Nitrites still at 0, Help!

Hi there,

I am new to the aquarium hobby and this is my first time cycling a tank so I am looking for advice. I've watched a lot of videos and read articles on the subject of cycling but some info is inconsistent.

My setup:
10 Gallon Cube AIO Nano Tank. Sponge Filters and Bio Balls and a filter sock. The heater is set to 78-79 degrees.
* This aquarium is brand new, I have no established media to add to the tank.

Day 1
Unboxed tank and set up filter media. Added sand, driftwood, rocks, and fake plants.
Treated my water with Prime prior to adding to the tank.
Filled tank and added 1 capful of Stability as bottle directed.

Day 2
Test results:

• Ph: 7.6
• Ammonia: 1.0
• Nitrite: 0
• Nitrate: 0 - 5.0

Added 1/2 Capful of Stability as bottle directed. Added small pinch of fish food.

Day 3
Added 1/2 Capful of Stability

Day 4

• Water Test
  • Ph: 7.6
  • Ammonia: 1.0
  • Nitrite: 0
  • Nitrate: 5.0

Day 5
+ 1/2 capful of stability

Day 6
+1/2 capful of stability
+ small pinch of food

Day 7
+ 1/2 capful of stability

Day 8
Water Test:

• Ph: 7.6
• Ammonia: 0.5 (ammonia has started to drop)
• Nitrite: 0
• Nitrate: 5.0

1-gallon water change to top off the tank. Removed water from the tank without disturbing the substrate and didn't clean any algae off the sides. Added 1 mL prime to water before adding to the tank, added 1 capful stability back in.

Today is Day 8 and I just performed the above tasks. I also tested my tap water for nitrate and they are virtually 0.

I am wondering, am I on the right track? Looks like ammonia is going down, Nitrites so far have not presented themselves but I have nitrates present. Should I continue adding stability after today? Or leave it to run and see if nitrites appear.

Thanks so much for your help!

 

Just a question, once your tank can handle like 5ppm ammonia, wouldn’t you want to make it stronger by dosing 6-7 ppm ammonia, so you can overstock a little more then you could have when dosing 3-4?

There is only so much bacteria can handle depending on the size/surface areas of the tank, water flow and the surface areas of the filter.

Now if you got a overpowered filter turning over 10x+ the water, yea you could technically ramp that bad boy up to handle a ton of Am, though not necessary but would lessen the amount of water changes and maintenance needed. That’s why as long as there isn’t ridiculous water output water flow, a bigger filter is always more efficient.

But at some point there is a such thing as TOO much water flow for fish and plants. Don’t want to plaster them to the side of the tank. 5ppm is a lot of waste...that type of waste is nearly impossible all at once - it’s more of a question of over time building up. Which water changes negate.

There are ‘waterfall’ type filtertration set ups doable for home use that utilize handling extreme Am while ‘dumbing down’ water output (like you’d find in a natural river and koi pond set ups) but obviously impractical and take up a lot of room, even for commercial breeders, just easier to divide the output pressure to hundreds of tanks.

 

Just a question, once your tank can handle like 5ppm ammonia, wouldn’t you want to make it stronger by dosing 6-7 ppm ammonia, so you can overstock a little more then you could have when dosing 3-4?

By the way, this is going to be a betta fish tank. So the ammonia production should be fairly low if I feed a normal amount.

mattgirl fishnovice33

Good Morning! Test results are as follows:

Ammonia: Almost right at 2ppm - maybe a little bit darker.
Nitrite: Still 0, no surprise there

 

By the way, this is going to be a betta fish tank. So the ammonia production should be fairly low if I feed a normal amount.

mattgirl fishnovice33

Good Morning! Test results are as follows:

Ammonia: Almost right at 2ppm - maybe a little bit darker.
Nitrite: Still 0, no surprise there

A single betta in a 10 gal is definitely not going to produce a lot of waste.

Sounds good, I wouldn’t touch it unless it starts dropping - just maintain it and wait is all there is to do now.

 

I am going to be perfectly honest here. If I was setting up a 10 gallon tank that was only going to house a single Betta I would not go through this long drawn out stressful fishless cycling process. The bio-load of that one little fish is going to be so low, simple water changes will accomplish the same thing the bacteria you are struggling to grow will do.

