Returning to Fish keeping with Fluval Edge

So just ran tests. 0,0, 60-80ppm.

Looks like the cycle finally took. Had dosed 3ppm of ammonia last night, and not showing a trace of ammonia or nitrite. I just dosed 3ppm of ammonia again just now.

Is it alright to leave the nitrate level at high range for now? I will be adding a 2-3 fish Sunday if all continues to stay maintained. I will try and get the nitrates down between 10-20ppm before adding livestock via water change(s), just want to make sure until then I can leave nitrates at a high level without doing any damage.

Thanks guys

and gals.


Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
Yep, nitrates won't hurt the bacteria colonies. They'll be a non-preferred food source for any plants and algae, though, so mind the light cycle.
 
Fish buying time!
 
Hell yeah!

Thanks a million guys, glad I stuck with it, feels good to have accomplished the seemingly impossible. May try a few more shrimp to keep Rambo company, but my fish guy won't have any more CPDs until Thursday.

P.S. I will take some pics of his store. Very underground, and very cool. It's a 2nd story run down building in a sketchy area downtown. Would never know it existed save for a few empty tanks on the stairs. He calls it the aqua den. You climb the stairs to what you would expect to be an underground human trafficking ring but you open the door and it's full of aquariums. No pets, just fish - pretty badass.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
Hey guys, never did make the aqua den today. No CPDs yet anyway.

Did a significant water change (80%?) trying to bring my nitrates down to a reasonable level. Prior tests looked nice, 0,0,80+ still. Rambo is still alive too and not hiding out as much anymore. I wiped some more of that brown webby looking stuff away from my heater again. Hopefully that stuff gets under control soon. Hoping later tonight I'll see a drop in nitrates, if not, I'll do another water change tomorrow. I dosed ammonia back to 3ppm after the dechlorination and top-off.

I was thinking as I was doing this water change, how and when should I change my filter media when and if I have to. I know a big part of the BB live there, but also would assume that the media would need to be changed eventually. Would hate to screw this process up at that stage in the game.

Anyhow, thanks for reading, maybe I'll pop through the aqua den before I hit dinner. If so, will be back with pics later. Have a nice rest of your weekend fish peeps.


Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
I'd stop dosing ammonia at this point...don't want to stress the shrimp any more than it's survived through. Your bacteria will be fine for a short while before you add fish.

I almost never change filter media completely unless it's falling apart. You can wash anything clogged in tank water or dechlorinated tap water. It just isn't a good idea to change everything all at once.
 
I'd stop dosing ammonia at this point...don't want to stress the shrimp any more than it's survived through. Your bacteria will be fine for a short while before you add fish.

I almost never change filter media completely unless it's falling apart. You can wash anything clogged in tank water or dechlorinated tap water. It just isn't a good idea to change everything all at once.

This depends on the filter though. What type of filter do you have?

Sent from my SGH-T989 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
AquariaCentral.com