helping the cycle question

greaaaaaaattt .. all this time we've been buying gallons of water we aren't supposed to be using .. wish i had a LFS to go to .. petsmart employees here haven't given me ANY good information so far .. sigh

do i have to test my tap water to find out what i need to get it right?

do i treat the water before or after putting it in the tank?

could this be the reason i'm having such difficulty getting my numbers to work out right?

sorry so many questions .. you guys are helping me out immensely
 
I like the aqua plus water conditioner. I siphon my my water out in 2 gal incraments in a 3 gal bucket, and I fill it back up the same way with sink water. Fill up your bucket and add the water conditioner and pour the water in the tank. I think all water conditioners are pretty much the same, just make sure it removes chlorine and chloramine and neutralizes heavy metals. I guess you could add the water conditioner after you put water in the tank, but I'd rather add it first just to be safe.
Just an example to how toxic untreated water is. My dad ran out of water conditioner and didn't realize it until after he added the new water, and in less than a half hour everything was dead, and he had hardy fish. If you add it first you also will avoid a mistake like this. :sad:
 
Find out from your water utility (phone or most have online sites) whether they add chlorine or chloramines. That will help you decide if any water conditioner will do or you need something particular. For example, if they add chloramines, having the conditioner say it “treats” chlorine and chloramines isn’t good enough (that means it breaks the chloramines bond into chlorine and ammonia), it must also say it neutralizes ammonia (from that broken bond).
 
If the first tank you had moved the media from had been cycled, it should have more or less instantly cycled the 2nd tank. Since the first tank was not cycled to begin with, the piece of sponge did nothing for the second tank. That is why people started throwing out other suggestions (filter crash, kh) etc. because it didn't make sense. I just wanted to clear up that neither tank was cycled, hence the problem, to stop anymore suggestions from cunfusing you further.

There is nothing wrong with using straight tap water, I usually will vaccum my gravel, siphoning out water at the same time. Then I refill a bucket with tap water very close to the same temperature as the tank, add dechlorinator and pour slowly into the tank. That easy :D Your best bet would be to just buy "prime" it takes care of chlorine and chloramine, so you don't have to bother contacting the water dept. etc. It is also a better buy than most of the other conditioners, because a tiny amount treats a large volume of water. At my LFS it is about 8 dollars a bottle, but you can get it even cheaper (for next time) online.

And don't listen to the fish store for advice on running your tank/buying fish. Unfortunately, alot of the employees don't know a whole lot, and are not the least bit concerned about the fish they sell. "Sure, that fish will be fine in your tank...*laughs as customer leaves with an ID shark for a 10g tank*"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom