40 gallon / 155liters - silent cycle - green or red? Stocking suggestions please!

[Cmdr_DASh]

It is OK to rinse media in old water taken out during a water change to remove the brown goo that builds up.
There won't be many bacteria in the filter tubes so bleaching those won't kill many.

But with the amount of live plants in your tank, you won't have many bacteria anyway. Plants take up ammonia faster than the bacteria and plants turn ammonia into protein rather than nitrite, so with very little food available bacteria only grow in small numbers compared to a tank with no live plants.

This is very helpful, thanks @Essjay! I was thinking I have lots of beneficial bacteria in the filter...

 

[Essjay]

A couple of years ago I took some filter media from my main tank to set up a quarantine tank as I'd seen some fish I wanted in a local shop. The main tank had mainly slow growing plants but also a lot of floating plants (the surface was almost completely covered). To make sure the QT could cope, I added a 3 ppm dose of ammonia. It was still 3 ppm next day, and the day after. It took a 6 week fishless cycle before the QT was ready for fish. The plants and bacteria on every other surface in the tank meant there were virtually no bacteria in the media.

Your tank is a lot more heavily planted than mine was back then.

 

[Byron]

I concur with essjay, but just to give you something to think about...rinsing filter media under the tap is not a problem in established tanks, even without plants. The chlorine in tap water willnot kill all nitrifying bacteria, as it is usually not that strong (it has to be safe for humans), and you only rinse the media so the exposure time is not significant. After all, where do the initial bacteria come from in a new tank, when we "cycle" it? From the tap water. If the chlorine killed all of this bacteria, we would not be able to cycle a tank at all, without introducing bacteria from another source.

BTW, never, never use bleach on filter media, as it will become absorbed and likely leech out. Rinse the media under the tap at every water change if needed. It takes a lot of good scrubbing to dislodge bacteria from surfaces.

 

[Cmdr_DASh]

Thank you @Byron , this is useful. How about air: would nitrifying bacteria die if exposed to air for too long?

 

[Essjay]

As long as the media the bacteria are on is even just damp, the bacteria won't won't be affected. They are a lot more robust than people think. The bacteria live in biofilm attached to surfaces and this biofilm has to totally dry out to harm the bacteria.
It used to be thought they would die if they didn't have any food for 24 hours. But we now know it takes months for them to die. After a few weeks without food they go dormant first, only dying some weeks later.

But your tank is heavily planted so you won't rely on bacteria to remove ammonia, the plants will do it. And with plants there is no nitrite.

 

[Animallover😍]

But your tank is heavily planted so you won't rely on bacteria to remove ammonia, the plants will do it. And with plants there is no nitrite.

Agree. I don't even have filter media. I use filter floss.

 

[Cmdr_DASh]

As long as the media the bacteria are on is even just damp, the bacteria won't won't be affected. They are a lot more robust than people think. The bacteria live in biofilm attached to surfaces and this biofilm has to totally dry out to harm the bacteria.
It used to be thought they would die if they didn't have any food for 24 hours. But we now know it takes months for them to die. After a few weeks without food they go dormant first, only dying some weeks later.

But your tank is heavily planted so you won't rely on bacteria to remove ammonia, the plants will do it. And with plants there is no nitrite.

Great info, thanks a lot, knowing this is making my life much easier!

I need advice on another matter: probably because of higher temperature and running the air pump full time now, my PH has started to go up. It went from 7.6 (this was my original value) slowly, over the course of 6 days, to 7.8 and it's now at 8.0. Should I worry?

 

[Byron]

I need advice on another matter: probably because of higher temperature and running the air pump full time now, my PH has started to go up. It went from 7.6 (this was my original value) slowly, over the course of 6 days, to 7.8 and it's now at 8.0. Should I worry?

You should track down the reason, yes. An increasing pH can be as troublesome as a lowering pH.

First, what is the GH, KH and pH of your source (tap) water on its own? Remember that when testing pH in tap water you need to outgas the CO2 as this affects the test. Let a container of fresh tap water sit 245 hours, then test pH. This is not needed with aquarium water, only tap.

Also, do you have any calcareous substances in the tank? These include rock, gravel or sand composed of minerals like calcium. Shells and coral also are calcium. Any of these can increase the pH.

What fish species are inn the tank? The pH may or may not be an issue for certain fish, once it is stable--a fluctuating pH is troublesome to all fish.

 

[Cmdr_DASh]

You should track down the reason, yes. An increasing pH can be as troublesome as a lowering pH.

Higher temperature, going from 24 to 30, and running air full time, more O2 in water (as opposed to only 2 hours before). I think this is the reason, but I may be wrong. PH has been stable before this.

First, what is the GH, KH and pH of your source (tap) water on its own? Remember that when testing pH in tap water you need to outgas the CO2 as this affects the test. Let a container of fresh tap water sit 245 hours, then test pH. This is not needed with aquarium water, only tap.

I have not properly (i.e. let water sit 24 hours) checked myself yet but I think the tap water parameters are GH 7.8, KH 11, pH 7.5. I will test and report back.

Also, do you have any calcareous substances in the tank? These include rock, gravel or sand composed of minerals like calcium. Shells and coral also are calcium. Any of these can increase the pH.

No, none of these. I paid very close attention to pick rocks, gravel, etc that are not raising pH.

What fish species are inn the tank? The pH may or may not be an issue for certain fish, once it is stable--a fluctuating pH is troublesome to all fish.

I only have 15 x Cardinal Tetras (Paracheirodon axelrody) and 9 x red cherry shrimps (bloody marry shrimps).

