biospira

[Kuroshio]

Kilo, sounds like you are doing great, just relax a bit. I put fish in mine on day one of the Stability, except one tank. As froggy said, your tank will cycle, whether because of what you do, or in spite of what you do . The important thing is that your nitrites and ammonia are at safe levels and are indeed leveling off. but again, would improve with a W/C and gravel cleaning....

 

[kilo]

my tank is a heavily planted tank so there is a lot of poop and some leaves on the bottom and sometimes when i accidently stir up the gravel, bubbles come out so i'm guessing thats co2 from the decaying matter? i'm going to do a water change today if i have time or tommorow to lower the nitrates cause its looking really high. So do i still continue the dosing of the stability?? i put one more capful in today just in case. Oh and the readings for day 7 is the same as the last 3 days. Anyways thanks for all the help guys. Almost forgot to ask but is there any bioload filter stuff i can put into my filter that can help my bacteria?? there isn't a basket or anything but if its foam or something i can stick it behind the normal cartridge.

 

[FroggyFox]

You can always add extra foam etc to your filter...the only issue is adding enough to where your filter flow is cut down too far and your filter will start overflowing and not going through where you want it to.

You can keep adding as much Stability as you want. As Kuroshio said before, there's nothing harmful in it.

It sounds like what you need to do is get in the weekly 25-30% water change routine and clean that gravel out! You shouldn't stir anything up when you touch the bottom...it should be relatively clean. Otherwise your nitrite level is probably going to stay around .25 and you're asking for an algae bloom.

 

[kilo]

ok i'm going to clean the tank today so i'll see if i can clean some of the gravel cause like i said before, its heavily planted, so theres probably like a few inches that aren't planted and i want the nutrients in the gravel to stay there and i put some plant tabbs in so dont want to waste those either. Thanks again

 

[kilo]

Ok 15-30 minutes after i cleaned my tank and let the water set i tested my tank and here are my readings-
Ammonia-0
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-10
i'm guessing i'm done cycling now cause the ammonia and nitrite are both 0 but i'll have to see tommorow cause its probably due to the water change. But if my nitrites and ammonia stays at 0 for another week does that mean i'm done cycling??

 

[Lotus]

Yes, that's right. Once ammonia and nitrites are at zero, you're done

 

[kilo]

ok thanks, what if i had to remove that through a water change like i did? i thought the bacteria was supposed to remove the nitrites by themselves then it was done.

 

[Lotus]

I would definitely check ammonia and nitrites for the next few days to make sure they stay at zero.

For some unknown reason, there's occasionally a little of ammonia or nitrite that doesn't want to go away on its own. Perhaps because there's a buildup of some other chemical in the water.

 

[kilo]

Hey, everything is doing fine today and everything is at 0 except nitrates. I have a question about a python because i am thinking about investing in one. If i connect it to my water hose outside and then pump the water into my tank then put the water dechlorinator in after i get all the water in will that work? or will it kill my bacteria? are pythons realy worth it?

 

[Lotus]

I would say if your tank is 30 gallons, and you only have one tank, it's not really worth it to get a Python. It's just as easy to do water changes with buckets. If you get more or larger tanks, definitely consider it. Of course, if you have a bad back, or other problem that makes it hard to lift the water, it's probably a good idea.

 

[kilo]

Ya, i can't really move buckets cause i broke a bone in my hand so i do need a python. I usually get my brother to help me carry the buckets but i dont want to bother him anymore. So does putting undechlorinated water into the tank then putting dechlorinator in hurt my bacteria colony??

 

[Lotus]

Well, that makes sense then Yes, you can add the dechlorinator before or while you fill the tank. I have never had it affect a bacteria colony to the point where it's in any way detectable. I prefer to put the dechorinator in while the water is going in, to avoid having the chlorine sit there for a while, although it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[kilo]

hey i am going to get a 50 feet long python or maybe the 25 feet and the 20 feet extender but haven't decided yet, can someone please tell me if the python will fit this faucet? if not does anyone know what kind of adapter i'll be needing cause i dont want to make two trips, thanks.

 

[FroggyFox]

When I got a python it came with all of the adapters needed to attach it to a normal faucet. Unfortunately I found out that my faucets aren't normal...so I can't use it to fill my tanks back up. It works famously for draining into the bathtub though! lol I figure its still worth it to me to cut down 1/2 of my work with the big tank. I dont know about your faucet...but you might check the store's return policy?

 

[kilo]

i'm so sorry, i meant to attach a picture of my faucet but didn't realize it didn't work well hope it attaches. It doesn't have any threads on it so do i have to get another kind of adapter?

 

[Lotus]

You can get a universal adapter for it (they sell them on BigAls, or possibly at PetSmart). Here's the python site: http://www.pythonproducts.com/accessor.htm

You could also consider using another sink, perhaps, maybe in the kitchen.

 

[kilo]

The kitchen sink doesn't have threads either and there is this cap thing that is screwed onto that faucet and i can't take it off i'm thinking of getting it from petsmart, is there return policy good? i'll buy extra adapters jsut in case and if i find one i can return the rest

 

[kilo]

Hey, if i going to be cleaning with a python what will i be using to clean my filter pads? Would i have to get ready another bucket of new dechlorinated water to clean it? Or would that get rid of too much bacteria?

 

[Lotus]

A bucket or even a smaller container of dechlorinated water is fine.

 

[kilo]

Ok i'm going to be ordering it today probably from big al's or Drs Foster and Smith and i'm gonna get the universal adapter too, i looked at a picture of it on Drs Foster and Smith's website and it looked like it can fit my no thread faucet. Anyways thanks a lot for all the help guys.