220 +55 gallon sump cycle interrupted - question about my solution

[FishyTJ]

So i took a reading of my water parameters and my ammonia was reading 2.0 ppm nitrite 0, im thinking at one point or another I messed up cleaning and killed the cycle. I have a seperate 30 gallon tank with an eheim xl1200 that is reading perfect parameters. I did a 50% water change yesterday and it didnt seem to help with my ammonia readings though my tank is certainly borderline overstocked. I was thinking about getting enough TSS for 300 gallons and treating the 220+55 with the addition of kitchen scrubbies to the sump for added surface area for new BB. Will this suffice? I would prefer to keep the 1200xl on the 30 gallon as it is housing my 6 inch motoro until I figure out my water parameters for the main tank. If the first solution is a no-go do you think there is enough BB in the 1200xl filter to begin a new cycle in the 220?

 

[predatorkeeper87]

couple bottles of either prime or safe, couple bottles of safe start+ or stability, drop the scrubbies in, dose with prime/safe and dump all the bottled bacteria in. Keep dosing with prime/safe until the cycle re-stabilizes.

 

[FishyTJ]

The fish are doing well and certainly not behaving differently but I really want to prevent permanent damage unseen to the naked eye

 

[predatorkeeper87]

The fish are doing well and certainly not behaving differently but I really want to prevent permanent damage unseen to the naked eye

This. Fish can act normal with high ammonia, its the internal damage that becomes the issue.

 

[FishyTJ]

couple bottles of either prime or safe, couple bottles of safe start+ or stability, drop the scrubbies in, dose with prime/safe and dump all the bottled bacteria in. Keep dosing with prime/safe until the cycle re-stabilizes.

Thank you for responding so quickly, should there not be any delay between prime and bottled bacteria? im under the impression prime is ammonia binding and will interrupt with the bacteria feeding. is the initial dose of prime to prevent too much ammonia for the bacteria and allowing the fish to produce new ammonia for the new bacteria? I do not know how prime truly works and whether it neutralizes ALL ammonia for a period or just upon dosing.

 

[predatorkeeper87]

Thank you for responding so quickly, should there not be any delay between prime and bottled bacteria? im under the impression prime is ammonia binding and will interrupt with the bacteria feeding. is the initial dose of prime to prevent too much ammonia for the bacteria and allowing the fish to produce new ammonia for the new bacteria? I do not know how prime truly works and whether it neutralizes ALL ammonia for a period or just upon dosing.

prime is ammonia binding, but in a way that bacteria can still feed on it while its not causing harm to the fish. I am no bio-chemist, but I had the seachem guy explain it to me and I've never had a cycle blow up from the same strategy I gave you.

I believe prime lasts somewhere in the area of 12ish hours? that could be way off in either direction. With a higher bioload I'd say to be safe dose every 12ish hours.

 

[FishyTJ]

Thank you for giving me some sort of timeline so im not just guessing and testing. Are we talking single dosage for the tank, double etc? last question i promise haha

 

[predatorkeeper87]

Thank you for giving me some sort of timeline so im not just guessing and testing. Are we talking single dosage for the tank, double etc? last question i promise haha

I generally eye ball my doses but I'd stick to dose for the tank size maybe a hair extra.

 

[predatorkeeper87]

edit to my original effectiveness timeline-according to the site its 24 hours. So you'd be safe dosing around the 20-24 hour mark.

 

[DN328]

For Seachem Stability, I'd just follow the directions. Higher dose up front, then consistent amount for the remaining days. If you go over it won't harm, but I think it's better to spread out.