I am doind a fish cycle and yesterday I had 5ppm nitrite but today I had a 1ppm after 50% water change I think color could have been 5ppm or 1ppm I am leaning to 1ppm yesterday nitrate was at 5ppm so there is some of that but since my nitrite is still high after water changes could I have it in my tap water?
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- Thread starter mouse33
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What kind of test kit are you using. There should be a very discernible difference between the colors of 1ppm and 5ppm. You need to do water changes as often as needed to get the nitrite below .25ppm. Also, what is your ammonia reading? I suspect you're using strips which don't test ammonia. If so, get a liquid ammonia test kit ASAP. I would suggest buing a liquid master test kit that will test ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.
are there fish in there? If there are fish keep it below .25, even if it means changing 100% of the water a day (25% every 4 hours or something) if your tap water has it in it buy some prime and overdose the prime as instructions tell you to.
I've never used Prime but most people swear by it. You may want to switch to it as your dechlorinator as it detoxifies nitrite until it can be converted byt the bacteria. As mentioned, try to keep the nitrite reading as low as possible. You won't be able to get it under the .25 from the tap until the tank is cycled. After that the bacteria will take care of it except for right after water changes when the Prime will.
Aquasafe is just a dechlorinator and doesn't do anything to ammonia or nitrite. Prime will actually detoxify ammonia and nitrite until the filter bacteria can process them.
As for the water change, I wouldn't ever do a 100% water change except in a dire emergency. I would do a 50% water changes and see where that leaves the nitrite. Since you have .25ppm in your tap water, you should try to get the tank below .5ppm first and then work to get it lower by doing smaller water changes of about 25% 1 or 2 times a day.
As for the water change, I wouldn't ever do a 100% water change except in a dire emergency. I would do a 50% water changes and see where that leaves the nitrite. Since you have .25ppm in your tap water, you should try to get the tank below .5ppm first and then work to get it lower by doing smaller water changes of about 25% 1 or 2 times a day.
radioman
Fish Crazy
HI I was looking around and saw this post
I did a 50% change today and got it to 1ppm, is this prime any good I might pick some up at petsmart tomorrow.
I did a 50% change today and got it to 1ppm, is this prime any good I might pick some up at petsmart tomorrow.
I have never used it but germ (another member) swears by it and I think Tolak (one of the mods) uses it too. If they say it works, I believe it.
radioman
Fish Crazy
do you think that I could just put this in the tank instead of water changes or do I still need water changes
Based on what it is supposed to do, you can use it instead of water changes although the bottle may say you need to do them ever so often anyway. Personally, I just have a problem with seeing the ammonia and nitrite readings and having in the back of my mind whether it really has been detoxified or not because you will still get the same reading for them whether they are in toxic or non toxic form. You can get test kits that will differentiate but they are more expensive.
radioman
Fish Crazy
ok thanks for the help this forum is really helpful
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