 

[Cmdr_DASh]

Higher temperature, going from 24 to 30, and running air full time, more O2 in water (as opposed to only 2 hours before). I think this is the reason, but I may be wrong. PH has been stable before this.

I have not properly (i.e. let water sit 24 hours) checked myself yet but I think the tap water parameters are GH 7.8, KH 11, pH 7.5. I will test and report back.

I have tested the tap water, after letting it sit about 30 hours: pH 7.4, KH 7, GH 8
My aquarium pH seems to be stabilised now at pH 7.7

All else seems to be going good. The water has been more clear since I turned up the heat. I can barely see ich on the fishes. My Limnophila is no longer dying. Tons of snails... I think they are hungry as they seem to be fighting over food. I hope my shrimps are not starving... they are growing fast.

 

[Byron]

I have tested the tap water, after letting it sit about 30 hours: pH 7.4, KH 7, GH 8
My aquarium pH seems to be stabilised now at pH 7.7

All else seems to be going good. The water has been more clear since I turned up the heat. I can barely see ich on the fishes. My Limnophila is no longer dying. Tons of snails... I think they are hungry as they seem to be fighting over food. I hope my shrimps are not starving... they are growing fast.

Good. Monitor the pH for a while and if it fluctuates up significantly let us know. When testing pH of aquarium water, always test at the same time of day each day. The pH does vary diurnally, and by a couple to a few decimal points, so testing at say 10 am each day, or whatever time you choose so long as it is consistent, will give you a more accurate idea of fluctuations if any. In my planted tanks for example, testing early in the morning (shortly after the tank light comes on), the pH might be say 6.2, but if I test just before the tank lights go out, it might be 6.4 or 6.5, whatever.

 

[Cmdr_DASh]

Good. Monitor the pH for a while and if it fluctuates up significantly let us know. When testing pH of aquarium water, always test at the same time of day each day. The pH does vary diurnally, and by a couple to a few decimal points, so testing at say 10 am each day, or whatever time you choose so long as it is consistent, will give you a more accurate idea of fluctuations if any. In my planted tanks for example, testing early in the morning (shortly after the tank light comes on), the pH might be say 6.2, but if I test just before the tank lights go out, it might be 6.4 or 6.5, whatever.

And here I was thinking I can test in the morning after dropping the kids to school or in the evening after putting them to bed... Thanks @Byron it's very good to know!

 

[Cmdr_DASh]

Saturday I did the regular maintenance. I properly cleaned the canister filter, washing all the media of the brown organic matter, and made sure it's not packed too tight. Original filter flow restored. I'm planning to trim the plants at the next maintenance, as they are growing too much. I'm just waiting to get the temperature down to 25C once 2 weeks have passed.

Water parameters continue to be the same, running at 30C temp.

Everything was going good until today. Fish seemed happy, playing and no more signs of ich. At lunch time today all was good, only to find at about 5 PM what I thought it was 2 fishes dead in the filter inlet... As I go to remove them from the tank, they were not actually dead, just stuck between the glass and the filter foam at the filter inlet... Pretty banged up, they needed a bit to recover and swim again. I moved the inlet a bit farther away from the glass. Not sure if this is just a freak accident - I suspect something else is going on. Now all fishes seem scared and hiding in the back of the tank, as it was when ich first started... No one dead yet, but I'm expecting it... I'm obviously unhappy and not sure what's going on. I did a full set of water tests and all is in check.

 

[Byron]

Saturday I did the regular maintenance. I properly cleaned the canister filter, washing all the media of the brown organic matter, and made sure it's not packed too tight. Original filter flow restored. I'm planning to trim the plants at the next maintenance, as they are growing too much. I'm just waiting to get the temperature down to 25C once 2 weeks have passed.

Water parameters continue to be the same, running at 30C temp.

Everything was going good until today. Fish seemed happy, playing and no more signs of ich. At lunch time today all was good, only to find at about 5 PM what I thought it was 2 fishes dead in the filter inlet... As I go to remove them from the tank, they were not actually dead, just stuck between the glass and the filter foam at the filter inlet... Pretty banged up, they needed a bit to recover and swim again. I moved the inlet a bit farther away from the glass. Not sure if this is just a freak accident - I suspect something else is going on. Now all fishes seem scared and hiding in the back of the tank, as it was when ich first started... No one dead yet, but I'm expecting it... I'm obviously unhappy and not sure what's going on. I did a full set of water tests and all is in check.

Please post numbers for ny tests, it helps us as not everyone "reads" these the same. I won't guess at the issue if there is one, but only say that fish do get themselves caught at times, so that in itself is not unusual, Good idea to move the filter so the space is opened up.

It seems to be a day short of two weeks at 30C, so I would turn the heater down a bit.

 

[Cmdr_DASh]

Date	t (oC)	KH (odKH)	GH (odGH)	CO2	pH	NH4 (mg/l)	NO2 (mg/l)	NO3 (mg/l)
11.11.2021	30				7.7	0	0	0
15.11.2021	30	7	7	24	7.8	0	0	0

These are the last 2 measurements (first one in the morning, second in the evening)

One of the fishes that was caught in the filter inlet is doing better, I've seen it swimming around. It's one of the largest of the group.

3 days ago I've seen 2 small shrimps (that I haven't even seen before) running around the tank like crazy, I was fearing the worst. Now I'm seeing one larger shrimp that is carrying eggs. I'm a bit shocked, I didn't think these small shrimps are mature enough to breed but I think it's happened.

Thanks @Byron, I'll reduce temp by 1 degree tomorrow morning.