Few Of Newbie Questions?

[sjolliff]

During fishless cycle do i need to do water changes?
Do i need to clean the internal filter out? ( fluval U3, says change 1 carbon pad evary to weeks)
Do i need to clean the tank, ie sand,glass plants?
How long should i have the lights on for?
Temp 29c


Fluval roma 125l
U3 internal filter
150 watts heater
20W T8 aqua glo
20W T8 power glo
with;
Sand, 8 real plants, old shipwreck, 8 small pebble/stones
For the past 2 weeks my lights have been on for 12hours 10am til 10pm and my plants i starting to go brown with what looks like brown algae on some leafs

 

[arobinson1984]

NO to all your questions lol

Leave your tank whilst cycling, cleaning out the filter and doing water changes will only slow up your cycle. Leave out the carbon pad, this is only required for removing toxins and medication from the tank and as instructed these are only effective for 3-4 days. You dont need the carbon pad in the filter all the time so you would be better replacing it with an extra media sponge for extra bacteria to grow on.

The only time you may need to do a water change whilst fishless cycling is if the PH drops to around 6 and the cycle stalls, you may then need to do a large change to get the PH level back up.

Just cycle your tank as per the guides in the beginners section and once cycled do a large water change to lower nitrates, clean out your filter (only if required, such as if the output flow has slowed down) and clean your gravel / sand ready for the first fish

Andy

 

[Tw3lv3]

brown algea forms during a fishless cycle when the lights are put on the usual advice people give on this subject is to leave the lights off and to wrap a towel round the tank to stop this happening but because you have live plants so you cant really turn off your lights.

I dont think you do water changes during a fishless cycle but im not sure.

Most people keep the carbon pad from a new filter to use after medicating theyre fish so i dont think theyre is need to change it till your cycle is done then you can take it out but there isnt a real need to replace it until after you medicate your fish (hope thats not the case)

A finally i dont think you need to clean the tank as the debri ect feed the bacteria your trying to colonise in your filter i believe...

Hopefully ive been some help and anything ive got wrong people will correct im sure but i think ive got it right.

good luck with the cycle mate

Tw3lv3.

lol you beat me to it andy

 

[sjolliff]

Thanks for your answers, made things alot more clear, iv got no other pad to put in instead of the carbon pad, will it slow the process down?
and i remove it and dont replace it with owt will it affect anything?

 

[Tw3lv3]

dont think so carbon just takes out medications ect its the filter sponges/wool that hold all the good bacteria it would be a good idea to get a new 1 when you start putting fish in and put the new carbon pad in storage just incase you need it and if you do need to medicate for fish for any reason dont use the carbon pad until the fish are healthy and you need to get it out of the water

 

[arobinson1984]

You will be best taking the carbon pad out to cycle the tank. If you can get an extra sponge from your lfs then , if not just run the cycle without the carbon because if you leave the carbon in it will get bacteria growing on it but then when you remove it at a later date your bacteria levels will drop slightly and you may experience an ammonia spike.

Andy

 

[sjolliff]

You will be best taking the carbon pad out to cycle the tank. If you can get an extra sponge from your lfs then , if not just run the cycle without the carbon because if you leave the carbon in it will get bacteria growing on it but then when you remove it at a later date your bacteria levels will drop slightly and you may experience an ammonia spike.

Andy

what other pads are they for the fluval U3 to replace the carbon pads, and are they the same size etc or need forcing in?
so carbon is just for removing fish medicine?

 

[waterdrop]

Isn't the 3rd stage just a bunch of fluval biomax and the 2nd stage a container of carbon? Perhaps more biomax (ceramic rings) could just go where the carbon currently is. I think the 1st stage pad is larger and flatter and therefor a different shape from the other two loose media areas. Anyone who has or knows them confirm this?

~~waterdrop~~