Weird water parameters.. Im stumped.

I would agree, but ammonia that high should be enough to kill a juvenile fish. Test again (follow the directions to the letter) and do a large wc just to be safe. Adding prime or a similar conditioner also helps.
 
tigerbarb88 said:
Since the tank was given to me by a friend at school, it came with dual Whisper 30-60 Power filters with adjustable water flow. I change the bio bags every 2 or 3 weeks. I do not rinse the bio filter though, because according to the instructions that came with the filter, thats where my necessary bacteria hang out and colonize.
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so you completely change out the cartridges that slide down into the slots on either side of the filter? that could possibly be a factor in your spike, since those cartridges do harbour some good bacteria as well. but due to the fact that your tank is still new is most likely why the ammonia and nitrite are not at zero.

i would just rinse the cartridges well in tank water you've removed during a water change, and when they get really gunked up, then replace, but not both at one time.

another option is to not use cartridges and just use media as you would in a hob filter, like an Aquaclear. i have done this with a dual output hob (Elite Hush brand without bio wheels) and it worked pretty good. flow was reduced some, but not enough for me to be concerned. use two sponges, cut to fit, in the bottom, then a netting of bio max (either one all the way across both sponges, or two seperate nettings), then a piece of filter floss, cut to size for the top of the 'stack'. tuck the filter floss in around the edges of your bio max netting if it seems to threaten to go into the tank due to filter flow. you might have to omit the filter floss if it gets in the way of the bio wheels though.

as for the 'bio filter', you are talking about bio wheels, right? if so, then it is true that you should not clean or rinse these unless absolutely necessary.
 
jpappy789 said:
I would agree, but ammonia that high should be enough to kill a juvenile fish. Test again (follow the directions to the letter) and do a large wc just to be safe. Adding prime or a similar conditioner also helps.
Click to expand...

I dunno but my tiger barbs seem to be as active as the day I got them. I have tested again and my amonio went down, but now completely.

I went to my lfs and picked up a 250 ML bottle of Prime to help out.


BettaFishMommy said:
so you completely change out the cartridges that slide down into the slots on either side of the filter? that could possibly be a factor in your spike, since those cartridges do harbour some good bacteria as well. but due to the fact that your tank is still new is most likely why the ammonia and nitrite are not at zero.

i would just rinse the cartridges well in tank water you've removed during a water change, and when they get really gunked up, then replace, but not both at one time.

another option is to not use cartridges and just use media as you would in a hob filter, like an Aquaclear. i have done this with a dual output hob (Elite Hush brand without bio wheels) and it worked pretty good. flow was reduced some, but not enough for me to be concerned. use two sponges, cut to fit, in the bottom, then a netting of bio max (either one all the way across both sponges, or two seperate nettings), then a piece of filter floss, cut to size for the top of the 'stack'. tuck the filter floss in around the edges of your bio max netting if it seems to threaten to go into the tank due to filter flow. you might have to omit the filter floss if it gets in the way of the bio wheels though.

as for the 'bio filter', you are talking about bio wheels, right? if so, then it is true that you should not clean or rinse these unless absolutely necessary.
Click to expand...

Yes, I think thats why I had a big spike in ammonia, I agree with you. And no, I never rinse or clean the bio filter.

Thanks for the advice, that was very informative though :)
 
your welcome. i've done lots of tinkering and macgyvering with filter media and such, and in the process have found what works and what doesn't.
 
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