Is it alright to continuously use ammonia detoxifier like Prime for longer than a couple days?

[Demobanana]

On 7/25/2022 at 5:01 PM, Flumpweesel said:

Is this the tanks first cycle? It can take quite a few weeks to sort I normally leave them for 4 to 6 weeks unless using stuff from existing tanks to shortcut things.

Yes, I think it was on the right track but I added too much ammonia (unintentionally, when I water changed and the tap had high ammonia) and now its kinda all out of whack. I think my tank will cycle eventually but its going to take a lot more time since I have a lot more ammonia.

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/25/2022 at 4:11 PM, Demobanana said:

I always double dose my dechlor before adding in water to my tank but I will try maybe adding an airstone to my tank?

If you don't already, yes!  It is a really simple way to have a back-up in case of an equipment issue, but it's also just so useful in a variety of ways.

On 7/25/2022 at 4:11 PM, Demobanana said:

The actual filter in there is a sponge filter, and I dont know how I would overkill the filter without getting a bigger air pump.

If I may ask, what pump do you have, please refresh me on tank size, and are you using a metal gang valve or anything?

On 7/25/2022 at 4:05 PM, Demobanana said:

Honestly I thought the media from my other filter would've been enough to help it, but around the same time my county put a big amount of ammonia in the water so I just had to wait and I've been water changing it (big, ~40-50%) every few weeks to suck up some excess molm thats been on the ground, but I guess it was just too much ammonia that was coming in at one time. But if I really cant drop the level soon I think Im just going to pop my other filter in there, which would leave my other tank filterless.

If you have spare cycled media, even a bag of it that you can take some from.  I just set it on top of the sponge filter.

[_Eric_]

On 7/25/2022 at 6:18 PM, Demobanana said:

hmm...but if theres no fish its fine,right?

I don’t think there is a reason to use Prime if there are no fish.

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/25/2022 at 5:17 PM, Demobanana said:

Yes, I think it was on the right track but I added too much ammonia (unintentionally, when I water changed and the tap had high ammonia) and now its kinda all out of whack. I think my tank will cycle eventually but its going to take a lot more time since I have a lot more ammonia.

In future, just for the sake of clarity.  IF you had fish in the tank....

I would:
(with fish) Add some salt, yes... even with plants.
(with fish) Add some bacteria if I had any on hand.
50% water change daily until it was under .5 ppm ammonia (unless you're specifically trying to cycle it by adding ammonia manually, then I would keep it at 2 ppm).

If you have ammonia in the tap, try to find a way to condition the water or add excess filtration / aeration / dechlorinator to handle it during the water change.

Something as simple as having an extra sponge on either side of the tank might be perfect for this situation given the tap conditions. 

[Demobanana]

On 7/25/2022 at 5:59 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

If you don't already, yes!  It is a really simple way to have a back-up in case of an equipment issue, but it's also just so useful in a variety of ways.

If I may ask, what pump do you have, please refresh me on tank size, and are you using a metal gang valve or anything?

If you have spare cycled media, even a bag of it that you can take some from.  I just set it on top of the sponge filter.

I just have a tetra air pump thats meant for 10g and the tank is a 10g. And no I dont have a gang valve, but a little bit of the air going to the sponge filter is going to a tiny airstone on the other side of the tank. And for the cycled media I thought my media was cycled but I guess it wasn't because nothing happened with it.

On 7/25/2022 at 6:05 PM, _Eric_ said:

I don’t think there is a reason to use Prime if there are no fish.

But wouldn't the chlorine and chloramine destroy the bacteria then? I use prime as a dechlor too

On 7/25/2022 at 6:06 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

In future, just for the sake of clarity.  IF you had fish in the tank....

I would:
(with fish) Add some salt, yes... even with plants.
(with fish) Add some bacteria if I had any on hand.
50% water change daily until it was under .5 ppm ammonia (unless you're specifically trying to cycle it by adding ammonia manually, then I would keep it at 2 ppm).