We grow the bacteria to remove the ammonia the fish is producing. We can do the same thing with water changes. The tank will eventually cycle, of that I have no doubt. As long as there is an ammonia source bacteria will grow. Over time enough bacteria will grow to remove the tiny bit of ammonia this one little guy will be producing. Until it does simple water changes will keep it down to almost negligible levels.

In this case I would do a very large water change to get all the original fish food and all the ammonia you have added out of there. Once done I would go ahead and get the fish. Keep an eye on the parameters. If you get an ammonia reading of .5 or above do a water change. If you don't get an ammonia reading go ahead and change out 50% of the water every week. As long as you do this your little guy will never be in any danger.

 

I am going to be perfectly honest here. If I was setting up a 10 gallon tank that was only going to house a single Betta I would not go through this long drawn out stressful fishless cycling process. The bio-load of that one little fish is going to be so low, simple water changes will accomplish the same thing the bacteria you are struggling to grow will do.

We grow the bacteria to remove the ammonia the fish is producing. We can do the same thing with water changes. The tank will eventually cycle, of that I have no doubt. As long as there is an ammonia source bacteria will grow. Over time enough bacteria will grow to remove the tiny bit of ammonia this one little guy will be producing. Until it does simple water changes will keep it down to almost negligible levels.

In this case I would do a very large water change to get all the original fish food and all the ammonia you have added out of there. Once done I would go ahead and get the fish. Keep and eye on the parameters. If you get an ammonia reading of .5 or above do a water change. If you don't get an ammonia reading go ahead and change out 50% of the water every week. As long as you do this your little guy will never be in any danger.

I can agree with this for a Betta only tank. The only thing I’d add is to make sure you treat the tap water with something like prime (or safe [dry version]) and also test your water source to negate any other factors. For instance my tap comes out highly chlorinated and extremely high PH (8.0). For that I’d treat it before adding, but most people’s PH is not that high, I’d just make sure no chlorine exists and it’s not a huge temperature difference...I assume you have a proper heater.

Because you’d have increased water changes initially, your Betta will be more frequently exposed to whatever your initial water source conditions are. Bettas are very hardy fish so it really shouldn’t be difficult. As Mattgirl stated most important thing to to keep an eye on Am and Chl.

Personally, I just like my tanks to be self sufficient because water changes suck. But then again I only have one tank 10 gallons or less and don’t have anything with just a betta/no live plants.

 

I can agree with this for a Betta only tank. The only thing I’d add is to make sure you treat the tap water with something like prime (or safe [dry version]) and also test your water source to negate any other factors. For instance my tap comes out highly chlorinated and extremely high PH (8.0). For that I’d treat it before adding, but most people’s PH is not that high, I’d just make sure no chlorine exists and it’s not a huge temperature difference...I assume you have a proper heater.

Because you’d have increased water changes initially, your Betta will be more frequently exposed to whatever your initial water source conditions are. Bettas are very hardy fish so it really shouldn’t be difficult. As Mattgirl stated most important thing to to keep an eye on Am and Chl.

Personally, I just like my tanks to be self sufficient because water changes suck. But then again I only have one tank 10 gallons or less and don’t have anything with just a betta/no live plants.

I would have gone into more detail but already know she has and uses Prime and has posted the parameters of her source water. Doing 50% water changes each week should prevent big changes in the parameters between fresh water and tank water. I should have mentioned temp matching the water though.

 

I would have gone into more detail but already know she has and uses Prime and has posted the parameters of her source water. Doing 50% water changes each week should prevent big changes in the parameters between fresh water and tank water. I should have mentioned temp matching the water though.

Ah, yes I see now she mentioned Prime - for some reason I was thinking she was only using stability. In which case that should take care of the Chl. Only thing I saw was the Ni test of the source. I assume her source PH is 7.6 ish from her first post which a betta can live in but lowering it to neutral (7.0) would be more ideal.

 

I am going to be perfectly honest here. If I was setting up a 10 gallon tank that was only going to house a single Betta I would not go through this long drawn out stressful fishless cycling process. The bio-load of that one little fish is going to be so low, simple water changes will accomplish the same thing the bacteria you are struggling to grow will do.

We grow the bacteria to remove the ammonia the fish is producing. We can do the same thing with water changes. The tank will eventually cycle, of that I have no doubt. As long as there is an ammonia source bacteria will grow. Over time enough bacteria will grow to remove the tiny bit of ammonia this one little guy will be producing. Until it does simple water changes will keep it down to almost negligible levels.

