Hayleys New Cycle Log Pt 2

[eaglesaquarium]

Tank 3 should be fine for Jackson and he will indeed keeping the bacteria ticking along for a hospital tank. (Normally in a hospital tank situation, you only have one or two fish going in there, so there shouldn't be an issue there at all - now or in the future.)

Tank 2 is coming along. I see the drop in nitrites, and the drop in pH. Those items being linked is a good sign. Decrease in nitrite should be accompanied by an increase in nitrates, and even though your test didn't show it, your pH dropped, which would be another sign of a nitrate rise. It's going to happen. It's just going to take a bit more patience, I'm afraid. But, on the positive side, you have two tanks with fish and they are both showing double zeros!


You are getting close to the point where you could steal a little media from Tank 1 to seed Tank 2 a little more. (You did say that you had ceramics, right? If so, just grab a small handful and place them into the filter of Tank 2 (I usually keep mine in an empty filter floss "bag" - it makes is easier to "clean"). That would give your cycle there a little boost, without harming Tank 1. Just replace the amount of ceramics you move over and it will be colonized in no time.



I would also mention that the movement of ceramics like this will also help Tank 3, in the case that you need to add more than just one or two fish to that tank in the future. Just grab a handful of ceramics from whichever tank has the most fish in it at the time and replace. Tank 3 will be good to go almost instantly.



Are you keeping up with your water changes on Tank 3 so that Jackson has clean water to heal in?

 

[HayzH]

Tank 3 should be fine for Jackson and he will indeed keeping the bacteria ticking along for a hospital tank. (Normally in a hospital tank situation, you only have one or two fish going in there, so there shouldn't be an issue there at all - now or in the future.)

Tank 2 is coming along. I see the drop in nitrites, and the drop in pH. Those items being linked is a good sign. Decrease in nitrite should be accompanied by an increase in nitrates, and even though your test didn't show it, your pH dropped, which would be another sign of a nitrate rise. It's going to happen. It's just going to take a bit more patience, I'm afraid. But, on the positive side, you have two tanks with fish and they are both showing double zeros!


You are getting close to the point where you could steal a little media from Tank 1 to seed Tank 2 a little more. (You did say that you had ceramics, right? If so, just grab a small handful and place them into the filter of Tank 2 (I usually keep mine in an empty filter floss "bag" - it makes is easier to "clean"). That would give your cycle there a little boost, without harming Tank 1. Just replace the amount of ceramics you move over and it will be colonized in no time.



I would also mention that the movement of ceramics like this will also help Tank 3, in the case that you need to add more than just one or two fish to that tank in the future. Just grab a handful of ceramics from whichever tank has the most fish in it at the time and replace. Tank 3 will be good to go almost instantly.



Are you keeping up with your water changes on Tank 3 so that Jackson has clean water to heal in?

whats a filter floss bag?

yes..tank 2 is slowly treking along.
Because i have also had to change my filter again...they gave me a replacement this time so i gave back the original knackered one. (as i had to BUY the second one)
SO....i know have 2 filters running in Tank 1 the new one i had replaced today, with the used media and the second one (that i actually complained about today...but actually took back the one i had originally)with new media in.

Will this help the tank?

liking the ceramics in Tank 3 idea..will remember that. ( i have the white biomedia - like pumise stone)

why are they brown and slimy in the esablished filter??? Should they be?

i will update log again..
Did a 40 % W/C on Tank 3 last night. and a 80% on Tank 1 last night too. Been adding MYxazin to tank 3 (jackson) and started Pimafix on Tank 1 (platies/cories/cardinals) today for body rot!

This hobby is hard!!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Yes, established filter media looks kind of gross. That's normal and GOOD! You want to swish the media around in a bucket of old tank water every month or so to ensure that water can flow through it. Some of the brown gross stuff is biofilm, produced by the nitrifying bacteria you have worked so hard to cultivate. Some of it is just mulm (dead plant material - if you have live plants, leftover food, fish waste, etc.).


You are having a lot of trouble with your fish, primarily because they were stressed from ammonia for so long. The more important thing than medicating your fish is to keep the water changes going. The best thing for sick fish really is clean water. Many times just having clean water to swim in will enable the fish to get themselves well with their own immune system. I'm certainly not an expert on sick fish, but I do know that fish immune systems are capable of allowing them to stay healthy, when they have the proper conditions. Generally illnesses only get a chance to get a foothold with the fish if the fish are already dealing with another issue.


A filter floss bag is my word for it, would look something like this:

It is like a herb sachet or spice bag, only a little bigger. It allows you to put your ceramics (or the pumice stone like things you are mentioning) into it which will enable an easy way to remove it from your filter. Then you can rinse all the filter media, every month or so, with very little difficulty.

 

[HayzH]

Day 73 in the Miserable house!!!

Nitrite on T2 was actually 0.25 this morning...bout blooming time!!

Yes, established filter media looks kind of gross. That's normal and GOOD! You want to swish the media around in a bucket of old tank water every month or so to ensure that water can flow through it. Some of the brown gross stuff is biofilm, produced by the nitrifying bacteria you have worked so hard to cultivate. Some of it is just mulm (dead plant material - if you have live plants, leftover food, fish waste, etc.).


You are having a lot of trouble with your fish, primarily because they were stressed from ammonia for so long. The more important thing than medicating your fish is to keep the water changes going. The best thing for sick fish really is clean water. Many times just having clean water to swim in will enable the fish to get themselves well with their own immune system. I'm certainly not an expert on sick fish, but I do know that fish immune systems are capable of allowing them to stay healthy, when they have the proper conditions. Generally illnesses only get a chance to get a foothold with the fish if the fish are already dealing with another issue.


A filter floss bag is my word for it, would look something like this:

It is like a herb sachet or spice bag, only a little bigger. It allows you to put your ceramics (or the pumice stone like things you are mentioning) into it which will enable an easy way to remove it from your filter. Then you can rinse all the filter media, every month or so, with very little difficulty.

but they werent subject to ammonia..i put then in when the cycles were virtually done... and readings were 0 - 0
I did a fishless cycle for 55 days with T1 and 57 with T3!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Day 73 in the Miserable house!!!

Nitrite on T2 was actually 0.25 this morning...bout blooming time!!

but they werent subject to ammonia..i put then in when the cycles were virtually done... and readings were 0 - 0
I did a fishless cycle for 55 days with T1 and 57 with T3!

I thought I remembered that you had a mini-cycle issue a few days (maybe a week) ago.


I just reread the first post, and the spike was just one day. So, that's good. It couldn't have helped things, but probably wasn't the culprit I thought initially. Still keep up with the water changes. You need clean water for the fish. That is more important than the meds, in my opinion.

 

[HayzH]

thanks..yeah it's like minimal...i always over estimate when my eyes can't decide if its yellow or slightly green tinge

it's all back to 0 - 0 today so, it's mini mini cycles when i've added fish. I also have both the fluval U2's in T1 now. The poorly platy's still have scales missing...any ideas? I'm adding pimafix for body/fin rot. bemused as to what it is though? why do they loose scales?

I didnt test tank 2 today...its starting to really get me down.. so i will keep dosing and test every few days.

Jacksons tank seems ok..he seems to have a touch of fin rot which i am adding Myxazin.he really perks up when i add it to the water. The glowlights are doing fine too. Not sure what to feed them though as Jackson has his crushed pellets, i just added a few extra this morning to ensure they ate some too. Jackson is sooo funny..he sucks it in and sucks it like a dummy!!

 

[HayzH]

updated