. Have you found it does not work if over 1 ppm?

I don't think you understood it correctly. Yes, you can use up to 5x the recommended dose in an emergency. But it does not detoxify levels that insanely high (5ppm)

The exact words in the Q&A on their website says:
"If your ammonia or nitrite levels are above 2 ppm, you can safely use up to 5 x the recommended amount."

Nowhere does in indicate that you could possibly detoxify 5ppm of ammonia or nitrite simply using prime.

In the product description it simply states:
To detoxify nitrite in an emergency, up to 5 times normal dose may be used.

Again, this doesn't imply that 5 times the dose would detoxify 5ppm of ammonia. Its just telling you that you can safely dose up to 5x the recommended amount.

I do not think there is any product that can protect fish from nitrite or ammonia levels of 5ppm. (other than some very large water changes) But if I am wrong, please correct me!

 

I don't think you understood it correctly. Yes, you can use up to 5x the recommended dose in an emergency. But it does not detoxify levels that insanely high (5ppm)

The exact words in the Q&A on their website says:
"If your ammonia or nitrite levels are above 2 ppm, you can safely use up to 5 x the recommended amount."

Nowhere does in indicate that you could possibly detoxify 5ppm of ammonia or nitrite simply using prime.

In the product description it simply states:
To detoxify nitrite in an emergency, up to 5 times normal dose may be used.

Again, this doesn't imply that 5 times the dose would get rid of 5ppm of ammonia. Its just telling you that you can safely dose up to 5x the recommended amount.

I do not think there is any product that can protect fish from nitrite or ammonia levels of 5ppm. But if I am wrong, please correct me!

Well hopefully it goes down somehow then. I love my fish so much.

 

Well hopefully it goes down somehow then. I love my fish so much.

I wish you the best

If it were me I would do small water changes every day with prime as your dechlorinator.

Also....the liquid test kits are much more accurate than strips.

 

I wish you the best

If it were me I would do small water changes every day with prime as your dechlorinator.

Also....the liquid test kits are much more accurate than strips.

Thank you. I'm in the process of starting a new job, so when I get more money, I will get these babies EVERYTHING they need. I started the water changes yesterday, so I'll update in about a week unless I have more questions.

 

I don't think you understood it correctly. Yes, you can use up to 5x the recommended dose in an emergency. But it does not detoxify levels that insanely high (5ppm)

The exact words in the Q&A on their website says:
"If your ammonia or nitrite levels are above 2 ppm, you can safely use up to 5 x the recommended amount."

Nowhere does in indicate that you could possibly detoxify 5ppm of ammonia or nitrite simply using prime.

In the product description it simply states:
To detoxify nitrite in an emergency, up to 5 times normal dose may be used.

Again, this doesn't imply that 5 times the dose would detoxify 5ppm of ammonia. Its just telling you that you can safely dose up to 5x the recommended amount.

I do not think there is any product that can protect fish from nitrite or ammonia levels of 5ppm. (other than some very large water changes) But if I am wrong, please correct me!

I think I have a pretty good grasp on it, here are some details.

If Prime only worked to detoxify 1ppm of ammonia/nitrite and it wasn't possible for it to neutralize anything higher than that it would be a bit of a silly product. In none of their posts do they state anything about requiring a water change because the ammonia is say 2ppm and Prime can only detoxify a max of 1ppm no matter how much you dose.

Also, that would negate the need for the wording of it being safe to use in 5 x dosages. If it had a cap on the amount of ammonia it could detoxify set at 1ppm, there would never be a reason to do a 5 x "emergency" dose as it would do nothing.

Here is a response from a Seachem employee on a similar topic:

" You can continue to add Prime every other day (or more frequently if needed) to keep the ammonia detoxified and protect your fish. Each dose of Prime (5ml per 50gal) will treat 1 ppm of ammonia. You can safely dose up to 5 times the regular dose. If ammonia goes about 5 ppm, do a water change to lower it to a safer level. I usually aI'm to keep it no higher than 3 ppm while cycling a tank. I would hold off on adding any new fish until the tank finishes cycling." link

I also asked something similar about the combination of ammonia and nitrite. In my example I asked what the dosage would be if someone read 1ppm of ammonia and 1ppm nitrite for a combined 2ppm of the bad stuff. Here is the response:

"Thanks for the post! If your ammonia and nitrite are 2ppm and above, you can safely dose up to 5x the recommended amount. Typically, I do a dose per ppm of ammonia or nitrite. So in your case of 1ppm of ammonia and 1ppm of nitrite, I would do a double dose of Prime." link

Hope that helps, I think that Prime will neutralize up to a combined 5ppm of ammonia and/or nitrite but if it's something you want to do, that's a different story.

