Water Conditioner During Cycling

if I top up the water in my tank due to evaporation or if I do a water change "during cycling", which water conditioner should I add???

TopFin (helps neutralize harmful ammonia, chloramine and chlorine. Also remove copper and other heavy metals)

or

Nutrafin Aqua plus ( just removes chloriamine , chlorine and heavy metals and coats to protect scales and fins.)

Because i'm cycling my tank, should I use the "topfin" brand because it states that it neutralizes ammonia. Or would that be bad? would that leave no ammonia for the bacteria to feed on?

 

Most of the time water conditioners that "neutralize" ammonia, nitrites, etc... just bind them but still allow them to be available to the BB in the tank. Prime water conditioner is an example of this, it is safe to use during cycling. I've not used any of these conditioners, but if you look on the bottle they should say if they are safe to use during cycling or not.

 

OH man, just realized I made 3 different post's in the wrong forum
Still new on this site , I'll have to be more careful.

Thanks "APierce" . That's what I was thinking (since it says "Neutralizes" and not "eliminates"). I just wanted to get a second opinion before I made a decision on my own. Especially if its something that could be harmful to my tank .

 

Welcome! I should pay attention to if people are new or not
You will get the hang of it, just try to look at the other posts to guage where you should put yours.

No problem! Does it say it neutralizes them for a specific time or anything? Usually it is only a couple of days, but it is still available to the BB. You should be ok to go ahead and use it. Only use as much as you need when topping off the water (1 gal tap water only gets treated for a gallon worth of conditioner)

 

and remember if ur using a product like tetra safestart to not add it for 24 hours after a pwc

 

Hi, welcome to the forum

Are you cycling with fish? Or with pure ammonia?
Its fine to use either though if you're cycling with fish will you post your ph, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates?

 

Tetra themselves say not to use anything that binds ammonia (Prime) while using their safe start plus product. They sell dechlorinators that don't mess with ammonia so I would use those if you are using safe start. Personally I don't understand the reasoning BUT that's what they say so its what I will pass on

If you are using something like seachem stability, seachem themselves confirmed you can use prime along with that with no negative effect.

If you are fishless cycling though I would not do a water change unless you get extremely high nitrites (or you dose to much ammonia on accident) until you are done cycling and do a large change before adding fish.

 

and remember if ur using a product like tetra safestart to not add it for 24 hours after a pwc

No I "Did Not" know that. Thanks for the heads up. I don't have "tetra safe start". Although I have been using "Nutrafin Cycle" . I'm guessing the same 24 hour wait rule would also apply for this stuff though.

I'm doing a fish in cycle.
I only had the PH tested once at the fish store and it was at 7.6
Although because that was 11 days ago wen I was starting the cycling it was probably not a very accurate reading.
I don't have a tester kit yet for any proper readings.
I know I should have had all this figured out before I got my fish. Really bad choice.
I will get a tester kit and post the readings though.

 

Grab the API Master Freshwater kit, skip the test strips

 

No I "Did Not" know that. Thanks for the heads up. I don't have "tetra safe start". Although I have been using "Nutrafin Cycle" . I'm guessing the same 24 hour wait rule would also apply[/QUOTE Yeah since ur doing a fish in cycle u will hafta do water changes so after conditioning the water wait 24 hours to add the nutrafin cycle. Also it is extremely important to accurately test ur parameters...as others have pointed out..u need to purchase the API freshwater master test kit if u haven't already.

 

How many fish are you cycling with? What size is your tank?

When was your last water change? How much did you change out?

I'd get the API master test kit so you can monitor your own cycle, otherwise you really have no idea what's going on and when and if your fish are no longer safe due to ammonia and nitrites.

Here is a short article on the nitrogen cycle:
Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle

 

OK cool, I'll definitely skip the test strips and just look around for the API master kit.
I just did a 50 % water change yesterday and added the "TOPFIN" water contioner.
So it sounds like it should be ok to add the "Nutrafin Cycle" tonight.

I'm still a little confused on how often I should be doing water changes though and how much I should be changing ?

Oh and I only have a 20 gallon tank with 3 tiger bards in it , for 11 days so far. (I know I should have at least 6 barbs but I want to wait until my tank is fully cycled to add a few more)

Thanks everyone for the advice
Everybody on these forums have been really helpful.

 

I would do daily 20-50% until you get your hands on that test kit to be safe (just wait at least a few hours after adding your bacteria, maybe add that and let it go overnight before a WC since it will be floating around in the water ) Once you have your kit you can monitor levels and change only when needed

Good Luck!

 

Well at least your not overly stocked for cycling, so good job!

This is what I would do until you get the test kit...the bacteria take up to 48 hours to adhere to surfaces and filters in the tank so you don't want to just wash them down the drain. Do a 50% water change, add the dechlorinator and the nutrafin cycle at the same time, 48 hours later repeat.

Once you get your testing kit (cheaper on amazon by the way. I think its about 20.00 on Amazon) follow this guideline. I'd also pickup Seachem Prime to cycle with and in general to use but especially while cycling as it will detoxify ammonia + nitrites up to 1.0 when dosed for the volume of tank water. I have seen mixed reviews on Nutrafin cycle but since you have it, worth using it.

If ammonia + nitrites is less then 1.0 - dose Prime for the 20 gallon (about 1/2 capful) and nutrafin Cycle re-check in 24 hours.
If ammonia + nitrites is 1.0 or greater - do a 50% water change, dose prime for full 20 gallon and Nutrafin cycle and re-check in 24 hours.