In this case I would do a very large water change to get all the original fish food and all the ammonia you have added out of there. Once done I would go ahead and get the fish. Keep an eye on the parameters. If you get an ammonia reading of .5 or above do a water change. If you don't get an ammonia reading go ahead and change out 50% of the water every week. As long as you do this your little guy will never be in any danger.

Ok so I read about this and was initially going to add him after I conditioned the water, but then I discovered the cycling process and got scared.

You're saying I could do a large water change (with prime) and then add the fish? Wouldn't the nitrite spike and harm him?

My biggest fear is being inexperienced and something happening in the tank and not knowing how to deal with it. It sounds like doing routine water changes pretty much fixes most things though.

I do have a heater and my temp is around 78 degrees. Everything I read about Bettas said that they do well in a pH around 7.5 and with that temp. My pH is around 7.6, I do have a pH test kit in addition to the master test kit that I could use to bring it down if necessary.

 

Let's say I did the water change and wanted to add the fish like tomorrow. How do I keep him safe?

 

Ok so I read about this and was initially going to add him after I conditioned the water, but then I discovered the cycling process and got scared.

You're saying I could do a large water change (with prime) and then add the fish? Wouldn't the nitrite spike and harm him?

My biggest fear is being inexperienced and something happening in the tank and not knowing how to deal with it. It sounds like doing routine water changes pretty much fixes most things though.

I had never even heard about fishless cycling until I joined this forum. I've always had good success with fish in cycling. As long as water changes are done to keep ammonia and nitrites (when they show up) down to negligible levels your little guy will never be in any danger.

With just one little fish in a 10 gallon tank neither ammonia nor nitrites should ever get up to dangerous levels as long a water changes are done. The main difference between fish in and fishless cycling is the number of water change that need to be done. As long as you are committed to testing and water changes your little guy should never be in any danger.

This might help put your mind at ease about the nitrite spike. I was out of the hobby for about 6 years. When I set my tank back up I was starting from scratch. I set the tank up with filters and heater, added well rinsed substrate, added water and decor. I ran it for a couple of days to make sure everything was working as it should. Once I was assured that it was running well I fully stocked the tank and thus started the cycle.

I didn't add any kind of bottle bacteria. I had heard of it but knew a tank would cycle without it so didn't even consider adding any. In about 3 weeks the nitrites spiked up off the chart. During this spike I was doing a 50% water change every day. Before the spike I was changing water every other day. After the 5th day of daily water changes the nitrites dropped to zero. With just the one little fish in a 10 gallon tank your nitrites should never spike as high as they did in this fully stocked 55 gallon tank.

All of this to say, all of my fish came through this nitrite spike unharmed. Most of those same fish are still with me today after almost 5 years. As long as you are willing and able to do the necessary water changes, fish in cycling is totally doable and no harm will come to the fish. Don't panic when spikes happen. Just change some water to lower the spike.

Commit to changing out 50% of the water once a week for the life of your little guy and he should live a long healthy life. I have to think being committed to changing out 50% of the water in all of my tanks each week is why I've never had to deal with any kind of disease.

Let's say I did the water change and wanted to add the fish like tomorrow. How do I keep him safe?

If you change out most of the water that is in there right now and you make sure you get all of the food out of there you will be starting fresh. You keep him safe by testing the water and doing a water change if you get an ammonia reading of .5 or more. You have Prime. Prime is going to detox that low level of ammonia. Prime doesn't remove the ammonia so it will still show up in the test tube. I will just be in a safer form.

If you aren't comfortable and it will cause you too much stress doing a fish in cycle you may not want to attempt it but as long as you keep the ammonia level down to negligible levels your little guy will never be in any danger.

 

I had never even heard about fishless cycling until I joined this forum. I've always had good success with fish in cycling. As long as water changes are done to keep ammonia and nitrites (when they show up) down to negligible levels your little guy will never be in any danger.

With just one little fish in a 10 gallon tank neither ammonia nor nitrites should ever get up to dangerous levels as long a water changes are done. The main difference between fish in and fishless cycling is the number of water change that need to be done. As long as you are committed to testing and water changes your little guy should never be in any danger.

This might help put your mind at ease about the nitrite spike. I was out of the hobby for about 6 years. When I set my tank back up I was starting from scratch. I set the tank up with filters and heater, added well rinsed substrate, added water and decor. I ran it for a couple of days to make sure everything was working as it should. Once I was assured that it was running well I fully stocked the tank and thus started the cycle.

