Starting Back Up Again...Questions About Using Seachem Stability

[Kaskade10729]

Here are the latest readings; seems some parameters have jumped a tiny bit:

Ammonia: 0.50
Nitrite: Still 0
Nitrate: Somewhere between 0 and 5.0 (this seems to have jumped slightly)

Now, I resisted doing a five gallon water change, just in case the parameters are starting to turn in the right direction...but I'll take more in the morning.

 

[Kaskade10729]

Today's readings were basically the same; I have NO idea what is going on here or why our bacterial bloom haze still exists...

Ammonia: 0.50 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 - 5.0 ppm

I did a five-gallon water change after seeing the ammonia remaining at 0.50....

 

[Kaskade10729]

Today's readings...and I removed the foam block, floss layer and bio rings from the AquaClear to inspect and clean them...they were loaded with uneaten food, waste and other debris when I dunked them in a bucket of dechlorinated tap water. Really gross.

7/19 API TEST:

Ammonia: 0.50 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 4.99 ppm

Can anyone tell me what's going on here? These numbers aren't changing that much, if at all, and we still don't have 100-percent clear water...

 

[Kaskade10729]

Results for 7/20 (did a small water change after this):

Ammonia: 0.50
Nitrite: SLIGHTLY above 0
Nitrate: Dark yellow color

Why am I still experiencing a haze in the tank? It's been cycling for about a month...

 

[Kaskade10729]

Here's what the Seachem rep recommended to me; if anyone has any thoughts, opinions or counter-opinions, I'd be open to hearing them:

Here's what I'll suggest (again). Stop adding anything else, do a 50% water change, clean your substrate and filter media well, then let things go for two weeks. Don't add anything and don't remove anything. The only thing you should be doing is rinsing your filter media out in a little container of tank water once per week to make sure it's functioning at full capacity. The purpose behind this is to let the biological processes do their thing. If, after two weeks, you're still getting wonky readings let me know. It may seem counter-intuitive, but you may actually need to add more fish to boost the bioload and put more nutrients into the tank.

So he's recommending a 50-percent water change and then leaving things alone for like two weeks; he also thinks I may need to add a couple more fish to get this started better...

Does this seem logical?

 

[dudley]

I would do a gravel vacuum and a water change and that combination should equal a 50% total amount of water being changed. I phrased it that way because I am unsure if you are using a Python type gravel vacuum device hooked up to a faucet or if you are just using a manual siphon type device into a bucket.

I would not do a clean and vigorous rinse of your media, just a normal squeeze and clean in a bucket of tank water to remove gross deposits.

I don't see a need to add more fish to boost the bio-load in order to 'help' the biological process proceed.

The only thing I would add is a dechlorinator for the new amount of water being added.

Continue to test daily at about the same time of day and record the numbers.

Don't fiddle with the filter media except to remove gross deposits as needed.

I think 2 weeks is a reasonable amount of time to wait and see if the suggested changes makes a difference.

 

[the loach]

I agree with Dudley, I don't see a need to add more fish. If you are tired of it all just add some fast growing live plants. I think you said you have 2 fluorescents over it. Guppy grass, giant val, something like that. The plants will use ammonium and if they come from an LFS which keeps the plants in the same tanks with fish, have nitrifying bacteria on them too.

 

[Kaskade10729]

I would do a gravel vacuum and a water change and that combination should equal a 50% total amount of water being changed. I phrased it that way because I am unsure if you are using a Python type gravel vacuum device hooked up to a faucet or if you are just using a manual siphon type device into a bucket.

I'm using a regular Aqueon brand gravel vac tube, which I prime with the bulb to suck the water into a five-gallon bucket...I then take the bucket to the bathtub, dump it, etc. Is 50-percent okay at this point?

I would not do a clean and vigorous rinse of your media, just a normal squeeze and clean in a bucket of tank water to remove gross deposits.

I think that's what he meant (to rinse the media real well in the removed tank water or dechlorinated water)....

I don't see a need to add more fish to boost the bio-load in order to 'help' the biological process proceed.

The only thing I would add is a dechlorinator for the new amount of water being added.

Why do you disagree with his assessment that more fish may be needed? I already did two rounds of Stability; what else would kick-start this cycle?

Continue to test daily at about the same time of day and record the numbers.

I've been doing that -- and keeping a record as far back as the first day we set up the tank and tested the water.

Don't fiddle with the filter media except to remove gross deposits as needed.

I won't; I never cleaned out filter media under tap water before to make it all nice and new...I understand why this is wrong.

I think 2 weeks is a reasonable amount of time to wait and see if the suggested changes makes a difference.

I don't really see what the two weeks after this large water change is hoping to achieve with regard to changing the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels, but I did do the recommended change tonight -- took out the 50-percent amount, did some gravel vacc'ing and fixed some issues with the bubble bars in the rear of the tank (they needed to be buried better in the substrate), then added Prime and filled the tank back up. The water looks SIGNIFICANTLY cleaner and clearer, but we will have to see what tomorrow brings (if my fish are still alive)...

 

[Kaskade10729]

I agree with Dudley, I don't see a need to add more fish.

Why?

If you are tired of it all just add some fast growing live plants. I think you said you have 2 fluorescents over it. Guppy grass, giant val, something like that. The plants will use ammonium and if they come from an LFS which keeps the plants in the same tanks with fish, have nitrifying bacteria on them too.

Do you mean tired of trying to get the tank to cycle?

 

[dudley]

The 50% water change is just fine, glad to hear the tank looks better and the fish are doing okay.

I don't see the need to add more fish to 'help' the cycling process. You have 2 fish, they are being fed, are eating well I assume, excreting waste products that contribute to furthering of the biological process.