If you have ammonia in the tap, try to find a way to condition the water or add excess filtration / aeration / dechlorinator to handle it during the water change.

Something as simple as having an extra sponge on either side of the tank might be perfect for this situation given the tap conditions. 

Just added an airstone inand I do dose more dechlor when I water change but if I may ask, what would the salt do if its an ammonia problem?

[_Eric_]

On 7/25/2022 at 8:23 PM, Demobanana said:

I just have a tetra air pump thats meant for 10g and the tank is a 10g. And no I dont have a gang valve, but a little bit of the air going to the sponge filter is going to a tiny airstone on the other side of the tank. And for the cycled media I thought my media was cycled but I guess it wasn't because nothing happened with it.

But wouldn't the chlorine and chloramine destroy the bacteria then? I use prime as a dechlor too

Just added an airstone inand I do dose more dechlor when I water change but if I may ask, what would the salt do if its an ammonia problem?

Yes - use to dechlorinate water but no need to add further dosing.

[Demobanana]

On 7/25/2022 at 6:29 PM, _Eric_ said:

Yes - use to dechlorinate water but no need to add further dosing.

ok great

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/25/2022 at 6:23 PM, Demobanana said:

what would the salt do if its an ammonia problem?

Salt helps the fish with ammonia and nitrite burn.  It helps them to take a bit less damage when that happens and have a slightly easier time trying to recover from it.  Adds some minerals for them, helps to encourage the slime coat, helps with oxygenation interaction on the gills, and then because the fish is stressed, it helps them to not have to spend as much energy trying to regulate their salt internally (osmosis).

[Demobanana]

On 7/25/2022 at 8:57 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Salt helps the fish with ammonia and nitrite burn.  It helps them to take a bit less damage when that happens and have a slightly easier time trying to recover from it.  Adds some minerals for them, helps to encourage the slime coat, helps with oxygenation interaction on the gills, and then because the fish is stressed, it helps them to not have to spend as much energy trying to regulate their salt internally (osmosis).

never knew that but I'll remember to keep it in stock

[face]

if there are no fish than ignore everything that i said as said above plants don't mind ammonia

but there are some things that  might be useful to know and do

1 low ph can slow (or stop) your cycle anything  at or above 6 it will eventually cycle (so just be patient) anything below 6 and it probably won't cycle so getting an accurate ph in your tank will be useful

2 high ph in water straight from the tap that drops after a few hours is common (my ph for example go from 8 to 6.5) so doing a test for that might be worth it (to test place some tap water in a bucket or some other container add 1 or 2 drops of Prime and let it sit for 12 to 24 hours if you have an extra air pump laying around aerate the water if you dont just stir it every once in a while than test for ph and for ammonia )

low ph maks ammonia  less  toxic (you still shouldn't add fish if there's ammonia just to be clear) but it dose give you some leeway.

Good luck.

[Demobanana]

On 7/25/2022 at 11:41 PM, face said:

if there are no fish than ignore everything that i said as said above plants don't mind ammonia

but there are some things that  might be useful to know and do

1 low ph can slow (or stop) your cycle anything  at or above 6 it will eventually cycle (so just be patient) anything below 6 and it probably won't cycle so getting an accurate ph in your tank will be useful

2 high ph in water straight from the tap that drops after a few hours is common (my ph for example go from 8 to 6.5) so doing a test for that might be worth it (to test place some tap water in a bucket or some other container add 1 or 2 drops of Prime and let it sit for 12 to 24 hours if you have an extra air pump laying around aerate the water if you dont just stir it every once in a while than test for ph and for ammonia )

low ph maks ammonia  less  toxic (you still shouldn't add fish if there's ammonia just to be clear) but it dose give you some leeway.

Good luck.

I knew there was some kind of connection between ph and ammonia, I will definitely try testing the water the day after to see if it got different results