cleaning bio filter & freshwater cycling

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dezul

Registered Member
Jan 13, 2007
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Melbourne Australia
www.pbase.com
cycling tank cleaning bio filter
hey all,

im new to this forum and the hobby..

im currently cycling a freshwater 50L tank.. im about 5 weeks in and have a reasonable population of fish in my tank. ive just cleaned the internal filter and have since realised that i may have doomed my fish..

i cleaned it out in a bucket of tank water by giving it a few squeezes.. i think i probably removed about 70-80% of the gunk that was in the foam by squeezing it and didnt touch the housing unit itself or the impeller.

i was instructed to clean the filter about once a month just by doing what i did.. but the tank is now full of muck and im worried ive removed too much of the good bacteria..

any advice is appreicated.

thanks
dezul
 

Reddog80p

Permanently Dechlor'd
Nov 18, 2006
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well if you already cleaned to filter there really isn't much you can do about it. Test your water parameters twice a day and if your ammonia or NitrIte leves get above .25 ppm do a water change, Remember to add a quality Dechlorinator like prime to condition your water, and match the water temperature before adding the water. Here a link about filter cleaning and some other helpful info......

http://www.aquariumfish.com/aquariumfish/board/Topic110052-5-1.aspx?Highlight=cycle+new+tank

btw, What are your water paramaters.....(Ammonia,NitrIte,NitrAte)?
Do you do water changes how often? When you do water changes do you gravel vac?
 

J double R

The Devil
Jan 13, 2007
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Jon
if there was any bacteria established in the filter media, rinsing it in tank water wouldn't have ruined the population. as for the gunk, that should get filtered out soon enough. i'm willing to bet you'll be just fine if your tank has already cycled.
 

dezul

Registered Member
Jan 13, 2007
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Melbourne Australia
www.pbase.com
thanks for the speedy reply,

im not too sure of the parameters.. ive been getting my water tested at the local fish store. the last time i got it tested my nitrite and nitrite were either non existant or really low and my ph was slightly low.

ive been doing 1/3 water changes weekly and i recently invested in a gravel vac (which ive only used once) but i havent been cleaning all the gravel, just the easy to reach areas.. i have a fair amount of planted driftwood in the tank that makes access rather difficult to some areas without too much disturbance.
 

dezul

Registered Member
Jan 13, 2007
4
0
0
Melbourne Australia
www.pbase.com
if there was any bacteria established in the filter media, rinsing it in tank water wouldn't have ruined the population. as for the gunk, that should get filtered out soon enough. i'm willing to bet you'll be just fine if your tank has already cycled.
ill keep my fingers crossed, the tank has been preforming really well each time ive had it tested at the LFS.
 

J double R

The Devil
Jan 13, 2007
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Jon
i suggest at the very least spending a couple bucks on those little test strips.. theyre not very accurate, but they give you a good idea of whats up and whats not.

if you do have a ton of gunk settling and not getting filtered, i would worry about ammonia buildup from the rotting waste. if you can gravel vac your tank, i would try to vaccum as much of the loose gunk up as possible.
 

nerdyguy83

AC Members
May 11, 2006
418
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Erie, PA, US
I wouldn't even trust test strips to give a good general idea of what is going on most times. I've never owned the strips myself, but I have literally taken water that I tested myself with my own drip test kit up to PetsMart. The parameters have been so far off its laughable. I'm talking 0ppm ammonia at home with completely healthy fish that somehow reads as 3ppm on the stick tests at PetsMart. If I were you, I would use the standard trick of going to the PetsMart website, finding the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshwater Master Test Kit, print out the page, and take it up to the store. They price match online products in their store, and it cuts the price almost in half. You get a ton more tests out of this kit than if you spend the same amount of money on dip tests.

As far as cleaning the filter out, I would swish instead of squeeze. Doesn't get as much gunk out, but it does do something without the worry of doing too much.
 

J double R

The Devil
Jan 13, 2007
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nerdyguy, youre very right, but ive always had fairly good luck with my test strips.. i do have one of those master test kits and if you can get one Dezul, i highly recommend it.

also, you mention a 'reasonable' population of fish. what do you have in there and how many? if youre still cycling and you have gunk on your filter (to the point of polluting your water AFTER cleaning it), you may be overfeeding. did the housing unit of the filter look all gunked up, too?
 
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