I didn't add any kind of bottle bacteria. I had heard of it but knew a tank would cycle without it so didn't even consider adding any. In about 3 weeks the nitrites spiked up off the chart. During this spike I was doing a 50% water change every day. Before the spike I was changing water every other day. After the 5th day of daily water changes the nitrites dropped to zero. With just the one little fish in a 10 gallon tank your nitrites should never spike as high as they did in this fully stocked 55 gallon tank.

All of this to say, all of my fish came through this nitrite spike unharmed. Most of those same fish are still with me today after almost 5 years. As long as you are willing and able to do the necessary water changes, fish in cycling is totally doable and no harm will come to the fish. Don't panic when spikes happen. Just change some water to lower the spike.

Commit to changing out 50% of the water once a week for the life of your little guy and he should live a long healthy life. I have to think being committed to changing out 50% of the water in all of my tanks each week is why I've never had to deal with any kind of disease.

If you change out most of the water that is in there right now and you make sure you get all of the food out of there you will be starting fresh. You keep him safe by testing the water and doing a water change if you get an ammonia reading of .5 or more. You have Prime. Prime is going to detox that low level of ammonia. Prime doesn't remove the ammonia so it will still show up in the test tube. I will just be in a safer form.

If you aren't comfortable and it will cause you too much stress doing a fish in cycle you may not want to attempt it but as long as you keep the ammonia level down to negligible levels your little guy will never be in any danger.

Thank you. I am going to try it. I just changed out about 80% of the water and dosed prime. After I add the fish, should I dose either prime or stability in order to keep the water safe? Or just test daily, and change water as needed.

 

Thank you. I am going to try it. I just changed out about 80% of the water and dosed prime. After I add the fish, should I dose either prime or stability in order to keep the water safe? Or just test daily, and change water as needed.

Run your ammonia test to make sure you have removed all of the ammonia from the tank. Also double check to make sure you have removed all of the fish food you started with. If any is left in there it will continue producing ammonia.

If I was going to use bottled bacteria I would get some Tetra Safe Start Plus. Unlike Stability, TSS+ contains the same kind of bacteria we are growing in our tanks. If you would be more comfortable adding it at least Stability shouldn't cause a problem.

You shouldn't have to add Prime again until you do your next water change. Keep in mind Prime is first and foremost a water conditioner much like all the other water conditioners on the market. It does nothing to help speed up a cycle. The reason I recommend Prime so often is because it goes one step farther than other water conditioners and also detoxed low levels of ammonia.

Once you get your little guy in there keep an eye on the ammonia level. It will surprise me if you get an ammonia reading at all during the first week. If at the end of the first week even if you are seeing no ammonia go ahead and do a 50% water change. Add enough Prime to treat the full 10 gallons of water. Be sure to add the Prime to the water before you pour it in the tank. You don't want any chlorine in the tank. Treating the water first will prevent that.

If the ammonia reading gets up close to .5 at any time do a 50% water change. The water change will get it back down to .25 Prime will protect your little guy from ammonia that low.

 

Run your ammonia test to make sure you have removed all of the ammonia from the tank. Also double check to make sure you have removed all of the fish food you started with. If any is left in there it will continue producing ammonia.

If I was going to use bottled bacteria I would get some Tetra Safe Start Plus. Unlike Stability, TSS+ contains the same kind of bacteria we are growing in our tanks. If you would be more comfortable adding it at least Stability shouldn't cause a problem.

You shouldn't have to add Prime again until you do your next water change. Keep in mind Prime is first and foremost a water conditioner much like all the other water conditioners on the market. It does nothing to help speed up a cycle. The reason I recommend Prime so often is because it goes one step farther than other water conditioners and also detoxed low levels of ammonia.

Once you get your little guy in there keep an eye on the ammonia level. It will surprise me if you get an ammonia reading at all during the first week. If at the end of the first week even if you are seeing no ammonia go ahead and do a 50% water change. Add enough Prime to treat the full 10 gallons of water. Be sure to add the Prime to the water before you pour it in the tank. You don't want any chlorine in the tank. Treating the water first will prevent that.

If the ammonia reading gets up close to .5 at any time do a 50% water change. The water change will get it back down to .25 Prime will protect your little guy from ammonia that low.

OK, . I added prime directly to the tank this time. But in the future, I will add to water first. I am going to test the water before I add him. I will keep you updated.

