Need Info. Had Nitrites - Water Change?

So I’m a little over three weeks into my fish in cycle and been testing water every morning to see if there has been any change (also dosing with prime every 48 hours and stability every day) yesterday I had zero nitrites and today it’s kind of up there. Now my tap water comes out at 1ppm ammonia so I haven’t changed any water seeing as it won’t lower my ammonia very much. But should I do a water change now since the nitrites are there?

 

I don't know much, but that Ammonia level is VERY alarming to me!

 

So I’m a little over three weeks into my fish in cycle and been testing water every morning to see if there has been any change (also dosing with prime every 48 hours and stability every day) yesterday I had zero nitrites and today it’s kind of up there. Now my tap water comes out at 1ppm ammonia so I haven’t changed any water seeing as it won’t lower my ammonia very much. But should I do a water change now since the nitrites are there? View attachment 551834

I recently finished a fish in cycle and that amount of ammonia is going to be extremely harmful to your fish.

Nitrites are also almost more deadly than ammonia as well so if you see any trace of nitrites, you’ll want to perform a water change.

This is normal for a fish in cycle though. Once you start to get readings in ammonia and nitrites, you need to be performing water ch he’s everyday until you start getting readings on nitrates. Once you have a reading on nitrates and no readings on ammonia or nitrites, your cycle is complete

 

I recently finished a fish in cycle and that amount of ammonia is going to be extremely harmful to your fish.

Nitrites are also almost more deadly than ammonia as well so if you see any trace of nitrites, you’ll want to perform a water change.

This is normal for a fish in cycle though. Once you start to get readings in ammonia and nitrites, you need to be performing water ch he’s everyday until you start getting readings on nitrates. Once you have a reading on nitrates and no readings on ammonia or nitrites, your cycle is complete

Well my water comes out the tap at 1ppm so if I do a water change my ammonia won’t go under 1ppm so I will be performing a %25 water change later tonight tho to see if I can get it down to the 1ppm level my worry is. Will this mess up my nitrites?

 

Well my water comes out the tap at 1ppm so if I do a water change my ammonia won’t go under 1ppm so I will be performing a %25 water change later tonight tho to see if I can get it down to the 1ppm level my worry is. Will this mess up my nitrites?

What are you using to treat your tap water?

And yes, a water change will lower your nitrites, but if you don’t lower them, the nitrites will poison your fish if you don’t lower it. You’ll want to change probably 50%

 

You definitely need to do a WC very soon! Both Ammonia and Nitrite levels are dangerously high. Once your cycle completes and you start doing your regular WC's and the 1ppm from your tap will be taken care of by your Beneficial Bacteria and the Prime will help neutralize it. You may want to do 2X doses of Prime after your WC's as it is safe to use up to 5X the amount. Good Luck!

 

Probably you cycle is starting but slow
Please test your PH and high rangePH too to to get accurate PH level
In this photo shows a little low in Ph and that's acidic
Also please add bacteria starter even choose another brand , I had experience with changing brand help me cycle a tank better
And let us know what kind of filtration and decor you have in your tank
And my opinion is to do water changes as regular
And Don’t add fish till you get the reliable results

 

Well my water comes out the tap at 1ppm so if I do a water change my ammonia won’t go under 1ppm so I will be performing a %25 water change later tonight tho to see if I can get it down to the 1ppm level my worry is. Will this mess up my nitrites?

Water changes won't mess up your nitrites but will hopefully lower them. The bacteria we are growing isn't in the water. It is growing on your filter media and on every surface in your tank. When doing a fish in cycle you want to keep both ammonia and nitrites as low as possible with water changes.

As long as you use a water conditioner in the water you are replacing water change will not harm your growing cycle. A cycle simply means growing bacteria that processes the ammonia your fish produce into nitrites and then into nitrates.

In a fully cycled tank there will be enough bacteria to keep both the ammonia and nitrite levels down to zero. The final product of the cycling process is nitrates. Most of us don't grow a nitrate eating bacteria so they are kept down with water changes.

 

I would perform as many water changes as possible. I use seachem prime every water change to detoxify ammonia nitrite and nitrate and it works really well. Also you can't really over dose prime so you can really put a lot in and it will help. Try to do water changes daily. If you do that you will notice a big difference, the same thing happened to me a while ago. Hope that helps!

 

Also you can't really over dose prime so you can really put a lot in and it will help. Try to do water changes daily. If you do that you will notice a big difference, the same thing happened to me a while ago. Hope that helps!

You can but adding more than necessary is just wasting Prime. The packaging does say one can dose up to 5 times the normal dose in an emergency but pouring in more than that won't do anymore than just the 5 times the amount. Just a normal dose is usually all that is necessary.

 

Most of the time the normal does works but when my nitrate spiked to 80 ppm in three days I dosed alot.

Why isn't quoting working?

 

Most of the time the normal does works but when my nitrate spiked to 80 ppm in three days I dosed alot.

I am glad it worked for you but if the nitrates are high water changes are the best way to handle them. Prime won't remove them so adding it is only putting a temp band-aid on the problem.

 

I am glad it worked for you but if the nitrates are high water changes are the best way to handle them. Prime won't remove them so adding it is only putting a temp band-aid on the problem.

Yeah I did daily water changes.

 

What are you using to treat your tap water?

And yes, a water change will lower your nitrites, but if you don’t lower them, the nitrites will poison your fish if you don’t lower it. You’ll want to change probably 50%

I use Seachem prime and stability to dose each bucket before it goes into the tank.

Probably you cycle is starting but slow
Please test your PH and high rangePH too to to get accurate PH level
In this photo shows a little low in Ph and that's acidic
Also please add bacteria starter even choose another brand , I had experience with changing brand help me cycle a tank better
And let us know what kind of filtration and decor you have in your tank
And my opinion is to do water changes as regular
And Don’t add fish till you get the reliable results

I did a high ph test and it was below 7.4 and I’ve added Tetra safe start at the very beginning on my cycle. I have a HOB filter rated for a 150 gallon with a sponge over the intake and I dose the filter I have two carbon sponges and filter floss sponges along with fluval bio rings. As far as decode I only have a few rocks and fake plants I bought from local pet store.

 

It is my understanding if you start with Tss and doing a Fish In - you should Not be adding anything else or doing water changes for a week. Tss with the other items added - I think will mess it all up?

 

It is my understanding if you start with Tss and doing a Fish In - you should Not be adding anything else or doing water changes for a week. Tss with the other items added - I think will mess it all up?

Yea I added tetra safe start when I first put my tank up a little over 3 weeks ago and didnt add Seachem products till a week later when I bought my test kit

 

Ah sorry. Missed 3 weeks. Surprised it wasn't already cycled by 1-2. So you have never seen Nitrates?

 

Ah sorry. Missed 3 weeks. Surprised it wasn't already cycled by 1-2. So you have never seen Nitrates?

It yet I just tested again this morning and there are traces of nitrates but not enough to call it a cycle. I’m going to do a %50 water change hopefully that can help the rest of the way

 

Did your Ammonia and/or Nitrites also change with this mornings testing? I honestly don't know if wc will lessen your chance of more Nitrates. I would think keeping as is might help for the cycle to keep going? At least you have a start on Nitrates now vs. nothing?