Warm Weather

[linux442]

Hi All,
my tank is reaching around 25 c which is high for my goldies, i put an ice cube in it which is melted in the water after few mins and brings the temp down by 1 c . i do this every 10 hours or so

i don't add any water conditioner, is that ok?

ok 2nd note, i did change my carbon filter with normal sponge on my u4 fluvel filter. since then i have noticed that my ammonia has increased, is this because the batria should build up on the 2nd sponge despite the bio and other sponges that were in the tank for a while so had bactirias on them ?


when you remove the filters, if you squeez it hard to remove dirt and .., will it kill bactrias?


thanks

 

[tomtomtom1230]

Squeezing sponges wont kill the bacteria but chlorine from the ice cubes may have harmed the balance. Most likely, the carbon expired in the sponge and a bacteria colony and formed on it which you removed. You're probably just going through a mini-cycle You sound like you sort of know what you're doing. When the readings get high, do a big water change (30% or more, preferably 50% or more but a third of the water is better than nothing). It could take about a week to correct it's self.

 

[OldMan47]

Squeezing a sponge will not harm the bacteria. Bacteria are tiny and you can't possibly squeeze hard enough to affect them. Ice cubes seldom contain much water and water up to about 10% of the total can be changed with no dechlorinator at all, if you are willing to risk it. Lots of people do exactly that on a daily basis with no ill effects noted. At 25C, with gold fish, I would be trying to drop the temperature a lot more than 1C. Can you do enough to drop it to say 22C? How about freezing a block of "blue ice" and then placing it in the tank to cool it? It would probably do far more than a real ice cube ever could.