thanks for the confirmation WD and Lioness,

the planting was dojne and apart from one particular plant that burst free 4 times (once the tank was filled of course) everything is looking good. I did a quick ammonia test this morning, and it seemed to have dropped a bit but was down to 2ppm after 9 hours or so

I assume that because the water put in the tank was cold, the bacteria haven't been processing it as quickly as they did previously [PLEASE DON'T TELL ME I'VE KILLED HALF MY COLONY WITHCOLD WATER]

Coupld of things to check RE water changes:

because i wasn't emptying all the water, i left the filter material in the internal filter, while i emptied and then filled back again. the whole process took about 2 hours i guess. At no time did the fileter dry out, and when i was replacing the water, i did pour it in to the filter and then added the dechlorinator every 4 buckets worth - will that have harmed the bacteria?

i guess i'll see when i get home, but would love to here of another method to pour in loads of water without messing up the planting etc

Thanks

Simon

so you poured water straight from the buckets into the filter without adding dechlor first ...... ???

1 capful = 4 buckets worth

so it was going in 1 in 4

a truly DOH! moment when i realised - serves me right for rushing i guess.

hope to see the pale yellow when i get home

to do it ina rush, work out how much dechlor you'll need for the whole change, add that directly to the tank then add water straight into the tank....


the slopw down means you probably nuked some of your ABacs which the chlorine/chloramine, however the fact that it's dropping means you've not got them all.

thanks MW - as always a calm voice )

if i did that, would i have to pour the water straight into the tank? rather than the filterblock? i only poured it in the filter block so that the garish stones pattern (remember that?) wouldn't get too disturbed.

is there another way of pouring in en masse without causing mini tidal waves?

thanks

Simon

oh yes i forgot your stone pattern, how is that doing now?!

yes you would need to pour directly into the tank, if you want to pour directly into the filter i would recommend you dechlor water before adding it and try to match the temps a little bit.

try filling the tank with a hose pipe instead of a bucket, cos you've a tap you've better control over the flow, so just run it slowly in and point the flow of the hose against the glass which will dissipate it

the patterns are still there although somewhat blurred by the planting scheme. rather than have a clump of plants, i thought i would space them out (even managed to get some pink plants !!!! lol)

next time dechlor straight in and the pipe then.

i'll see what the temp and ammonia levels are this evening.

logically - even if i've killed of half the colony, that should only knock me back a day?

The reason i didn't put the dechlor all in at the beginning (because i did have this thought) was that i didn't know if it would "hang around" once it was put in to the tank and so wait for the tank to fill up.

I'll remember the temperature hint as well for next time - it was still a bit cool this morning - i am hoping that the bacteria just hibernated due to temp, rather than were slaughtered due to my ineptitude.

still - rather learn while cycling, rather than have inverted floating bodies in the morning ;-)

Regards

Simon
- unmetered internet access at work is definately a worthwhile perk.

bacteria growth is not always as predictable as we'd like!! I'd expect this to set you back a couple of days unfortunatley, just got to stick with it and hope for the best!!

I almost did this too, I worked out how much for every two buckets and was going to add it alternately then it dawned on me! I got a 1 ml pipette and just used that.



Does this work then? I was too scared to top up by hose adding the water safe stuff to the tank in case a bit of chlorine got to my filter before the dechlorinator had chance to act.

yeah it's fine, most people with big tanks do this


can you imagine doing a water change using buckets on a 900 gallon tank?!

Yes, completely agree with MW on this latest exchange.

When fishless cycling, I add water directly to the tank via a hose. I split the overall dechlor via RDD's method, putting half into the tank water prior to, or just when starting the hose (eg. for me, a slight half-capful of Prime) and then the other half capful (or whatever) near the end of the fill.

For fishless cycling I tended to roughly match the temperature because for me it was easy to do (using indoor adjustable taps) and, for better or worse, I've never been worried about too many minerals in my hot water heater etc. However, I don't think there straight cold water is any problem at all - bacteria don't mind it in the least, and the heater will warm it up soon enough to keep the overall bacterial growth moving along as quickly as possible.

~~waterdrop~~

well hey ...I got the answer to an issue I was having even! I bought a big bottle of dechlor not even a month ago and its gone already because I thought I needed to add some to each bucketful while I was refilling the tank for a water change. I only have a 10 gallon mind, but I overdose on the dechlor a bit because it brings my ph up like I need it too...so now I know I can add to the 1st bucket but dont need to the 2nd bucket according to what ya'll are saying...saves me a few bucks thanks

buy pond dechlor........ goes a whole lot further!! on a 10gal tank 1ml would probably be overdosing

hi all,

i think i have got away with it (although i have "skinned my knees")

reading this evening:

Ammonia 1ppm (down from 5ppm after the water change)
nitrite 2ppm - so still food for the "slow" bacteria to grow on
nitrate 10ppm - although i'm not convinced as it is a bland orangy colour and never changes
ph - around 6.5/7

my summary is that no:1 bacteria have lost a battallion, but there is still a division fighting the good fight. no.2 bacteria haven't changed any so they may have taken a bit of a pasting (hard to tell, but at least there is still ammo for them)

panic over!

Simon

The nitrite phase, developing a healthy population of N-Bacs, can often go on considerably longer than the first phase of developing A-Bacs, so just carry on if need be. Glad you sorted that out.

~~waterdrop~~