waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
What's the big black gizmo on the upper right? (Sorry if you have told me this before 
)
)Fishless Cycle In 35L Tank
- Thread starter cybergibbons
- Start date
cybergibbons
Fish Fanatic
What's the big black gizmo on the upper right? (Sorry if you have told me this before
It's just an algae magnet that I've been too lazy to move because I'm using all the time!
Fiche appears to have a bit of fin rot unfortunately, despite a 30% water change every two days. I think that having a toddler in the house who showed an interest in the tank has caused stress
Medication seems to be making it a bit better.
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
"It's just an algae magnet that I've been too lazy to move because I'm using all the time!"
, I was thinking, wow, they've got a down-jet circulation enhancer in a nice small package, I wonder who makes that...
, I was thinking, wow, they've got a down-jet circulation enhancer in a nice small package, I wonder who makes that...cybergibbons
Fish Fanatic
I did see a site where someone had made their own very small power head that was powered by a magnetic coupler through the glass - was very neat.
Fiche's fin has started mending itself now, and he is generally being a little more chilled out.
Nitro and Fosfo arrived in the post today as well, so I have started dosing these. I'm going to go with the estimative index dosing technique - so adding enough nitrates (20ppm ish) and phosphates (1ppm) each week, followed by a large water change (which I'm doing anyway) once a week to remove the excess.
The algae seemed to dissapear overnight - one day you could still see the small threads floating in the water, the next, clear. Not sure why the sudden change.
Fiche's fin has started mending itself now, and he is generally being a little more chilled out.
Nitro and Fosfo arrived in the post today as well, so I have started dosing these. I'm going to go with the estimative index dosing technique - so adding enough nitrates (20ppm ish) and phosphates (1ppm) each week, followed by a large water change (which I'm doing anyway) once a week to remove the excess.
The algae seemed to dissapear overnight - one day you could still see the small threads floating in the water, the next, clear. Not sure why the sudden change.
cybergibbons
Fish Fanatic
New problem now - the water is going very cloudy, much worse than either of the blooms I experienced during the cycle. Most of the plants and surfaces have a white gunk precipitating on them, with small clumps forming in the bottom of the tank and then floating around.
It seems to either coincide with the addition of the Interpet Anti-Fungus or the Nitro/Fosfo (small dose - approx 2.5ml of each, when tank has 0 of both normally).
It first happened on Friday evening and had cleared mostly by Monday evening. It's now worse than ever after a water change and re-dose of everything. Water parameters seem fine.
Any ideas?
It seems to either coincide with the addition of the Interpet Anti-Fungus or the Nitro/Fosfo (small dose - approx 2.5ml of each, when tank has 0 of both normally).
It first happened on Friday evening and had cleared mostly by Monday evening. It's now worse than ever after a water change and re-dose of everything. Water parameters seem fine.
Any ideas?
EI is not just about dosing. It requires that 50% weekly reset water change. If you don't do that water change, the nutrients in the water get to very high levels and cause lots of problems. If you check the actual chemicals you are using, you will find you are adding plenty of calcium to your water. Calcium compounds often form white precipitates when they exceed their solubility in your water.
I used a dosing regime with pressurized CO2 for a while before I went to all NPT setups. During that time I used another dosing regime that is intended to merely maintain minimal fertility for plant health, not the growth pattern that EI uses. With that much smaller dosing, I still had explosive plant growth and suspect I was causing a rise in nutrients in my water. Again, water changes helped prevent the nutrient overload and kept the fish healthy. When you are dosing nitrates on purpose, you need to be careful with the stuff.
I used a dosing regime with pressurized CO2 for a while before I went to all NPT setups. During that time I used another dosing regime that is intended to merely maintain minimal fertility for plant health, not the growth pattern that EI uses. With that much smaller dosing, I still had explosive plant growth and suspect I was causing a rise in nutrients in my water. Again, water changes helped prevent the nutrient overload and kept the fish healthy. When you are dosing nitrates on purpose, you need to be careful with the stuff.
cybergibbons
Fish Fanatic
Yes - the large water change was part of the weekly schedule, with it being a 35l tank, it's so easy to change 50% of the water. I'm testing for both nitrates (this stays at 0 as long as the lights are on for 6hrs a day or more), and phosphates (I've never had a reading on this before).
