when to waterchange

Skip all this -- import mum's bacteria!

If you mother has a stable tank, just get some filter squeezings from her tank. A few cups of thick brown bio-sludge from her filter, added to your filter, will jumpstart your biofiltration so fast you may see that ammonia disappear in hours.
 
I've heard of people doing that. Does it really work? I also heard somehing about staggering the water change and the filter cartridge change, not to change them at the same time. Would you elaborate, please?
 
I've heard of people doing that. Does it really work? I also heard somehing about staggering the water change and the filter cartridge change, not to change them at the same time. Would you elaborate, please?
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Well, the basis behind the instacycle is that you take bacteria from an established tank, put it in your filter, and then add fish right away to give the bacteria a source of ammonia so they don't die.
I suggest to get a new filter cartridge and put it in the established filterbox and let the sponge seed for a few weeks. That establishs a good size colony to start your new tank with, while not robbing your old tank of bacteria.

I don't know about the staggering water changes with filter cartridge changes. You shouldn't be changing your filter cartridge anyways (unless they are crumbling apart).
 
disappearing fish

getting worried had 10 neons yesterday one died no visible signs just kept disappearing down under a cave and this morning one has disappeared.

am going to do a waterchange anyway so will hopefully find it.

water test are ammonia 0 nitrate 5 nitrate .25 ph is 8.0
water temperature is 77

so the waterchange is now to get the nitrate down lower

do you think it is the water settling in that is killing them or could it be something else other than the first one separating from the school and the second seemed a little pale but otherwise was swimming fine and staying with the group.
 
My wife and I just do a 20% water change every day, once in the morning & one in the evening.

With this method, we have observed that our Discus, Flower Horn & Gold fish are more healthier & growing Big as compared to the hobbyist we know and have bred the same fish.
 
Neons are weak fish to begin with and it could easily have died due to toxic water conditions. Do some changes and things should get better. Of course the neons might already be damaged so even doing water changes now you may still see some die for no apparent reason. But for those that aren't sick or hurt the water changes will help a lot.

You are actually trying to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels low at this point. Nitrate is a good inidcator of when to change the water, try not to let it get much above 10 ppm.
 
TKOS said:
Neons are weak fish to begin with and it could easily have died due to toxic water conditions. Do some changes and things should get better. Of course the neons might already be damaged so even doing water changes now you may still see some die for no apparent reason. But for those that aren't sick or hurt the water changes will help a lot.

You are actually trying to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels low at this point. Nitrate is a good inidcator of when to change the water, try not to let it get much above 10 ppm.
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good job you put me straight

ok nitrIte bad nitrAte not so bad

my mum actually only runs an under gravel filter doesnt seem to have the bio filters at all

she also has way too much gravel so i stole some (:p to my mum)
thing is with my mum that it has run efficiently for years so there is no telling her that she should have less gravel or bio filters when she replies with i havent lost a fish in i dont know how long and she only changes water if her neons look a bit dull which hasnt happened in over a YEAR

her readings using my kit (she doesnt have one ) were 0 for the ammonia nitrIte and nitrAte and she had a ph of 7.6

she doesnt even remember cycling her tank tested my nitrIte again and it is not 0 but not the next colour yet either so probably half way to 0.25 still going to water change

when the tank is cycled will all three end up at 0 or should there be detectable nitrAte i know that is way off yet just curious

and will tank not fully cycle till i am totally finished stocking and it has settled after that or will it happen before then

is it every single fish that will have to suffer a spike till the bacteria catch up

and it is really hard doing small changes when you have to work out how much aquaplus to put in so checking if you can overdose the fish on it or if i accidently put too much in is that ok i am talking ml here not bottles if that helps
 
20% waterchange

have done waterchange and readings seem quite good (i think)
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 5

could this mean mums gunky gravel has helped?
still looking for answers to overdose possibility on nutrafin aquaplus for future
also am i going to be subjecting all fish to ammonia and nitrite spikes or just the first victims

i am contemplating lodging my fish in my mothers tank and going fishless
but am wondering if i am over the worst thanks to mothers gunky gravel
is it a good idea to pinch extra gravel each time i put in new fish or is that being too cautious?

i wish i had paid more attention in chemistry
 
Since your mom uses an UGF, the nitrifier colonies in her tank will be concentrated in the gravel, so yes, taking gravel from her tank gave you a good innoculation.

I assume that 'aquaplus' is your dechlorinator. It's unlikely that you'll have a problem with an overdose. However, it seems strange that this should be an issue, for a 32 gallon tank, I'd be changing at least 10g at a time, aiming for a consistent 15-20g per week after the tank is fully cycled.

Yes, you run the risk of another spike every time you add more fish, which is why you should only add small amounts at a time. 1-3 for every 2-3 weeks depending on size. You can add a little more of your mother's gravel, but I think that my choice would be to put some of it in a mesh filter bag, as big a one as you can get, and give it a good rinse in your tank, then toss it back in your mom's tank. No point in adding unneeded gravel to your tank when you just want the bacteria. Keep the bag for next time you want to add fish. I don't know whether or not this will have much of an effect, but it should provide you with a boost to your culture populations.
 
my concern on the over dose is that i drain out a quarter water judging by the side of the tank i dont actually measure it all i just do small bucket loads of the right temperature back in so it could be give or take on 10 gallon change rather than exactly 10 gallons changed son i put in enough to cover ten gallons ,but if i have done under i still put in the ten gallon amount which is 7.5ml

so thanks for helping now at least i can stop worrying that i am overdosing them there
 
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