Seachem prime and cycling

[sdivell]

I did do a lot of reading about fishless cycles and actually planned on doing one but a guy at big al's talked me out of it and he seemed really knowledgable, but with all the trouble i've had with high ammonia levels and doing lots of water changes I really wish I had done one.

But my 5 remaining platies seem very active and healthy so I dont want to euthanise them to do a fishless cycle now... i'll just ride this out and hope for the best.

which topic board should I ask people for used media?  classifieds?  Thanks for the tip

[groan]

Classifieds is a great place to start.
Post where you are located that way someone close to you can provide some and it wont lose it's bioload if it isnt out of the tank for too long.

[dan2x38]

or you can always ask someone for some used filter media...and of a used sponge... that willl greatly increse the speed of your tank cycleing.

I just finished a little test with a tank and I got some populated (cycled) media if you want. Just replace my sponge... it's from an AC/70. I am going to be just moving it to save in a tank as a back up and the rest rinsing out...

Like Pat said it speeds up your cycle and reliefs stress on your fish... are you using Prime Water Conditioner to treat your water?

[sdivell]

Thanks, I actually picked up some stuff from 'Charlie' last night after work and have shoved it into my filter.  If the ammonia doesn't start to drop by the weekend I might swing by AL's to pick up some Prime but for now I'd like to keep the ammonia in there to feed my cycle.

[fischkopp]

Hey Scott, welcome to the club!

Prime doesn't do anything for cycling, it is used to remove chlorines and chloramines always present in our tap water - sometimes in deadly concentrations for the fish. You will need it or a some similar product.

and also detoxifies ammonia - maybe dont use it so much during cycling, although its said, that it doesnt effect the cycling - thanx charlie

[charlie]

Hey Scott, welcome to the club!

Prime doesn't do anything for cycling, it is used to remove chlorines and chloramines that is always present in our tap water - sometimes in deadly concentrations for the fish. You will need it or a some similar product.

Prime does not do anything for cycling , but it will detoxify the ammonia thus helping to relieve the toxicity to the livestock
Regards

[sdivell]

I have a water conditioner already that doesnt affect the ammonia.... but I thought if i detox the ammonia it could slow the start of my cycle?

aslo on that note after having your filter wool in my tank charlie my ammonia did drop about .6ppm by the end of last night... im hoping to see more improvement after work tonight

[charlie]

I have a water conditioner already that doesnt affect the ammonia.... but I thought if i detox the ammonia it could slow the start of my cycle?

aslo on that note after having your filter wool in my tank charlie my ammonia did drop about .6ppm by the end of last night... im hoping to see more improvement after work tonight

Good to hear .
Good luck

[charlie]

I have a water conditioner already that doesnt affect the ammonia.... but I thought if i detox the ammonia it could slow the start of my cycle?

aslo on that note after having your filter wool in my tank charlie my ammonia did drop about .6ppm by the end of last night... im hoping to see more improvement after work tonight

Here is a link that gives you some info on Prime
http://seachem.com/support/FAQs/Prime_faq.html
Regards

[fischkopp]

I have a water conditioner already that doesnt affect the ammonia.... but I thought if i detox the ammonia it could slow the start of my cycle?

Just leave it as is then, I totally forgot about all the magic in Prime. Keep using your conditioner and let the cycle be. It wont be too bad since you have some bacteria in there now.

[charlie]

Just to clear up any misconceptions  , prime does not remove ammonia , it detoxify it so it`s not harmful to  fish, but it`s still readily available to the nitryfing bacteria( it does not slow your cycle), i think i should get a cheque from Seachem soon 
Regards

[fischkopp]

i think i should get a cheque from Seachem soon 

Thanx Charlie, you definitely should    Thats how I understood it too the first time - got a bit confused in between though - anyway, would be interesting to know how it binds the ammonia to be harmless for the fish but still available for bacteria - but lets stop the threadjacking here

[sdivell]

you guys thread jacked this topic right into a different board heading