Seachem Stability New Tank Log
- Thread starter Sly13Cat
- Start date
TwoTankAmin
Fish Connoisseur
Just an FYI- Prime will cause many ammonia test kits to give false readings. This is true of all the additives that detoxify ammonia etc. You need to be sire you are using the right type of test kit to get accurate readings. SeaChem suggests using their's. Here is what they say on their site:
/www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/MT_Ammonia.html
I am not sure how accurate the above is as i have always used Amquel which also detoxifies ammonia and they suggest:
/www.novalek.com/kordon/amquel/index.htm
What is clear is that ammonia detoxifiers can effect one's ability to test ammonia levels accurately if one is using the wrong kind of test kit.
From http
/www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/MT_Ammonia.htmlI am not sure how accurate the above is as i have always used Amquel which also detoxifies ammonia and they suggest:
From http
/www.novalek.com/kordon/amquel/index.htmWhat is clear is that ammonia detoxifiers can effect one's ability to test ammonia levels accurately if one is using the wrong kind of test kit.
I'll make sure that I do research before I choose what brand to check ammonia with. I'm pretty sure most ammonia in my tank is inert which is why the water and fish are fine and healthy. I add Prime every 48 hours to make sure no one gets hurt by ammonia.
How do you know they're healthy? Because theyre alive? Exposure to Ammonia causes long term damage to fish that you can't even see.
It's all very well adding prime etc but if you'd just done a fishless cycle, a process you knew about, you could've cycled the tank without exposing a single fish to any ammonia. It's one thing for someone who has never heard of fishless cycling to try a cycling supplement, but to deliberately ignore that due to it 'taking too long' and proposing an experiment instead is wrong in my opinion. Surely the priority for anyone is to have a tank of healthy fish, and you can't get to that by cutting corners. Instead of adding prime, stability and testing with strips, you could've bought a bottle of ammonia and a liquid test kit and set up a cycling log, with no harm done.
It's all very well adding prime etc but if you'd just done a fishless cycle, a process you knew about, you could've cycled the tank without exposing a single fish to any ammonia. It's one thing for someone who has never heard of fishless cycling to try a cycling supplement, but to deliberately ignore that due to it 'taking too long' and proposing an experiment instead is wrong in my opinion. Surely the priority for anyone is to have a tank of healthy fish, and you can't get to that by cutting corners. Instead of adding prime, stability and testing with strips, you could've bought a bottle of ammonia and a liquid test kit and set up a cycling log, with no harm done.
FishFanatic04
I'm in Planted School.
As I previously stated, I already ran this same experiment. But I did NOT use live fish. I used ammonia... I am not understanding the motives here. First with the Betta...
Signing off. I think I may go try to give my kids radiation poisoning or something to see what happens.
Signing off. I think I may go try to give my kids radiation poisoning or something to see what happens.
AbbeysDad
Fish Gatherer
So you don't think you can bio-seed using filter media or substrate from an established tank? It is for the same reason that bio-seed in a bottle can work. The world is not flat.
Filter media, yes. Substrate, meh, not really.
My problem here is the OP has decided to do a fish in cycle because he couldnt be bothered to do a fishless cycle, has shoved a group of mollies in a ten gallon and is exposing them to ammonia readings as high as 5.0, but 'it's ok' because he's dumping prime and stability in the tank. of all the countless threads on here experimenting with bottled bacs, how many of them work? They exist for the new and/or ignorant fish keeper who doesn't know any better, who has no idea about the cycling process, and doesn't understand the dangers of exposing fish to ammonia and nitrite.
It is if you haven't learned that it's round.
TwoTankAmin
Fish Connoisseur
I have used gravel to provide bacteria for a jump start on several occasions. In a healthy established tank with substrate, there will be more than enough bacteria living in the substrate to help start a cycle. Not only is it living on the substrate, it is also living on the decor, the plants (real or plastique) the rocks and the wood.
It is simple, the bacteria will colonize and thrive on hard surfaces where there is a continual supply of food and oxygen. This may be optimal in, but is certainly not limited to, a filter.
He asked me what I thought and this is my opinion, that the amount of bacteria in your average handful of gravel is nothing compared to the same amount of filter sponge.
This is entirely off topic anyway, the post isn't about seeding from an established cycled source.
FishFanatic04
I'm in Planted School.
If your ammonia dropped, and your nitrite didn't go UP, then you are not cycled. Your ammonia should first drop, nitrite goes up, then your nitrites will SLOWLY Drop. Nitrate testing won't tell you much in the beginning of a cycle.
Having a positive number on your ammonia test and your nitrate test is not a "good" test result. {especially when you have never recorded a number on nitrites}
Having a positive number on your ammonia test and your nitrate test is not a "good" test result. {especially when you have never recorded a number on nitrites}
+1
There is no point testing for nitrates until you've had a reading for nitrites that has peaked and dropped. There are nitrates in tap water.
CezzaXV
Fish Gatherer
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It's easily possible that the nitrate was present in your tap water, so don't get too excited.
Can't say I approve of this experiment. True, scientific experiments are good when they're based on already established scientific fact. Experiments are not doing something differently because the proper way takes too long. These fish are not suffering for science (and they will be suffering whether they look like they are or not because ammonium is still not good for your fish, it's just less damaging). They're suffering because you can't be bothered. You have a responsibility for these fish.
Dosing Prime instead of doing water changes is like giving paracetamol to a cancer patient.
Can't say I approve of this experiment. True, scientific experiments are good when they're based on already established scientific fact. Experiments are not doing something differently because the proper way takes too long. These fish are not suffering for science (and they will be suffering whether they look like they are or not because ammonium is still not good for your fish, it's just less damaging). They're suffering because you can't be bothered. You have a responsibility for these fish.
Dosing Prime instead of doing water changes is like giving paracetamol to a cancer patient.
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