Yeah, I've added more than the normal dosage. It was well is between 1-3 last night, so I added a little more...checked again today and it was the same.

Remember, when you neutralize ammonia or nitrite with Prime, it stays neutralized for 24-48 hours max. Also, test kits, such as the API Freshwater Test Kit ignores the fact that you have Prime in the water. So your fish may be protected with the bind that Prime gives you, but the test kit still shows the high numbers.

The test kits show "total ammonia" both free ammonia (NH3, the toxic kind) and ionic ammonia (NH4, the kind that isn't harmful to fish but can still be used by bacteria).

You can use something like a Seachem Ammonia Alert which goes in your tank to let you know how much "free" or toxic ammonia you have in your tank. There are also test kits that allow you to test for both forms of ammonia not just "total" ammonia.

Make sense?

I tested my tap water and the ammonia in that is pretty high too. I'm not sure what to do there. I'm doing daily water changes. About 25% and adding prime to it. But is it really going to make a difference when my tap water is just as bad?...the ph level is pretty high too, but I read that guppies like a kinda high ph. Found a fish dead when I came back from getting more tests...honestly I think he or ahe might have already been doing bad when I got it...there was a bunch of dead fish In the tank at the fish store.

So what's "pretty high?" If you tested your tap water, how much ammonia did it show?

To compare, how much ammonia is your tank showing when you test that water?

In regards to pH, most of the time the fish will adjust unless you have some really picky breed but guppies are pretty common.

Eventually you will have bacteria built up in your tank that eats ammonia for food. So even if your tap water has some ammonia in it (say 0.25ppm for instance), and you use Prime as a water conditioner, that Prime will neutralize the ammonia in your tap water for 24-48 hours which should be enough time for the beneficial bacteria in your tank to eat it. But remember, this is only once your tank is cycled and all that bacteria has built a nice home in your tank.

Prime is used for two things.

1 - As a water conditioner when you do water changes.

2 - To help protect your fish while cycling a tank with fish in there.

So lets say you wanted to do a 3 gallon water change. You remove the water, discard it. Then you fill up a bucket with 3 gallons of water and add Prime to that bucket to condition it (4 drops per gallon seems standard for this process). Then you add it to your tank and your water change is done.

Now, you may be cycling right now so you know your ammonia or nitrite may be higher and you need to protect your fish. You just did this water change, and you gave your tank a bit of time to allow the new water to mix (I do about an hour). Then you use your test kit and you test your water for ammonia and nitrite. Based on those readings you dose your tank with additional Prime to neutralize the ppm numbers that showed up on your test kit. Each standard dosage of Prime will neutralize 1ppm of ammonia or nitrite for 24-48 hours. So if you read 1ppm ammonia, that's a regular full dosage. If you read 2ppm, that's a double dose. Read 1ppm ammonia and 0.5ppm nitrite, that's a 1.5x dosage. You get the idea.

You continue to do this every 24-48 hours until the cycle completes. You have to keep taking readings and dosing Prime at the correct levels to protect your fish. If you did a test and it showed 2ppm of ammonia but you only did a 1x dosage of Prime, you're going to have 1ppm of toxic "free" ammonia floating around in your tank still.

That is ONE way to do it.

The other is by not using Prime to neutralize the ammonia or nitrite and just doing water changes to keep the ppm of ammonia or nitrite <=0.25 ppm, a safe(ish) level until your tank completes the cycle. This will take longer because you are keeping the levels lower so it's less food for the bacteria to feed off of but it still gets you there. You can read more about that process here:

The Fish-In Cycle | Adventures in Aquaria

 

Remember, when you neutralize ammonia or nitrite with Prime, it stays neutralized for 24-48 hours max. Also, test kits, such as the API Freshwater Test Kit ignores the fact that you have Prime in the water. So your fish may be protected with the bind that Prime gives you, but the test kit still shows the high numbers.

The test kits show "total ammonia" both free ammonia (NH3, the toxic kind) and ionic ammonia (NH4, the kind that isn't harmful to fish but can still be used by bacteria).

You can use something like a Seachem Ammonia Alert which goes in your tank to let you know how much "free" or toxic ammonia you have in your tank. There are also test kits that allow you to test for both forms of ammonia not just "total" ammonia.

Make sense?

Yes. Okay I'll have to check that out. I had no clue. Thanks!!

