mikeiam
03-18-2006, 3:26 AM
1st. the slow start problem.
Let me start off with an apology to society. I have started about 5 tanks in the past 7~8 years. Never a problem, everything went fine. I heard about people loosing fish and the biological filter taking forever to start and thought, HOW HARD CAN THIS BE?
Add gravel, decor, air pump, filter, water, chlorine remover, wait, test water, add a few fish, wait test water, add more fish, test water and there you go.
I just figured most people could not handle the waiting part or figured if the directions say to add 10ml per 10 gallons, then 20ml or 30ml would be better.
Well, I am a victim of some bad directions. I started my brand new 74 gallon bow front a few weeks ago. Everything started out completely dry.
Tank with overflow built-in, Fluval 404, air stones, gravel & a Turbo-Twist UV Sterilizer everything clean & dry.
Filled the tank, added the chlorine remover turned everything on and ran it for about 4 days. Water test and nothing to be concerned about. Added Stress Zyme, waited, tested, added fish, waited, tested, added more fish and started testing daily and charting the levels. On the third day ammonia jumped from 0.0 up to 0.4, OK, nothing to be concerned about. Day 4 it was up to 1.0. OK now I’m concerned. 20~30% water change, removed chlorine, added more Stress Zyme and by the end of the night, ammonia down to .25. Day 5 tested at .5, Day 6 up to 1.0 again. Same steps as before to lower the ammonia. I did not want to add anything to the tank or filter to remove the ammonia, figuring it will just take longer to get the bacteria levels up. This cycle continued 2 times more. I started thinking what the heck? :huh:
During this process I start scouring the web, reading articles, forums, product descriptions and product claims. I’m getting tired of water changes ever 2 days and decide to add something (not a lot) to remove the ammonia. Talked with my LFS and he sold be Fritz Zyme #7. More “Active Bacteria” to rapidly seed the biological filters, Right!
Reading the directions and what do I find? :read:
Discontinue use of OZONE and UV sterilizers. Then I felt like an idiot. UV sterilizers are dumb. Their job is to KILL. They don’t care who, just KILL. All I was doing is sending millions of bacteria to their death. :duh:
One sentence, that’s that was needed. Thanks Stress Zyme. My UV Sterilizer has kept my previous tank and fish very happy, but it was never used on a new tank and dry equipment.
Moral of the story, UV sterilizer off for the first couple months or until all levels are stable.
I’ll post an update in a few days with the results.
Now for the breakage.
Fluval 404, about 6 months old. During the cleaning process between my old tank and the new tank, I discover a broken ceramic impeller shaft. Purchased a new one before starting everything up and all is well. Until I start going through water changes every 2 days. One day I turn off the pump and water starts leaking from the seam. Pump on, no leak. Pump off, leak. No time to deal with it at the time it was 11pm and with the values closed leak stopped. Figured I take it apart and find the problem on the week-end.
Here is what I find. A total of 4 breaks. 2 breaks to the plastic motor housing on the front & rear, causing the leak. Broken compression nut on the intake hose and broken impeller cover. Photos attached. Next step contact Fluval and see what they are going to do for me. I let you know.
It has not been a good St Patrick’s day. :devil:
Let me start off with an apology to society. I have started about 5 tanks in the past 7~8 years. Never a problem, everything went fine. I heard about people loosing fish and the biological filter taking forever to start and thought, HOW HARD CAN THIS BE?
Add gravel, decor, air pump, filter, water, chlorine remover, wait, test water, add a few fish, wait test water, add more fish, test water and there you go.
I just figured most people could not handle the waiting part or figured if the directions say to add 10ml per 10 gallons, then 20ml or 30ml would be better.
Well, I am a victim of some bad directions. I started my brand new 74 gallon bow front a few weeks ago. Everything started out completely dry.
Tank with overflow built-in, Fluval 404, air stones, gravel & a Turbo-Twist UV Sterilizer everything clean & dry.
Filled the tank, added the chlorine remover turned everything on and ran it for about 4 days. Water test and nothing to be concerned about. Added Stress Zyme, waited, tested, added fish, waited, tested, added more fish and started testing daily and charting the levels. On the third day ammonia jumped from 0.0 up to 0.4, OK, nothing to be concerned about. Day 4 it was up to 1.0. OK now I’m concerned. 20~30% water change, removed chlorine, added more Stress Zyme and by the end of the night, ammonia down to .25. Day 5 tested at .5, Day 6 up to 1.0 again. Same steps as before to lower the ammonia. I did not want to add anything to the tank or filter to remove the ammonia, figuring it will just take longer to get the bacteria levels up. This cycle continued 2 times more. I started thinking what the heck? :huh:
During this process I start scouring the web, reading articles, forums, product descriptions and product claims. I’m getting tired of water changes ever 2 days and decide to add something (not a lot) to remove the ammonia. Talked with my LFS and he sold be Fritz Zyme #7. More “Active Bacteria” to rapidly seed the biological filters, Right!
Reading the directions and what do I find? :read:
Discontinue use of OZONE and UV sterilizers. Then I felt like an idiot. UV sterilizers are dumb. Their job is to KILL. They don’t care who, just KILL. All I was doing is sending millions of bacteria to their death. :duh:
One sentence, that’s that was needed. Thanks Stress Zyme. My UV Sterilizer has kept my previous tank and fish very happy, but it was never used on a new tank and dry equipment.
Moral of the story, UV sterilizer off for the first couple months or until all levels are stable.
I’ll post an update in a few days with the results.
Now for the breakage.
Fluval 404, about 6 months old. During the cleaning process between my old tank and the new tank, I discover a broken ceramic impeller shaft. Purchased a new one before starting everything up and all is well. Until I start going through water changes every 2 days. One day I turn off the pump and water starts leaking from the seam. Pump on, no leak. Pump off, leak. No time to deal with it at the time it was 11pm and with the values closed leak stopped. Figured I take it apart and find the problem on the week-end.
Here is what I find. A total of 4 breaks. 2 breaks to the plastic motor housing on the front & rear, causing the leak. Broken compression nut on the intake hose and broken impeller cover. Photos attached. Next step contact Fluval and see what they are going to do for me. I let you know.
It has not been a good St Patrick’s day. :devil: