View Full Version : Did I starve off my bacteria?
Okay, so I continue to become educated in what I should be doing in regards to filtration......I have doubled my filtration and have been advised to basically use nothing in the cartridges.
Here is the problem.........my plants haven't been doing great and I just took a nitrates reading and it was 0.....I think this is probably because I have been using Ammo Chips in the filters. :wall:
So my question is......I have four filter cartridges all with Ammo Chips and activated carbon in them.....how should I progress to basically empty filter cartridges? One at a time? I am afraid of a mini cycle or an ammonia spike that would wipe out my tank. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.
Star_Rider
10-03-2008, 2:31 PM
if the tank is stocked with fish you should slowly remove the carbon and ammo chips.
test water to see if any spikes happen.
plants not doing well could be attributed to this or possibly other factors.
what plants, how much light? what kind of light? photo period etc.
wataugachicken
10-03-2008, 2:58 PM
if the plants look bad because they're 'hungry', then you should take out the ammo-chips. you don't have to get new cartridges, just slit them open and dump out the stuff inside. there are still going to be a lot of bacteria on the filter pads themselves so i don't think you need to worry about that too much, but it's no problem to do them one at a time and test the water to see if anything changes. the plants will probably start to consume any ammonia etc. right away.
did you take readings for ammonia and nitrites too? another possibility for you not seeing any nitrates is that the plants themselves are using them all up and starving for more. that depends upon your set up though.
I tested Ammonia = 0 ppm, Nitrites= 0 ppm, and Nitrates= 0 ppm. I have over 10 plants in my 55 gallon (crypts, anubias, java fern, and 1 amazon sword) with 120 watts over the tank. I dose Flourish once a week with a photo period of 8 hours (just reduced the photo period and added 4 ottos to combat a diatom problem I am having). I wonder if the Zero readings are because I took away the catalyst....but my nitrites are still zero which means that I still have my bacteria colony....right?
StereoKills
10-03-2008, 3:47 PM
In my experience, ottos don't eat diatoms.
captaincaveman9
10-03-2008, 4:03 PM
In my experience, ottos don't eat diatoms.
I beg to differ, my ottos ate diatoms like they were candy
The Zigman
10-03-2008, 4:26 PM
the same thing happened to me. When I set up my tank, I planted it before it was cycled.. Then I did a fishy cycel... leave me alone Naysayers, it worked and none died..., anyway, It was VERY hard to determine if my tank was cycled because the plants used all the nitrates thet were produced by the bio filter.
Why use the Ammo chips? did you have a spike? were you cycling the tank?
How long has this tank been established. Do you know for a fact it was cycled at one time?
BTW, my otos Dont eat diatoms...
Well this tank has been up and going for around 6 months although the water and bacteria colony have been up and going for over a year (sprung a leak in my old 55). I was using ammo chips because it always seemed like my ammonia was always around .25ppm. Though this could be normal and a reading do to the ammonia present in the water before it could be converted or consumed. I just thought that removing the ammonia altogether would make my fish happier. But come to find out........I might have made a mistake.
Mgamer20o0
10-03-2008, 6:19 PM
might want to look into adding ferts. dont think ammo chips remove nitrates. pick up some dry ferts and start adding. in the sticky it will explain how ei works.
http://www.bestaquariumregulator.com/ferts.html
IsaacMTSU
10-03-2008, 7:38 PM
My ottos can put away some diatoms! My tank stays really clean, they are the only reason I can use ferts in my tanks without getting covered in algae!
Show I should dose ferts even without adding CO2?
jpappy789
10-04-2008, 3:25 AM
It will take some experimenting to balance the tank. Right now you shouldn't need Co2 as your plants are basically starving without any nitrates.
1oooop
10-07-2008, 8:16 AM
:iagree:... how do you think I manage to kill most of my duckweed?
SchizotypalVamp
10-07-2008, 3:10 PM
Ammonia chips don't eat nitrates, but if they are removing the ammonia, there is none to be converted into nitrates.
Quick update for everyone...........first off thanks for the advice........secondly, I removed my activated carbon and ammo chips about and week ago and now I am reading all 0's on ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. I guess I have a pretty strong biological filter.......hopefully my plants are using all of the nitrates? They still look like they are struggling. Any ideas?