 

Yes. Okay I'll have to check that out. I had no clue. Thanks!!

Read the product page and the FAQ page at this URL. This will help you understand the difference a bit more.

Seachem - Ammonia Alert

 

So what's "pretty high?" If you tested your tap water, how much ammonia did it show?

To compare, how much ammonia is your tank showing when you test that water?

Depending on your pH, most of the time the fish will adjust unless you have some really picky breed but guppies are pretty common.

Eventually you will have bacteria built up in your tank that eats ammonia for food. So even if your tap water has some ammonia in it (say 0.25ppm for instance), and you use Prime as a water conditioner, that Prime will neutralize the ammonia in your tap water for 24-48 hours which should be enough time for the beneficial bacteria in your tank to eat it. But remember, this is only once your tank is cycled and all that bacteria has built a nice home in your tank.

Prime is used for two things.

1 - As a water conditioner when you do water changes.

2 - To help protect your fish while cycling a tank with fish in there.

So lets say you wanted to do a 3 gallon water change. You remove the water, discard it. Then you fill up a bucket with 3 gallons of water and add Prime to that bucket to condition it (4 drops per gallon seems standard for this process). Then you add it to your tank and your water change is done.

Now, you may be cycling right now so you know your ammonia or nitrite may be higher and you need to protect your fish. You just did this water change, and you gave your tank a bit of time to allow the new water to mix (I do about an hour). Then you use your test kit and you test your water for ammonia and nitrite. Based on those readings you dose your tank with additional Prime to neutralize the ppm numbers that showed up on your test kit. Each dosage of Prime will neutralize 1ppm of ammonia or nitrite for 24-48 hours. So if you read 1ppm ammonia, that's a regular full dosage. If you read 2ppm, that's a double dose. Read 1ppm ammonia and 0.5ppm nitrite, that's a 1.5x dosage. You get the idea.

You continue to do this every 24-48 hours until the cycle completes. You have to keep taking readings and dosing Prime at the correct levels to protect your fish. If you did a test and it showed 2ppm of ammonia but you only did a 1x dosage of Prime, you're going to have 1ppm of toxic "free" ammonia floating around in your tank still.

That is ONE way to do it.

The other is by not using Prime and just doing water changes like crazy, keeping the ppm of ammonia or nitrite <=0.25 ppm, a safe(ish) level until your tank completes the cycle. This will take longer because you are keeping the levels lower so it's less food for the bacteria to feed off of but it still gets you there. You can read more about that process here:

The Fish-In Cycle | Adventures in Aquaria

Okay thanks, I'll check that link out. When I got my first two fancy guppies, I just threw them in the tank knowing nothing about cycling. A couple days later, I got another fancy guppy. The two I bought ended up dying and the one I got after seems to be doing well. I'm getting about 1-3ppm. I had another small guppy, Molly...not sure what kind this one is as I just got it and it's still young, but it died earlier today. I knew it was going to happen, he already wasn't doing well one the way home from the pet store. I think I got everything you said down. I'll read it 20 more times haha. Thank you.

 

Okay thanks, I'll check that link out. When I got my first two fancy guppies, I just threw them in the tank knowing nothing about cycling. A couple days later, I got another fancy guppy. The two I bought ended up dying and the one I got after seems to be doing well. I'm getting about 1-3ppm. I had another small guppy, Molly...not sure what kind this one is as I just got it and it's still young, but it died earlier today. I knew it was going to happen, he already wasn't doing well one the way home from the pet store. I think I got everything you said down. I'll read it 20 more times haha. Thank you.

No problem, it's a lot to consume and to digest so feel free to ask if you need any clarification. I'm big at researching and digging up data (just my personality) so glad to help.

When was the last time you checked your ammonia and nitrite and what was the reading?
When was the last time you dosed Prime and how much?

If you just did a water test and had 3ppm ammonia, that would be a 3x dosage of Prime to neutralize that for the next 24-48 hours. Personally, I test my water every 24 hours and dose Prime every 24 hours, I don't go 2 days or push close to that 48 hour marker.

 

No problem, it's a lot to consume and to digest so feel free to ask if you need any clarification. I'm big at researching and digging up data (just my personality) so glad to help.

When was the last time you checked your ammonia and nitrite and what was the reading?
When was the last time you dosed Prime and how much?

