beneficial bacteria

I've had a little ammonia spike in the first week, and nothing since then. It's only week two, but my parents are getting impatient and telling me it should be fine for fish now. The only stocking will be that betta, but I don't want to put her life in danger. She was in a community tank but now...

I know that I'm supposed to wait for beneficial bacteria to build up. I'm planning on doing this by putting fish food in the empty tank. I know that I could also transfer stuff from another tank into the new tank for bacteria. Most resides in the filter, so can I transfer filter media? What I...

I have a planted 10 gallon tank that I have been trying to cycle for over a week now. At first I was adding beneficial bacteria to the tank, but then I got a hold of filter media from an established tank. Before I put the media in the filter, my ammonia was at about 2ppm from dosing a small...

About 3-4 weeks ago I put a small freshly cleaned internal filter into my tank not to any benefit of the tank but for a small fry tank which is currently filterless , Question is will the small internal filter which has been in an established tank for 3-4 weeks be cycled and safe to just drop in...

Hello. I have a 125 gallon freshwater tank and have noticed a couple of my fish have come down with ich. I am running a FX6 canister filter on this tank and also have some plants in the tank. I am planning on using ich-x to treat but will that hurt my beneficial bacteria? I know I have to remove...

Hi all my new tank has arrived Was supposed to be 120g but closer to 110 it’s 500 litres after a long talk with the wife “we” have decided that it’s too big to keep empty and can’t store it , My current tank is 4ft 65-70 g and is established currently running a fx4 filter with about 12 days use...

Hi there. Need help with medications. I have a 10 gallon freshwater with two male guppies. 2 month Fishless cycled tank that has had fish for a little over a week. Water parameters are good. These guys have been in the tank for about 8 days. Saw some light stringy poo from one of them, and now...

I just got some kanaplex or kanamycin and I cant figure out if it kills bb or not some threads said yes and others said no. I need an answer please. The tank params are, ammonia:0, nitrite:0, nitrate:30, ph:6.7. Temp is always around 78-79F. It's a 10 gallon that has been running for 5 months...

My 10 gallon tank is now pretty much empty due to the fact that my betta died not too long ago. All I have left is some java fern, and driftwood.There are of course no other fish in my tank.I was wondering if my beneficial bacteria will starve to death since there is no source of ammonia for it...

I am no scientist but have a brain and have plucked up the courage to post in this section as I am keen to understand what is now known about the survival of the beneficial bacterial within a filter which has shut down?  I have read some conflicting information, that it will die within a few...