Biological media problem

[Stanster59]

Very useful thanks. What floating plants should I consider ?

Something I've always wondered, if you get the ammonia/ nitrite down to zero , what do the bacteria feed on ?

 

[Stanster59]

Anyone tried one of these

Seachem - Ammonia Alert

www.seachem.com

 

[Essjay]

Something I've always wondered, if you get the ammonia/ nitrite down to zero , what do the bacteria feed on ?

Fish make ammonia 24/7. There is always ammonia being produced in an aquarium but the bacteria 'eat' it almost as soon as the fish make it which is why we never see it when we test. And the nitrite eaters 'eat' the nitrite as soon as the ammonia eaters make it.

 

[seangee]

Fish make ammonia 24/7. There is always ammonia being produced in an aquarium but the bacteria 'eat' it almost as soon as the fish make it which is why we never see it when we test. And the nitrite eaters 'eat' the nitrite as soon as the ammonia eaters make it.

If you use the ammonia sink approach the bacteria may well starve. This is fine. I know I have almost no bacteria in my tanks and the filters are only there for mechanical filtration and water circulation. On the plus side I don't have to worry about filters failing or ever becoming "uncycled".

 

[Essjay]

In a tank without plants, ammonia and nitrite should be zero, but the bacteria are still being fed by the fish. But i agree with seangee about planted tanks.
I have frogbit, a floating plant, covering just about all the surface of my tanks and I have virtually no bacteria in my filters. I found this out when I took some mature media to do an instant cycle in my quarantine tank, added ammonia to make sure there were enough bacteria for the fish I wanted to buy and ended up doing a full fishless cycle.

 

[seangee]

In a tank without plants, ammonia and nitrite should be zero, but the bacteria are still being fed by the fish. But i agree with seangee about planted tanks.
I have frogbit, a floating plant, covering just about all the surface of my tanks and I have virtually no bacteria in my filters. I found this out when I took some mature media to do an instant cycle in my quarantine tank, added ammonia to make sure there were enough bacteria for the fish I wanted to buy and ended up doing a full fishless cycle.

Exactly how I found out. Except I skipped the fish less cycle and threw a bucket of frogbit in

 

[Essjay]

The next time I set up the QT, I took some water sprite from my main tank (now replaced with frogbit) and got some elodea at the same time as the fish. That worked perfectly. If I ever need to set up the QT again, I'll use just plants.

 

[Stanster59]

40% change today and levels down to zero before and after.
I'm thinking it was a spike caused by me not using prime as my dechlorinator for around a month when I was putting the new media in.
I've ordered some more plants to put in at the next change and then maybe think about slowly adding fish again.