If you just did a water test and had 3ppm ammonia, that would be a 3x dosage of Prime to neutralize that for the next 24-48 hours. Personally, I test my water every 24 hours and dose Prime every 24 hours, I don't go 2 days or push close to that 48 hour marker.

okay thanks

Gh: 0-30
Kh: 80-120
Ph: 6.5-7.0
NO2: 0-0.5
NO3: 0-20
Ammonia: 1.0-3.0

this was yesterdays, everything was the same today except the ph was a little higher, like 7.9 and the no2 and no3 keep changing ever so slightly. I have it written down, I'll have to check in a bit.

 

okay thanks

Gh: 0-30
Kh: 80-120
Ph: 6.5-7.0
NO2: 0-0.5
NO3: 0-20
Ammonia: 1.0-3.0

this was yesterdays, everything was the same today except the ph was a little higher, like 7.9 and the no2 and no3 keep changing ever so slightly. I have it written down, I'll have to check in a bit.

What are you using to test? 1.0-3.0 is a pretty big range.

If you test again today, and it's still showing 3.0, you have a few things you could do.

A. Dose Prime at a 3 x dosage to neutralize the 3 ppm level of ammonia for the next 24 hours.

B. Do a 50 % water change to cut that 3.0 to a 1.5 (remove 50% of it first, then add 50% of it back all at one time). Test the water again a short while after the water change (15min - 1 hour) and you should have a 1.5 reading. Then dose the tank with Prime at a 1.5 x dosage to neutralize that 1.5 ppm for the next 24 hours.

C. Do a 50% water change to cut that 3.0 to a 1.5 (again, remove 50% first, then add 50% back). Immediately after that, do another 50% water change to cut that 1.5 to a 0.75. Immediately after that, do another 50% water change to cut that 0.75 to 0.375. Immediately after that, do another 50% water change to cut that 0.375 to 0.1875 which is <=0.25 ppm which is a safe(ish) level as discussed here.

Be sure you condition the fresh water with Prime before it goes into the tank during every water change.

Again, it would be good to know what your exact number is as a 1.0-3.0 is a pretty big difference and may change the suggestion and dosages by quite a bit as you can see from the steps above.

Sounds like you need to pick up one of these ASAP. Otherwise, you're kind of flying blind with those wide ranges.

 

What are you using to test? 1.0-3.0 is a pretty big range.

If you test again today, and it's still showing 3.0, you have a few things you could do.

A. Dose Prime at a 3 x dosage to neutralize the 3 ppm level of ammonia for the next 24 hours.

B. Do a 50 % water change to cut that 3.0 to a 1.5 (remove 50% of it first, then add 50% of it back all at one time). Test the water again a short while after the water change (15min - 1 hour) and you should have a 1.5 reading. Then dose the tank with Prime at a 1.5 x dosage to neutralize that 1.5 ppm for the next 24 hours.

C. Do a 50% water change to cut that 3.0 to a 1.5 (again, remove 50% first, then add 50% back). Immediately after that, do another 50% water change to cut that 1.5 to a 0.75. Immediately after that, do another 50% water change to cut that 0.75 to 0.375. Immediately after that, do another 50% water change to cut that 0.375 to 0.1875 which is <=0.25 ppm which is a safe(ish) level as discussed here.

Again, it would be good to know what your exact number is as a 1.0-3.0 is a pretty big difference and may change the suggestion and dosages by quite a bit as you can see from the steps above.

Sounds like you need to pick up one of these ASAP. Otherwise, you're kind of flying blind with those wide ranges.

I'm using these test strips that are about 12$. that's all I have to test with. It doesn't give me a number, its a strip with colors on it and its hard to tell which color it is.. I'll try all of that out and see if I can get a better test kit.

 

I'm using these test strips that are about 12$. that's all I have to test with. It doesn't give me a number, its a strip with colors on it and its hard to tell which color it is.. I'll try all of that out and see if I can get a better test kit.

Better safe than sorry then. If it shows 1-3, I’d treat for the higher number (using one of the three options above) until you can get a more accurate kit. The Ammonia Alert is handy too, so you can see as the Prime starts to wear off or if ammonia starts to spike between your readings and there isn’t enough Prime to combat it, but it’s a nice to have, not a must have. If money is tight you can get the Ammonia one only but it’s only half the price and soon you will need the nitrite test anyways as your tank progresses through the cycle process so I’d get the full kit if at all possible. It will be priced silly locally, the local fish stores mark them up quite a bit. Petco or Petsmart may do an Amazon price match but you would have to check their websites to be sure.

 

This is a really good price and it will last you forever.


API FRESHWATER MASTER TEST KIT 800-Test Freshwater Aquarium Water Master Test Kit

 

This is a really good price and it will last you forever.


