Im cycling my tank, and I noticed a product called "phos-x". Says it absorbs phosphate, nitrite and nitrates. Its a little packet, says it can go in any filter blah blah. Says nothing about what it is... Anyway, so im cycling my tank and im wondering if it would be a good idea to use this as well as frequent water changes.
"Phos-x" any good?
- Thread starter nvan
- Start date
Are doing doing a cycle with fish or without? If it is with fish then stick with water changes. They are a lot cheaper and give desired results. In fact with fish in the tank I woudl be doing daily water changes to keep the nitrites below 0.25 ppm. Nitrates don't harn fish until they get super high. And what are your phosphate levels?
I have two balloon bodied molies in there right now. Its a 10 gallon and its been running for about... 3 weeks now. Ive been doing daily water changes because one of my fish had ich (which has been taken care of), and to keep the levels down. I have no idea what my phosphate levels are, but i doubt they are dangerous. I was more interested with the phos-x stuff absorbing nitrates and nitrites. I figure ill still do daily water changes, but was wondering if this would make a good backup, just incase.
How did you take care of ich? If it wasent done right it might come back again.
I would skip the Phos-X. It will take away the ammoina, and nitirtes needed to cycle your tank. Just do 30-50% daily water changes and water tests untill your tank is cycled.
I would skip the Phos-X. It will take away the ammoina, and nitirtes needed to cycle your tank. Just do 30-50% daily water changes and water tests untill your tank is cycled.
Yes, I would suggest if your tank is only 3 weeks old then the ich might not have been fully dealt with. At this point the heat/salt treatment for ich (see Dave's Article in the article forum) would be a good idea. The salt will help the fish deal with the higher nitrite levels and it will make sure you get rid of the ich completely.
Be very careful elevating temperatures in a tank with detectable ammonia and nitrite levels. The salt is a good idea, and it may be O.K. to raise temps, but you are dealing with two agents that drastically effect a fish ability to respirate, and increase temps = decreased O2 levels in the water.
Just a word of caution.
Dave
Just a word of caution.
Dave
Im pretty positive I dealt with the ich correctly ( i followed the instructions here -
here
) Using a formalin and malachite green medication. Only one fish came down with it and ever had it, i did 20-50% water changes everyday and medicated. I plan to keep this going for a while longer, just to be sure. I have to do water changes anyway to keep nitrate/nitrites down while its cycling. I was just curious if something like that product might help keep them down as added protection. I guess as long as im doing water changes, it shouldnt become a problem.
edit: Oh yeah, and I think my tank is getting plenty of oxygen. I have a tetratec deep water 12, and an 8 inch bubble wand, plus my filter does a good deal of oxygenation i think.
here
) Using a formalin and malachite green medication. Only one fish came down with it and ever had it, i did 20-50% water changes everyday and medicated. I plan to keep this going for a while longer, just to be sure. I have to do water changes anyway to keep nitrate/nitrites down while its cycling. I was just curious if something like that product might help keep them down as added protection. I guess as long as im doing water changes, it shouldnt become a problem.
edit: Oh yeah, and I think my tank is getting plenty of oxygen. I have a tetratec deep water 12, and an 8 inch bubble wand, plus my filter does a good deal of oxygenation i think.
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i tried using the phos-x and it made my water even worse, not to mention that was a month ago and im still trying to get the stuff out. Stick with the water changes!!