I then dosed with 2.5ml of Nitro (approx 7ppm in the tank) and 2.5 of Fosfo (approx 0.35ppm), I was going to ease it in over the course of a month or so to try and avoid problems. After 8 hours, I test the water again. I can't actually perceive a colour in the tests to say that the nitrates or phosphates are present - though if I take a sample of tap water, the colour is clearly different. I take this as meaning that there are very low levels of both. Several days later, I get 0 results.
The tank has cleared up again, still not perfect, but the white precipitate has vanish. Filter isn't clogged either.
Like you say, I wonder if this is some strange reaction and it causes something to temporarily come out of the water. Fish don't seem to mind anyway!
I'll have a test period of a week with no addition of Nitro or Fosfo.
I then dosed with 2.5ml of Nitro (approx 7ppm in the tank) and 2.5 of Fosfo (approx 0.35ppm), I was going to ease it in over the course of a month or so to try and avoid problems. After 8 hours, I test the water again. I can't actually perceive a colour in the tests to say that the nitrates or phosphates are present - though if I take a sample of tap water, the colour is clearly different. I take this as meaning that there are very low levels of both. Several days later, I get 0 results.
The tank has cleared up again, still not perfect, but the white precipitate has vanish. Filter isn't clogged either.
Like you say, I wonder if this is some strange reaction and it causes something to temporarily come out of the water. Fish don't seem to mind anyway!
I'll have a test period of a week with no addition of Nitro or Fosfo.
cybergibbons
Fish Fanatic
Water is crystal clear again. No remnants of the precipitation.
I've done a test - I filled a bottle with tap water. Dosed with Prime (which is a very, very small amount for a bottle). Added Interpet anti-fungus and finrot. Added Easy Carbo. Added Profito. Waited, no cloudyness. Added Nitro and Fosfo - thirty minutes later cloudy water.
I then tried omitting the Interpet anti-fungus and finrot. No cloudy water.
I then tried omitting only the Nitro and Fosfo. No cloudy water.
Then I tried omitting just the Prime. No cloudy water.
I then tried omitting the Easy Carbo and Profito - this time I get cloudy water.
It very much looks like an interaction between the medication, Nitro, Fosfo and Prime.
I've done a test - I filled a bottle with tap water. Dosed with Prime (which is a very, very small amount for a bottle). Added Interpet anti-fungus and finrot. Added Easy Carbo. Added Profito. Waited, no cloudyness. Added Nitro and Fosfo - thirty minutes later cloudy water.
I then tried omitting the Interpet anti-fungus and finrot. No cloudy water.
I then tried omitting only the Nitro and Fosfo. No cloudy water.
Then I tried omitting just the Prime. No cloudy water.
I then tried omitting the Easy Carbo and Profito - this time I get cloudy water.
It very much looks like an interaction between the medication, Nitro, Fosfo and Prime.
Cyber gibbons has gone much further than I could have. The end seems to support using easy carbo. I have no experience with this product so I will refrain from drawing any conclusions about its use.
cybergibbons
Fish Fanatic
Fiche's tail is still fairly badly torn at the ends, it keeps on getting better, then getting a bit more torn. The medication doesn't seem to have made much of a difference.
Last Thursday I got an external filter (an AquaEl Unimax 150 with UV). I have set it up to have the first chamber full of course sponge, the next full of Seachem Matrix (a whole litre of the stuff), and the last is filter wool. It's made a huge difference to the clarity of the water, and also the algae in the tank. Water is really clear, and any floating bits are quickly removed. I think I'll need to clean the filter wool fairly soon to prevent stuff decomposing in there.
The volume of the external filter, without any media, is about 6 litres. The internal, as an estimate is probably 250ml. You could probably say the tank is overfiltered!
I guess I will run the two filters side by side for a month, then remove the internal.
Last Thursday I got an external filter (an AquaEl Unimax 150 with UV). I have set it up to have the first chamber full of course sponge, the next full of Seachem Matrix (a whole litre of the stuff), and the last is filter wool. It's made a huge difference to the clarity of the water, and also the algae in the tank. Water is really clear, and any floating bits are quickly removed. I think I'll need to clean the filter wool fairly soon to prevent stuff decomposing in there.
The volume of the external filter, without any media, is about 6 litres. The internal, as an estimate is probably 250ml. You could probably say the tank is overfiltered!
I guess I will run the two filters side by side for a month, then remove the internal.
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
I use the US equivalent of EasyCarbo, Seachem Flourish Excel, and have never had any problem with clarity. WD
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