API FRESHWATER MASTER TEST KIT 800-Test Freshwater Aquarium Water Master Test Kit

I will def. get this as soon as I get the money and get a debit card again. thanks

 

I will def. get this as soon as I get the money and get a debit card again. thanks

Cool. If it was my tank, and I was in your situation, I would do the water change route, option C above ASAP. Then I would do a single 15% water change daily until I had that kit in hand. The other methods will be hard to control with the kit you have due to the wide ranges it’s showing. At least that way you pretty much can guarantee your levels will be safe until you have more accurate tools in hand. Be gentle when pouring in water so you don’t disturb the bacteria trying to form on the hard surfaces and in the gravel. You don’t need to be vacuuming either with these. Just gently remove and replace the water, slow-n-steady, especially with those initial big changes where it will be easy to cause a storm of debris as you start to pour water in a tank that’s half full if you don’t pour slowly. I use a plastic cup to slowly transfer a cup at a time from my 3 Gal bucket to my tank so I can pour it in gently.

 

Cool. If it was my tank, and I was in your situation, I would do the water change route, option C above ASAP. Then I would do a single 15% water change daily until I had that kit in hand. The other methods will be hard to control with the kit you have due to the wide ranges it’s showing. At least that way you pretty much can guarantee your levels will be safe until you have more accurate tools in hand. Be gentle when pouring in water so you don’t disturb the bacteria trying to form on the hard surfaces and in the gravel. You don’t need to be vacuuming either with these. Just gently remove and replace the water, slow-n-steady, especially with those initial big changes where it will be easy to cause a storm of debris as you start to pour water in a tank that’s half full if you don’t pour slowly. I use a plastic cup to slowly transfer a cup at a time from my 3 Gal bucket to my tank so I can pour it in gently.

LOL I was doing my water changes all wrong then. I mean I was trying not to stir up stuff.

 

LOL I was doing my water changes all wrong then. I mean I was trying not to stir up stuff.

What was your process of changing water?

 

The bacteria won't die if it has flowing water over it, remember its aerobic, it requires high levels of O2. Vacuuming the gravel is fine and IMO good practise to make sure you're removing all waste that may cause additional water quality issues.

 

The bacteria won't die if it has flowing water over it, remember its aerobic, it requires high levels of O2. Vacuuming the gravel is fine and IMO good practise to make sure you're removing all waste that may cause additional water quality issues.

Yes, in general it’s wise to vacuum gravel to get up left over food and waste during your water changes but with this aggressive temporary schedule it may be okay to skip it is what I was saying. Maybe once a week during regular water changes would be fine I would think but it won’t hurt if she does do some vacuuming. I was just trying to keep it simple for this time period while she get so a better testing tool.

 

What was your process of changing water?

I mean, I guess not all wrong, just not carefully. I scoop out 25% fill up a bucket and pour it in. It doesn't go in as gentle as it should, so I kind of stir up a little bit of stuff from the bottom.

 

I mean, I guess not all wrong, just not carefully. I scoop out 25% fill up a bucket and pour it in. It doesn't go in as gentle as it should, so I kind of stir up a little bit of stuff from the bottom.

It's not that big of a deal, but if you were doing big, 50% water changes, it's real easy to make a cloudy mess and uproot decorations and move around gravel if you just start dumping it in with water levels that low. Not that big of a deal.

 

It's not that big of a deal, but if you were doing big, 50% water changes, it's real easy to make a cloudy mess and uproot decorations and move around gravel if you just start dumping it in with water levels that low. Not that big of a deal.

Oh okay good

 

I mean, I guess not all wrong, just not carefully. I scoop out 25% fill up a bucket and pour it in. It doesn't go in as gentle as it should, so I kind of stir up a little bit of stuff from the bottom.

Do you not have a siphon?
You should really be vacuuming the substrate during each water change .

 

Do you not have a siphon?
You should really be vacuuming the substrate during each water change .

I will have one by the weekend. My brother has one he doesn't use, so hopefully my mom remembers to drop it by tomorrow!

 

I will have one by the weekend. My brother has one he doesn't use, so hopefully my mom remembers to drop it by tomorrow!

How's the tank doing? Any updates?

 

How's the tank doing? Any updates?

Everything is starting to go down and get to normal except the ammonia. It's still in the harmful zone. My mom's bringing me the tube thing soon, so I'll be able to get the old food out. I think that will help ALOT bc in the beginning I was feeding them wayyyyy too much.