Question About Cycling...

[SiriusStarr]

Okay,this has always confused me.

At my store, we encourage people to buy a product called "Prime" Its a water clarifier in the fact that it removes chlorine and chloramine and heavy metals, but what it also does is removes ammonia and detoxifies nitrite and nitrate. Prime

Now, my question is... should I be letting my tank go through a cycle and NOT use this? So it goes through its initial cycle? Or should I just keep using this and not worry about it?

I added some the day I started my tank, and I added new fish yesterday, tested my water today; I have no ammonia, no nitrite, no nitrate....

So yeah. I dont know if I should be letting it cycle once manually or detoxifying it....

Help. *confused*

 

[SiriusStarr]

I also use a product called Stability, a super concentrated good bacteria liquid... the description of it says fish can be added anytime, and the #1 use of it is to prevent "new tank syndrome"...

Stability

Take a look... what do you think?

 

[andywg]

That second one sounds like a load of crap

How can it contain aerobic (needing oxygen) and anaerobic (deprived of oxygen) bacteria in the same bottle? Also what are the bacteria feeding on? Most of those things are a waste of time.

I would be wary of using the prime in the cycle as if it is detoxifing nitrite and nitrate then it will not be allowing the filter to utilise the nitrite to cycle.

 

[SiriusStarr]

Thank for replying =)

*gentle bump*

I'm hoping to get several opinions on this... I need to know what I should do...

 

[Taridan]

Prime™ removes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia. Prime™ converts ammonia into a safe, non-toxic form that is readily removed by the tank’s biofilter. Prime™ may be used during tank cycling to alleviate ammonia/nitrite toxicity. Prime™ detoxifies nitrite and nitrate, allowing the biofilter to more efficiently remove them. This dose removes approximately 0.6 mg/L ammonia, 3 mg/L chloramine, or 4 mg/L chlorine.

Hmm, I'm not that experienced with cycling tanks, but I would think if a tank was cycling it would have more than just .6 mg of Amonia ? I don't know... this produce claims to do a LOT of stuff... I'd be sort of sceptical myself, but if you've tested the water... :shrug:

 

[SiriusStarr]

Oh Prime definitely does it job, and well. (It should for the price it is, aheh) We've had customers come in with levels of ammonia/nitrite off the charts and with several doses of Prime and a water change or two, everything is gone.

But I'm just not sure if I should be letting the tank cycle once naturally, or should I just keep using the Prime...?

 

[andywg]

I'm intrigued as to how it detoxifies nitrate, as nitrate is only really toxic in larger quantities (under 100ppm will be alright for most fish).

 

[SiriusStarr]

Yeah... well, I guess its only actually toxic to the fish in large quantities, maybe its always toxic to like very smalll organisms or something.

I still dunno what to do though

 

[newfishaddict]

That second one sounds like a load of crap

How can it contain aerobic (needing oxygen) and anaerobic (deprived of oxygen) bacteria in the same bottle? Also what are the bacteria feeding on? Most of those things are a waste of time.

I would be wary of using the prime in the cycle as if it is detoxifing nitrite and nitrate then it will not be allowing the filter to utilise the nitrite to cycle.

I agree, I am a microbiologist, and it is very unlikely that any of the bacteria containing cycling solutions work.

 

[SiriusStarr]

Okay, but again, what about the Prime? Should I use it, or let the tank cycle naturally once?

 

[newfishaddict]

Okay,this has always confused me.

At my store, we encourage people to buy a product called "Prime" Its a water clarifier in the fact that it removes chlorine and chloramine and heavy metals, but what it also does is removes ammonia and detoxifies nitrite and nitrate. Prime

Now, my question is... should I be letting my tank go through a cycle and NOT use this? So it goes through its initial cycle? Or should I just keep using this and not worry about it?

I added some the day I started my tank, and I added new fish yesterday, tested my water today; I have no ammonia, no nitrite, no nitrate....

So yeah. I dont know if I should be letting it cycle once manually or detoxifying it....

Help. *confused*

Use the prime, you can still cycle the tank. The best thing to do is ensure you are only using enough prime to remove the chlorine and chloramine but not any more, so use chlorine test strips to determine how much prime you need. I only need to use 1/4 of what the instructions on the bottle of prime suggest. Any prime that does NOT react with chlorine and/or chloramine will remove ammonia and nitrite that you want in the tank in SMALL amouts to cycle the tank.

 

[andywg]

I'm sorry, but I have never heard of Sodium Thiosulphate reacting with ammonia or nitrite.

The ammonia neutralisation will be done by a different chemical.

 

[SiriusStarr]

Andy were you talking to me or newfishaddict? I dont understand all these chemicals, heh...

 

[andywg]

Sorry, that was to fishaddict, but as I was fast replying I couldn't be bothered to sort out quotes (that and their post was just above mine)

 

[SiriusStarr]

Thats okay, was just checking.

So... I still dont know what the verdict is... if prime in a small dose wont only treat the chlorine/chloramine... the question still remains: Should I use it or let the tank cycle once?