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Fishless Log Cycle

Well, then it looks like to me you are cycled! :hyper:

Go ahead and do a 90% water change, add water back with the correct amount of water conditioner and temp match. Then you can go ahead and add fish! :hyper:

Make sure you check your ammonia and nitrite level periodically for the first couple of weeks, just to make sure everything is going good! :good:

-FHM
 
Thanks! The kids are all excited about going to get 3 fish today!! I did the water change yesterday so it should be at a good temperature right now.

One question though.. it says to change the filter every 2-4 weeks... Is that something I should be doing AND is there anything special I need to be doing not to ruin the bacteria/stuff?
 
You should not throw away the good bacteria that you have spent all this time developing. You need to do your filter maintenance based on the condition rather than based on the calendar. Instead of replacing the filter media, rinse it out in used tank water when you are doing a water change and put the filter media right back where it came from. I have filters that have had the same cartridge in them for over 5 years and are still doing a great job of caring for my fish.
 
OldMan47 said:
You should not throw away the good bacteria that you have spent all this time developing. You need to do your filter maintenance based on the condition rather than based on the calendar. Instead of replacing the filter media, rinse it out in used tank water when you are doing a water change and put the filter media right back where it came from. I have filters that have had the same cartridge in them for over 5 years and are still doing a great job of caring for my fish.
Click to expand...
So you squeeze it out in water that you discard? Sorry... I just want to make sure I'm understanding you correctly.
 
That is exactly what I do Fshinggrl. The only time I change the routine is when I am setting up a new tank. In that case I rinse out the filter in the new tank once I have the filter on it running. That does 2 things for me. It gets the old filter clean and it primes the new tank's filter with the right bacteria to start my new cycle.
 
fshinggrl said:
OldMan47 said:
You should not throw away the good bacteria that you have spent all this time developing. You need to do your filter maintenance based on the condition rather than based on the calendar. Instead of replacing the filter media, rinse it out in used tank water when you are doing a water change and put the filter media right back where it came from. I have filters that have had the same cartridge in them for over 5 years and are still doing a great job of caring for my fish.
Click to expand...
So you squeeze it out in water that you discard? Sorry... I just want to make sure I'm understanding you correctly.
Click to expand...
Yup, just to second what OM said... Yes, normal filter cleans are always in the old tank water you just took out. If you think about it it makes a lot of sense: The chorine-type chemicals that are put in our tap water are meant to kill bacteria to help keep humans safer from disease. But in our filters we are trying to -grow- two species of these same bacteria. So we don't want to wash our hard-won bacteria in a solution specially-made to kill them. Our used tank water has had the chlorine type chemicals removed long ago, when we first put the water in the tank, so it won't kill our bacteria, plus, this puts it to good use just before its dumped on the garden or down the drain. Meanwhile the excess debris clogging the filter gets rinsed out, allowing the biofilms that our bacteria have deposited tightly on our biomedia (sponges, ceramics etc.) to be freshly exposed to more oxygen and ammonia and thus better able to do their jobs of cleaning the water of the tank.

~~waterdrop~~
 
Ok, got fish last Saturday, 5 days ago and they are thriving!! :fish: :yahoo:

:thanks: for all the help!!!

I've been periodically testing the water and everything is coming up great!!!
 
Congratulations Jackie! FHM will be happy, he's given some good advice in this thread. Be sure to establish good maintenance habits in the coming weeks. Each week of course is the all-important gravel-clean-water-change. Use a sponge on the inside glass surfaces just prior to the water change, even if the glass seems clear, to help prevent algae. Continue to log test results in your logbook, gradually reducing the test frequency if things continue to look good. The filter clean can be started on a once a month cycle as a good starting point but then you can watch your nitrate(NO3) readings to see if they stay at a fixed level somewhere withing 5-20ppm above whatever your tap water ppm is for nitrate OR whether the seem to slowly rise. If they slowly rise then a slightly more frequent filter clean of every 3rd week or even 2 weeks might be in order but monthly should probably be your starting point and the least frequent that you go with. Always squeeze the sponges or dunk the loose media in old tank water, not tap water of course and put some silicone lubricant on your filter box seals if your filter has those. Anyway, sounding good!

~~waterdrop~~
 
Congrats! Like waterdrop has said, I am very happy for you! Just do what waterdrop has said in his post and you should be off to a great start in fish keeping that you and the family can enjoy for years to come! Not to mention all the priceless info you have learned along the way as well!

Congrats!

-FHM
 
Well, I must have done something right! All fish (7 white clouds & 1 betta) are seemingly thriving! Thanks for all the help FHM & everyone!
 
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