# water conditioner during fishless cycling??



## kcmcdo66 (Mar 23, 2017)

I am in the process of seting up our first aquarium in about 6 years and decided to try this fishless cycling thing. I read the article in the library and have been following those instructions. They did not include any information however about using water conditioners. When I started I dosed the take with Prime to keep the cholorine in our city water from inhibiting bacteria growth. It took a while but on day 8 my ammonia was at zero. My kids were loosing patients at this point so I added enough Dr. Timm's one and only for my tank. That doesn't seem to have helped with the Nitrites. For the last few days I have been doing daily 25% water changes and adding ammonia every 48 hours. In order to not have the chlorine in my newly added water I have been adding Prime every day to keep from killing my new bacteria.

It seems to me like ith adding prime every day it would be possible to just add fish now. is that correct? if not is adding the Prime daily really needed? With adding Prime will I ever see my Nitrites at zero? If it is okay to add fish at this point I would obviously quit adding ammonia and keep with the daily water changes and prime until my nitrites were at zero.

Thanks for the help.


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## tanker3 (May 18, 2015)

It seems to me like with adding prime every day it would be possible to just add fish now. is that correct?--- No, you will still need good bacteria to break down the Ammonia and Nitrites. 
With adding Prime will I ever see my Nitrites at zero?---Prime has nothing to do with making Nitrites go to zero. The bacteria will do this.

Do not add fishes till Ammonia and Nitrites go to zero in a 24hr time.


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## kcmcdo66 (Mar 23, 2017)

Thanks! I was under the impression the Prime somehow bound to ammonia and nitrite making it harmless to fish while still leaving it bioavailable to the beneficial bacterial for 48 hours after being added to the tank and after 48 hours it was released. I will just continue to be patient.


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## Walt (Feb 21, 2017)

Stay strong. I just went though a fishless cycle on my first tank in a decade. While Prime can react with ammonia, I don't think that it reacts with nitrite, but I could be wrong.


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## kcmcdo66 (Mar 23, 2017)

Thanks I definitely don't want to cut any corners. It was a lot easier to be patient before my kids started to get excited about their new fish. I'm sure if Prime was the magic answer to quicker fishless cycling that everyone would be doing it that way.


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## kcmcdo66 (Mar 23, 2017)

I have been being patient and have been trying to follow the instructions for fishless cycling from the library to the letter. I am a little worried about my high nitrite level though. When I hit day 8 and my ammonia first reached 0 my nitrite was at least 5.0. Since then I have been testing around the same time every day, performing a 30% water change while adding 1ml per 10 gallon (of total tank volume) of prime, and dosing ammonia to 2.0 every other day. I have yet to see my nitrite level below 5.0. I am worried that with it I this high I may slow the cycling process. The instructions said not to do large water changes, so I stuck with 30% for the next 8 days. Today I did a 60% water change to see if I could get the nitrites down, but after a 60% water change the nitrite level was still at least 5.0.

Should I be concerned about this? If so what would you recommend? More frequent 30% water changes? Larger water changes? Possibly reducing ammonia dosing to every third day? The tank is definitely converting ammonia to nitrite well. I have not checked nitrates to this point. 
Thanks


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

You can hold off on ammonia for a few days. The bacteria that consumes it isn't going anywhere. Just monitor your nitrite as you've been doing. This stage can take the longest so don't sweat it. And you're right to leave the nitrate test out at this time, as it will be inaccurate when nitrite is present. That test is a PIA anyways, so no need to go through the trouble yet.


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## SomethingIsFishy (Aug 29, 2013)

In my experience nitrites stay high for what seems like forever, then all of a sudden they drop very quickly... as for the prime, for sure use it for water changes, you are correct that the chlorine will kill the bacteria. I wouldn't count on it to keep fish safe in your nitrite levels though. Patience is key, hang in there and you should be ready for fish soon...


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## grover5 (Jul 20, 2017)

I think what you have done just obeyed the instruction.


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## Austinite (Jul 27, 2013)

The nitrite drop does take a long time, and it will feel like nothing is perhaps happening, but it is. It always takes me 5-6 weeks to fishless cycle my tank, which is 110 gallons and it's a 5 foot long tank. I dose Prime whenever I do a water change and put the new water in. You're doing the right thing, stick with it! It's so worth it to properly cycle the tank, and then be able to fully stock it with all your fish at one time. What is your tank size?


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