Ok thankyou im only a novice and did not want to come across like im the expert im just worried about my fish
On the back of the leaflet it says remove carbon and zeolite media from tank and return when dosing is complete (which is 4 days)
Common sence tells me not to take them out but i have done what it says on the instructions
Is there a good chance that im going to have to re cycle my tank now as the filters hold most of the good bacteria, dont they?..
If you were using zeolite, it was unlikely that you had substantial ammounts of bactiria in the filters anyway, as zeolite would out-compete bactiria for algea ery easily. This is one weakness of using zeolite. It may well allow you to fully stock without any ammonia spikes, but if for some reason you have to remove it, you instantly have ammonia troubles.
Do you have a test kit? I am almost curtain that you will experience an ammonia spike within a few hours. If you do not, assume that there is an ammonia spike, and carry out twice dayly waterchanges, arround the 50% mark, to keep any ammonia at bay untill you can get a test kit
Liquid drop checks are best. I would advise you to scrap the zeolite, and move to a biological way of removing ammonia, thus reducing the chances of you having to re-cycle your tank at a later date, for the same reason as you do now. If you haven't alread, I would advise you to have a look at the following thread on fish-in cycling; [topic="10099"]here[/topic] Here is the most important bit from the thread;
How to Save the Day (and the Fish) with an Un-Cycled Tank
OK, so you didn't do Fishless Cycling or you did scrub out your matured tank and now your fish are dying and nothing's breaking down that ammonia and nitrite. What do you do now? unsure.gif
Here's what I do to give my fish the best chance:
1. Immediately do a 10-15% water change with dechlorinated water and continue to do this at least once daily until your tank is cycling (i.e. ammonia and nitrite are at zero).
2. Test the water daily for ammonia and nitrite until the values are holding at zero for several days running. If levels are high, do an immediate, extra water change.
3. If at all possible, get some matured filter media and/or gravel from a matured tank and put it in your tank, suspended in an old stocking. This will hopefully impregnate your new tank with the beneficial bacteria. One lady successfully used floss from a relative's fish pond to colonise her new tank! (you have to be careful that what you use is clean and free from pathogens, of course).
4. Keep good aeration in the tank both to help the fish a little and to oxygenate those beneficial bacteria.
5. Avoid using medications, if at all possible, as many medications kill off beneficial bacteria. Your fish may well get ick, fungus or other infections due to the stress of the ammonia and nitrite but the priority is to get that water quality as good as possible.
6. If you have delicate fish in the tank, such as plecos, corys or other bottom dwellers, tetras, pencilfish etc. try to re-home them temporarily, such as asking the Local Fish Shop to look after them until your tank is cycled (after all, chances are that they got you in this mess in the first place).
7. Live plants can directly use ammonia, so if you can, put some cheap aquatic plants in the tank, such as elodea or giant vallis.
8. Don't feed your fish at all if your ammonia readings are high, and only feed bare minimum rations every other day, until the tank cycles. This will cut down on the ammonia the fish produce. Since fish are cold blooded creatures and don't need the calories of a mammal they can go several days without food anyway, and the occasional fast is good for them. Your fish may not be very hungry anyway so do be careful not to feed more than the fish can eat and clean up uneaten food immediately, before it rots and produces even more ammonia.
9. Only clean the gravel superficially, of obvious dirt and uneaten food. You want the bacteria to colonise it and actually start to grow. Also, don't swap out your filter at this point - if it gets blocked, just clean it enough to unblock it, in used tank water.
My further notes. Do not allow ammonia or nitrite to rise above 0.25mg/l, as it becomes damaging short-tearm above these values. Any detactable reading will be damaging as a long-tearm thing.
HTH
rabbut
