1st Media Change... Suggestions?

[GOURA-MAN]

Yes, my first media change in the next couple weeks...

50 gallon tank
1 Dwarf Gourami
6 Bleeding Heart Tetra
5 Plants
Run with the Rena X2 Cannister for a 75 Gallon tank

So far ammonia is still high, but nitrates and nitrites are slowly rising.
pH is about where I want it at 6.6 to 6.8 ppm
Water clarity is about 8.5 out of 10.

I have extra drawers for more media, any suggestions are greatly appreciated...

 

[BigIan]

i`d add some floss, or possibly one of the finer filter pads,

as this would give you better water clarity. and give you more surface area for bacteria to breed on, surely if the tank is cycled then you shouldnt be having an amonia build up?

 

[jayjay]

Yes, my first media change in the next couple weeks...

50 gallon tank
1 Dwarf Gourami
6 Bleeding Heart Tetra
5 Plants
Run with the Rena X2 Cannister for a 75 Gallon tank

So far ammonia is still high, but nitrates and nitrites are slowly rising.
pH is about where I want it at 6.6 to 6.8 ppm
Water clarity is about 8.5 out of 10.

I have extra drawers for more media, any suggestions are greatly appreciated...

how long has the tank been running, was it cycled??? or are you cycling it? if you are i wouldn't of reccommended those fish myself.

you shouldn't have any problems with ammonia or nitrites in a fully cycled tank and you should get rid of nitrates in water changes.

if your tank isn't cycled then you need to do some water changes, everyday 25%, i would of reccommended you had done a fishless cycle.

DO NOT TOUCH THE FILTER MEDIA if that tank is not cycled in will only slow the whole process down alot.

even after the tank is cycled though i very rarely change the filter pads themself, i do however change floss and the like. but i only change 1 of my pads at a time no more, if you do it puts yourself back where you started no good bateria to break down all the waste.

 

[BigIan]

while were on the subject jay jay, how often do you clean your filter? as i`ve just cycled my tank and i`m rather scared to clean my filter incase i cause a mini cycle

 

[jayjay]

i clean each filter in all my tanks (excluding the pond) once a week.

if your worried about cleaning the filter media just wash it gentally in water you've just taken from the tank. don't clean it perfectly just enough to get most of the dirt off. my media at one point was white now it's brown lol but i haven't replaced them because they are now very effective with lots of bacteria. do not wash filter media ever under the tap as it will kill all the bateria on it, thats why we condtion tap water.

if you've just finished cycling your tank you should be doing or have done a 90% roughly water change at the end??? i would just wipe the grim on the pad/media off with my hand and put the media back in, not wash it to hard as its not very established yet.

as long as the don't do anything like really wipe/wash the filter or put in under tap water your alright you shouldn't have a mini cycle.

but you should stock slowly any how to stop an overload and the like.

hope i helped you. ask if there's anything else