Thanks so much. You've been super helpful!

 

mattgirl If I test the water this afternoon and there is ammonia present, should I perform another water change before adding him?

 

OK, ****. I added prime directly to the tank this time. But in the future, I will add to water first. I am going to test the water before I add him. I will keep you updated.

Thanks so much. You've been super helpful!

That's alright. Folks that do their water changes with a python type system do it the way you just did it. Since I use buckets I just treat each bucket before pouring it in there. I just prefer never exposing my tanks to chlorine even for a few seconds.

mattgirl If I test the water this afternoon and there is ammonia present, should I perform another water change before adding him?

Yes, if you are still getting an ammonia reading you want to get it out of there before adding your little guy.

 

Yeah looks like there's still about 0.5 present. So I am going to try another water change.

 

I am floating him right now to acclimate him to the temp while the water adjusts. Planning to retest around 4 pm. If I still have more than .25 ammonia should I do another water change?

 

I am floating him right now to acclimate him to the temp while the water adjusts. Planning to retest around 4 pm. If I still have more than .25 ammonia should I do another water change?

I would hold off on another water change for now. Prime will detox that very low level. There is no need to add any extra Prime since you added it when you did the water change. If the ammonia stays at .25 you can go ahead and add enough Prime to treat the full 10 gallons of water every other day. If the ammonia starts rising you will want to keep it down with water changes.

 

Once he is temp acclimated you may want to open the bag he is in and also acclimate him to your water. You can do this by either dripping water in the bag or just add a 1/4 cup of water every 15 minutes or so. After doing this 4 or 5 times you can go ahead and release him.

 

I would hold off on another water change for now. Prime will detox that very low level. There is no need to add any extra Prime since you added it when you did the water change. If the ammonia stays at .25 you can go ahead and add enough Prime to treat the full 10 gallons of water every other day. If the ammonia starts rising you will want to keep it down with water changes.

Ok, I will do that as long as my test doesn't read above like .5. Thanks!

And I will do the acclimation part as well. I will update tomorrow. Thanks again.

 

Nitirites are an intermediary between ammonia and nitrate. If your ammonia levels are dropping and your nitrate levels are increasing, you are getting nitrites at some point.

Stop adding Stability for a couple of days and see what happens. It's just a bacteria seed, and you want yours to grow on it's own. That you have decreasing ammonia and increasing nitrates tells us that something is working on those compounds.

 

mattgirl

I just performed the ammonia test. It's at about 1.0. Should I add him, or do another water change? If it will even help.

Also, out of curiosity, I tested my tap water for ammonia. And it's literally identical to the tank water. What does this mean?

(Left is tank, right is tap)

 

mattgirl

I just performed the ammonia test. It's at about 1.0. Should I add him, or do another water change? If it will even help.

Also, out of curiosity, I tested my tap water for ammonia. And it's literally identical to the tank water. What does this mean?

(Left is tank, right is tap)

Clean your test tubes really well and run the tests again. If you are still seeing ammonia this high then I would not put him in there. Is this the first time you have run the ammonia test on your tap water? If it does in fact have this much ammonia in it you may have to consider a different water source until you have grown enough bacteria to help clear it out.

I don't want to sound picky but I would have waited until I was sure the tank was safe before I actually got the fish

 

Yes, this is the first time. What would you recommend? I can go to the store and get distilled water?

 

Yes, this is the first time. What would you recommend? I can go to the store and get distilled water?

No, you don't want distilled water. It has none of the necessary minerals in it. Regular drinking water will be best. Clean the test tubes really well and rerun the tests first.

 

Big jugs of drinking water have pretty ideal water conditions usually but you may have to dechlorinate some. I know it is not ideal to have to buy your water but tap with ammonia is a no-no

 

So can I switch from fish food to Dr. Tim's? Do I need to start over with stability, etc. or can I just start adding the Dr. Tim's now?

i forgot if you have any fish in your tank. if no fish i dont know why you are using stability. you can just does pure ammonia (follow directions) and there you go . just wasting money on stab imo

edit: relized this reply is pointless now lol. good luck

 

Clean your test tubes really well and run the tests again. If you are still seeing ammonia this high then I would not put him in there. Is this the first time you have run the ammonia test on your tap water? If it does in fact have this much ammonia in it you may have to consider a different water source until you have grown enough bacteria to help clear it out.

