Fish Less Cycle (Advice Needed About The End 70% Or So Water Change)

[pdludbrooke]

I have just started my fish less cycle today and have been reading up on things, I use seachem prime to treat my water, what I am concerned about is, that when it comes to the end of my fishless cycle and I need to do the big water change, won't the seachem prime remove all the ammonia in my tank and thus take away the good bacterias food source ?

 

[littlenemo]

nope it will be fine. fish poo waste wee = ammonia turns into nitrites= nitrate good bactiria so when its all 0 ing in 12 hours or less you do a massive water change which lowers the nitrate

and removes any ammonia or nitrites left.

then you add you fish wich is your ammonia source which in turns feeds your good bactiria. and then your all good

 

[pdludbrooke]

nope it will be fine. fish poo waste wee = ammonia turns into nitrites= nitrate good bactiria so when its all 0 ing in 12 hours or less you do a massive water change which lowers the nitrate

and removes any ammonia or nitrites left.

then you add you fish wich is your ammonia source which in turns feeds your good bactiria. and then your all good

Thanks!!

 

[-Jo-]

fish poo waste wee = ammonia

 

[pdludbrooke]

fish poo waste wee = ammonia

Learning here so much, more since joining this forum than I have in the last 12 years!!

 

[FishFanatic04]

The seachem Prime doesn't remove the ammonia from our tanks, it just changes it to a less toxic form for awhile. My tap has 1.0 ppm ammonia and after a water change using prime, my test will show an ammonia reading until my filter clears it.

 

[littlenemo]

lol funny i no

fish poo waste wee = ammonia

 

[OldMan47]

At the end of the cycle, shut off the heater and filter and drain the water all the way to the substrate. There is no reason to try to preserve any of the water used for cycling. This way you get a complete fresh start in tems of nitrates.

 

[pdludbrooke]

At the end of the cycle, shut off the heater and filter and drain the water all the way to the substrate. There is no reason to try to preserve any of the water used for cycling. This way you get a complete fresh start in tems of nitrates.

Thanks!! And now I have just discovered we have a high amount of NitrAte in our tap water 37 ppm.........

 

[OldMan47]

We use nitrates as our canary in the coal mine chemical. As long as you do large enough water changes to keep your nitrates within about 20 ppm of your tap water, things will be fine. In fact, we do not measure everything that might affect your fish, we only measure nitrogen. If you keep your nitrate within about 20 ppm of tap water value, your fish will be fine because all those things we do not measure will not build up too much. The actual value that becomes toxic for nitrates is well over 100 p[pm but that should not make you comfortable. Even a move from 40 ppm to 60 ppm should be treated as plenty. A water change is in order to bring the value down. It is not because the nitrate itself is dangerous but because all of those things we cannot measure are also building. By the time that nitrates are at 20 ppm over tap water, the other chemicals in your water, that we do not measure, are starting to become a problem. The water change is all that it takes to return things to acceptable levels.

 

[pdludbrooke]

We use nitrates as our canary in the coal mine chemical. As long as you do large enough water changes to keep your nitrates within about 20 ppm of your tap water, things will be fine. In fact, we do not measure everything that might affect your fish, we only measure nitrogen. If you keep your nitrate within about 20 ppm of tap water value, your fish will be fine because all those things we do not measure will not build up too much. The actual value that becomes toxic for nitrates is well over 100 p[pm but that should not make you comfortable. Even a move from 40 ppm to 60 ppm should be treated as plenty. A water change is in order to bring the value down. It is not because the nitrate itself is dangerous but because all of those things we cannot measure are also building. By the time that nitrates are at 20 ppm over tap water, the other chemicals in your water, that we do not measure, are starting to become a problem. The water change is all that it takes to return things to acceptable levels.

Thanks for your help! So my tap water is 37ppm Nitrate already so your saying if a reading I take reads 57ppm nitrate it's safe, but time for a 25% water change as it is 20ppm over the tap water nitrate 37ppm + 20ppm = 57ppm ? Sorry to come across as dumb.

 

[OldMan47]

That is exactly right.
If you want to see nitrates actually drop, get lots of plants growing. Plants use nitrates like nobody's business. That will not remove the need for water changes but it will remove the nitrates that your water changes add.

 

[pdludbrooke]

That is exactly right.
If you want to see nitrates actually drop, get lots of plants growing. Plants use nitrates like nobody's business. That will not remove the need for water changes but it will remove the nitrates that your water changes add.

Cheers, I am thinking about plants when all is done and I have looked at a few here are 3 that I like, what do you think ?
Twisted Vallis

Eleocharis parvula (dwarth hair grass)

Heteranthera zosterifolia (star plant)

That is exactly right.
If you want to see nitrates actually drop, get lots of plants growing. Plants use nitrates like nobody's business. That will not remove the need for water changes but it will remove the nitrates that your water changes add.

Cheers, I am thinking about plants when all is done and I have looked at a few here are 3 that I like, what do you think ?
Twisted Vallis

Eleocharis parvula (dwarth hair grass)

Heteranthera zosterifolia (star plant)

Any other suggestions appreciated

 

[OldMan47]

I also have the vals. Since my light is a bit limiting, I grow mostly low light plants like Anubias nana, java fern, java moss, najas grass, Cryptocoryne aponogetifolia, frogbit, water lettuce, duckweed and a few others.

A tank with lots of vals

Anubias nana flower

Crypt aponogetifolia in the foreground (the big leaf) with java fern in the background (the vertical leaves) and duckweed on the surface

 

[pdludbrooke]

I also have the vals. Since my light is a bit limiting, I grow mostly low light plants like Anubias nana, java fern, java moss, najas grass, Cryptocoryne aponogetifolia, frogbit, water lettuce, duckweed and a few others.

A tank with lots of vals

Anubias nana flower

Crypt aponogetifolia in the foreground (the big leaf) with java fern in the background (the vertical leaves) and duckweed on the surface

Spectacular!!