Changing Media During Cycle

[dalios]

Hi
 
i did a fish-in cycle with 4 mollies using tetra safestart the tank has nearly been running and in use for 2weeks now i do tests everyday ammonia is still at 0.25 nitrite 0 nitrate 0 with the api liquid kit. So far fish seem fine and active no colour loss etc, my tank is 180l juwel vision. My water went very murky after a day a few days on it cleared but has now gone quite murky again i am guessing this is a bacterial bloom?
 
I am running the internal built in juwel filter and also an external canister filter, i have done no water changes as yet since set up as i read on here in a post that when using safestart not to do a water change for 2weeks unless ammonia gets up.
 
On my internal filter the poly pad (floss) has gone a really dirty like brown-green colour and there is green-brown bits on parts of the other media foams, unsure of the external filter as havnt looked yet, should i leave the foams inside the internal filter alone or change?
 
Is this just where the useful bacterial is building up in there during the cycle
 
thanks

 

[fluttermoth]

The bacteria will stain the media that brown/green colour as it builds up, yes.
 
Do not change any of the foams. If they look very dirty or clogged, you can clean them gently in some old tank water. You only want to get lose dirt off, not try an get them looking new.
 
Floss, as long as it's less than a quarter of your total media, can be replaced. It doesn't make a good home for bacteria anyway, so won't cause you problems.
 
I've never used Safe Start for cycling, so I can't really comment on that.

 

[b3cca]

at 0.25 ppm I would say that the ammonia IS up.
Not sure what safestart is but surely the health of the fish is paramount and I would do a PWC as soon as seeing any ammonia or Nitrite at all.
I fish in cycled and was sometimes doing 2-3 PWC per day to keep everything good and still I was fully in around 4 weeks so the water changes obviously never slowed or harmed my cycle at .
 
On the Juwel Filters, ignore the advice you get with it about changing those green and blue sponge filters every few weeks.
you will have white floss on top then carbon then green and then blue.
 
The white floss is basically the mechanical filter to trap larger muck and holds little (if any) bacteria so you should simply clean or change this when it gets too mucky or clogged.
 
All the other blue and green sponges in there (apart from carbon) are where your bacteria colonise,grow and live and you should never change these sponges at all unless they are falling to pieces which will not be for a good few years yet. Mine have been in for nearly 2 years and still look good as new.
If they get clogged and slow the filter then simply give them a quick rinse in used treated tank water and then put them back in.

 

[dalios]

thanks for the advice and to you becca about the filter media in the juwel pump, i thought it would cost a fortune as i read to change the white floss every week black carbon every 2weeks think green was 4 weeks blue 4-6 not 100% sure i know the bottom 2 blue ones were 9-12months but i did think that is a little crazy so i will as you say just give them a clean in a bucket of tank water when they clog up and untill they fall apart i will change these, i have an external filter also so there wouldnt be a need to change these as often as they say! i will change the white floss from time to time but what about the black carbon should i change this regular or give it a clean same as the others? i do have a spare carbon sponge as i got 2 in the pack?
 
Safestart is by tetra which is a bottle of bacteria which there are other brands but it puts bacterial in the tank and filters to speed up the cycle wish i had joined here before to read about the fishless cycle.
 
Thanks a lot

 

[Essjay]

You don't actually need to use the carbon sponge on a routine basis. It is useful for removing the medication after treatment has finished if you ever have sick fish, and for removing the brown colour from bogwood, but little else. I would take out the black sponge and leave the others in the cupboard just in case.
The green sponge is supposed to remove nitrate but I've yet to hear of anyone saying it works. However, it is a good home for the filter bacteria so just leave it in there, same as for the blue sponges.
The white pad will need changing. It gets mucky very quickly and will only go through one wash, maybe two, before going all shapeless and holey. Buy a roll of filter wool and use the pads you have as a template to cut the roll up. That is much cheaper than buying Juwel pads.

 

[b3cca]

Lol yes I thought excactly the same think when I first got my new juwel thinking wow I have to buy lots of media every few months.
 
Like EJ says with White filter floss I just buy a huge roll from Ebay really cheap and then just cut it down to size to fit in the filter, no need to buy those more expensive ready cut Juwel ones as any filter floss will do the same job.
 
Think that green Nitrax sponge apparently has a little tablet inside that slowly dissolves into the water. It is claimed to reduce Nitrates but your regular partial water changes will reduce Nitrates anyways and the natural non chemical way is always the best IMO.
 
Carbon - I have never used it I simply bought another blue sponge and cut it down to the size of the carbon pad and put it in where the carbon was to have more bio media.

 

[dalios]

Thanks for all the help people will save me a fortune! Had a little look on ebay and it is tons cheaper to buy a roll of it instead of keep buying the juwel ones.
 
Becca do you the thickness of the filter floss you use in MM?
There is 5-8mm 12-15mm 25-30mm and a few more thicker.
 
I will also then change the carbon black filter to a blue one but should i use the blue course sponge or blue fine sponge? would of thought course as i have 2 fine in the very bottom but thought would ask.
 
Thanks again helped a lot!