I don't want to sound picky but I would have waited until I was sure the tank was safe before I actually got the fish

Lol well of course. That doesn't help me now, unfortunately. I bought him 2 weeks ago and the betta guy has been holding him for me while I did the fishless tank cycle. After reading through advice this morning I thought for sure after doing a water change ammonia levels would be OK. I had no idea that my tap water would be the issue.

I haven't added the fish to the tank yet. He's still in the bag. Both tests (tank and tap water) are showing ammonia so I will go to the store for the drinking water. Thanks for the continued help.

 

I'm back. Changing out with 4 gallons of purified drinking water now.

 

I'm back. Changing out with 4 gallons of purified drinking water now.

Great. This should make the tank safe for your little guy.

 

for the future you can pick up some Seachem Safe . especially for smaller tanks and dealing with ammonia nitrites or nitrates, you really only have to does like pinch of the powder. works just like Prime except that it doesnt say anything about dissolvable solids . never had issues with that anyway. its basically prime in powderform and its lasted me forever still on my first bottle.

 

mattgirl Nickguy5467 Cool - thanks again, everyone. It takes a village. Definitely learned some valuable lessons today! Lol.

 

mattgirl

We are doing well this morning. Seems active but not stressed and he ate all of his pellets. I am about to test the water again! Ignore my makeshift lid - the one I ordered is stuck at the post office.

He says Hi and Thanks

 

Beautiful tank and even more beautiful little guy

 

Beautiful tank and even more beautiful little guy

Just performed another 50% water change with the purified water. Ammonia was about .5, maybe a little less. I dosed enough prime for 10 gallons prior to adding the water.

 

Just performed another 50% water change with the purified water. Ammonia was about .5, maybe a little less. I dosed enough prime for 10 gallons prior to adding the water.

Was the ammonia .5 before the water change or after? I have to think you will probably have to continue using bottled water for the life of this tank since you have so much ammonia in your source water. The one little fish in this tank will never produce enough ammonia to grow a lot of bacteria.

but.....

giving it more thought. it is possible the ammonia in your tap water will eventually help to grow extra bacteria so if you use half bottled water and half source water you will only be adding .5ppm ammonia. That .5 will be cut in half if you do a 50% water change so we are just talking about .25 ammonia. Eventually you will have grown enough bacteria to clean that .25 ammonia up quickly. Once it does that you should reach a point to where you can use straight tap water. As you do you will grow more bacteria and it will quickly clean up the .5 ammonia level you will see after doing a 50% water change with straight tap water.

You will know you have grown enough bacteria to be able to switch to straight tap water when you do a water change with half and half and the ammonia drops down to zero within 24 hours.

Once bacteria gets firmly established in our tank it catches up to a higher bio-load (more ammonia) fairly fast.

 

Was the ammonia .5 before the water change or after? I have to think you will probably have to continue using bottled water for the life of this tank since you have so much ammonia in your source water. The one little fish in this tank will never produce enough ammonia to grow a lot of bacteria.

but.....

giving it more thought. it is possible the ammonia in your tap water will eventually help to grow extra bacteria so if you use half bottled water and half source water you will only be adding .5ppm ammonia. That .5 will be cut in half if you do a 50% water change so we are just talking about .25 ammonia. Eventually you will have grown enough bacteria to clean that .25 ammonia up quickly. Once it does that you should reach a point to where you can use straight tap water. As you do you will grow more bacteria and it will quickly clean up the .5 ammonia level you will see after doing a 50% water change with straight tap water.

You will know you have grown enough bacteria to be able to switch to straight tap water when you do a water change with half and half and the ammonia drops down to zero within 24 hours.

Once bacteria gets firmly established in our tank it catches up to a higher bio-load (more ammonia) fairly fast.

Yes, it was .5 before I changed the water out with more purified water. Haven't yet tested the water again this morning. That makes sense. It doesn't bother me to use bottled water for the foreseeable future and slowly incorporate tap water as the tank becomes cycled.

 

mattgirl

Test results:
Ammonia: 0.25
Nitrite: 0
pH: 7

 

mattgirl

Test results:
Ammonia: 0.25
Nitrite: 0
pH: 7

If it stays no higher than .25 I feel sure your little guy will be safe.

 

If it stays no higher than .25 I feel sure your little guy will be safe.

Thanks! Yeah, he seems fine. I will keep testing daily and dose prime if it stays at .25. if it goes higher I will do water change.