Vacuum during cycle?

[TPIRman]

I think it would help a lot if you kept doing the water changes every day. The few days that you let the tank go without a water change hurt more than the three days of water changes helped -- the ammonia can "catch up" pretty quickly in the early stages of the cycle. Get into a routine -- every other day would be better than three days on/three off, but it seems like daily is appropriate for the level of ammonia you've got. The easy part is doing changes to get the toxins down; the less satisfying/less intuitive part is doing changes to keep them down.

You mentioned chloramine -- if you suspect chloramine is in your water, I never would have suggested you stop using Amquel, unless you are also using another water conditioner. I like Jungle "Start Right" for chlorine/chloramine remover.

I bet daily water changes and Richer's suggestion of reduced feeding would keep your ammonia level down to where you don't have to be worrying all day at work!

 

[moboe]

Thanks TPIRman for all the help. They cories were happily swimming around when I returned home from work. I tested the water, and nitrites were slightly higher and ammonia slightly lower. I changed 50% water, and both nitrites and ammonia were lower. Whew! Hopefully this in my nitrite spiking time, and my daily water changes, thanks to your suggestion, will protect the cories sufficiently.

Thanks so much for the help, and understanding of my worry! It's amazing how we worry about these little guys!

I appreciate it a lot.

Margaret

 

[TPIRman]

Hooray! I am so happy for you and your cories. Glad I could help with my limited experience -- I'm only slightly less of a newb than yourself, but I recently underwent a similar stressful time.