Live Gravel question
- Thread starter fishkeepermedic
- Start date
BettaFishMommy
finkids make me happy :-)
the beneficial bacteria that colonize in the gravel will not survive long without a food source, so i don't know if shipping it any distance would be a good idea.
why not go to a reputable lfs and ask for some filter squeezings? (make sure the store does NOT have central filtration and their tanks have healthy fish in them). or if you have a fishkeeper friend with a healthy tank, ask for part of his filter sponge, or do a fishless cycle on your tank if you have no livestock in it yet.
why not go to a reputable lfs and ask for some filter squeezings? (make sure the store does NOT have central filtration and their tanks have healthy fish in them). or if you have a fishkeeper friend with a healthy tank, ask for part of his filter sponge, or do a fishless cycle on your tank if you have no livestock in it yet.
yea i have a couple fish in both tanks already didnt know about cycling before i did it one tank is starting to cycle the other is not at all. I have been using stability in both now for 5 of the 7 recommend days only two left
BettaFishMommy
finkids make me happy :-)
are you also doing daily water changes to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels at zero?
i personally wouldn't use any chemicals other than a good dechlorinator, do daily testing for ammonia and nitrites for the first week or two, and whenever you have any amount, even if it seems miniscule, change out the water until those levels are back at zero. number one killer of new fish in a new tank that isn't cycled is ammonia and nitrite poisoning. after the first couple of weeks start testing for nitrates too, to see how the cycle is progressing, and keep up those water changes to keep ammonia and nitrites at zero.
so no fishkeeper friends near by that have some healthy and established filter media you could steal? that would be the best option in this situation.
i personally wouldn't use any chemicals other than a good dechlorinator, do daily testing for ammonia and nitrites for the first week or two, and whenever you have any amount, even if it seems miniscule, change out the water until those levels are back at zero. number one killer of new fish in a new tank that isn't cycled is ammonia and nitrite poisoning. after the first couple of weeks start testing for nitrates too, to see how the cycle is progressing, and keep up those water changes to keep ammonia and nitrites at zero.
so no fishkeeper friends near by that have some healthy and established filter media you could steal? that would be the best option in this situation.
BettaFishMommy
finkids make me happy :-)
Live substrates definitely work. I set up a 20 gal SW for a customer with 20 lbs of AragAlive who put an Ocellaris in the next day. I tested his water a couple of times a week for almost about a month and never detected a trace of ammonia or nitrite. As much as everyone here espouses fishless cycling the overwhelming majority of people who walk into an LFS and buy a tank want fish in it as soon as it's wet and it's hard enough to get them to not buy fish until the temp has stabilized, let alone work on a tank with no fish in it for a month. These products are a very good compromise.