New Aquarist Needing Advice!

[JayP]

Hey! I was just going to say I was only having a laugh! I really appreciate all the comments so far, I certainly have a much better grasp on things now! I'm actually considering buying a new filter as looking at reviews of the marina slim, it doesn't seem to be up to much.

 

[fluttermoth]

Hey! I was just going to say I was only having a laugh! I really appreciate all the comments so far, I certainly have a much better grasp on things now! I'm actually considering buying a new filter as looking at reviews of the marina slim, it doesn't seem to be up to much.

We weren't taking you seriously, buddy

 

[Mamashack]

That might be your best bet and if you could get someone to donate the mature media as discussed before that should kick-start the process for you and cut down on a bit of waiting time. I used mature gravel from my other tank and the process took 4 weeks so with mature filter media it should be less than that all being well!

 

[JayP]

Any recommendations for good filters ladies??

 

[Mamashack]

I've got a Fluval U1 and it's in a 60L tank at the moment and (touch wood!) works perfectly in there! It's good up to 55L and I reckon that I have around 50L of actual water when the substrate and equipment are taken into consideration.
I have an Interpet mini in the 30L and that seems fine too. They do bigger versions for bigger tanks tho I haven't got any of those.

 

[JayP]

Will have a look! Would you say run both to start or just start running a new filter? I'm currently running the marina slim with three ammo lock pads and a piece of sponge at the back however would probably be better taking out the Ammon lock pads and letting the bacteria do their thing

 

[Mamashack]

I think I'd ditch the ammo-lock purely because they will be removing the very thing that feeds and encourages the friendly bacteria to develop in the sponge. You can always move the sponge from the marina slim to your new filter once you decide what you want. Just make sure your new one has enough capacity for your tank size if you intend to stock it fully. I got the Marina style 60 tank with the marina 15s and I didn't even use it - just transferred the Fluval U1 from my 30L tank (it was much bigger than it needed to be for that tank)

 

[JayP]

Ohh! Exciting times, I've just done a water check and my readings are as follows

Ammonia - 0.50ppm
Nitrite 1.0ppm
Nitrate 5.0ppm

Could this be a sign that things are happening? Could be that the sponge is making a difference?

 

[Mamashack]

Is this the sponge you got from your friend? The fact that you have nitrItes shows that things are moving in the right direction. Might be worth testing your tap water for nitrAtes and the other parameters just so you have the background numbers. Mine is 10-20ppm nitrAtes straight from the tap! The presence of nitrItes tho shows that the ammonia bacs are definitely developing and of course it may be that the nitrIte bacs are present too if you've got donated mature filter medium in there. So it might not be too long at all. The ammonia and nitrItes need to be cleared by the bacs to 0 in 12-24 hrs for a week before adding fish.

 

[JayP]

No it's a brand new piece of sponge I put in on Sunday. I've got it sitting to the rear of the ammo lock pads. Just a plain piece of sponge. This is the first time in almost four weeks I've had a reading for nitrite and nitrate so I don't think it's my water. Very encouraging!

 

[JayP]

Readings this morning

Ammonia 0.25ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm

 

[Mamashack]

I still think you should test your tap water so that you won't be disappointed again. It's always good to know what your tap water is delivering for when you are doing serious water changes once there are fish in there. pH and nitrAtes especially - pH because you should stock your tank with fish suited to that pH rather than trying to adjust it with chemicals - even the experts find that extremely tricky and nitrAtes because it gives you an indication of what % water change you'll need to reduce the inevitable nitrAtes which are the end product of ammonia conversion.


Which water test kit are you using? If you've already said sorry but 7 pages is a lot to read to find out.
If it's API master kit then the nitrate no.2 bottle needs some hammer for at least a minute as there are 2 reagents in there that need to be well mixed before adding to the water.
NitrAtes will never spontaneously be reduced only by water change so something's wrong with the test result - either yesterday's or today's

 

[JayP]

It's the API master test kit. Yeah strange that its dropped down again, maybe the ammo lock pads?

Will test the tap water when I'm finished work

 

[Mamashack]

As far as I'm aware nothing removes nitrAtes other than a water change and, to some extent, live plants. So it seems one of your test results was wrong. Try testing again after making sure you have bashed the living daylights out of nitrate bottle no.2 for a good minute and then see what the result is. Then compare that with your tap water that you are planning to test later too.

 

[goldfinger]

I have to agree as its finally clicked in my head Ammonia locking wether its pads, purgen or safe start really slows thinks up, I would only use them in an emergency on a established tank to get rid of spikes when somethings is dead in the water.
Take my new tank I used safestart becuase I think its safer to stick a fish in right away even with established filters, but I've had Nitrite spikes in two days, so instead of a "quick fix", by using another established filter is better long run as the correct bacteria can deal with any future spikes or overloads in Ammonia or Nitrites.
This said you have it easy as you have no fish in the tank!