Mature Filter Media Question

[dmullet7788]

first off i am very new to this so i'm sorry for that but, tomorrow i plan to go to a local fish store (have 3 to choose from) and get some rocks from a matured tank. i saw somebody say to put it in a stocking (?) what exactly does that mean. and also if i can't get ahold of any ammonium is it ok just to put some small fish in right away or how should i go about getting this bacteria to reproduce? in the long run i plan to get a small piranha for my tank if that changes anything. any opinions or advice would be very much appreciated.

and also i appologize if this has already been asked. i looked through the whole forum but couldn't find anything about it.

 

[crazie.eddie]

Let your tank run with the filter running for a day or so with water. Make sure you add dechlorinator first. This way, if you add any bacteria, you will not kill them immediately if your water happens to contain chlorine. Then add some bacteria from an established tank. You do this by obtaining some gravel from an established tank. You place some of the gravel in a stocking, making sure it's kept in the same tank water. Then place the stocking with these used gravel into your tank. This way, the gravel does not mix with your gravel. Otherwise, you can just add the used gravel with your gravel. This will help to reproduce the bacteria into your tank. Then wait a day to add a fish. Since you plan to have a pirahna, you can add a guppy, since piranhas would eat the guppy eventually.

 

[mark.w.jones]

You could also do with getting hold of some sponge and ceramic media from an established filter to add in with your new sponges and media. All of these things will help bacteria to colonise your new filter. Piranha are not easy to keep and have very specific requirements. They often outgrow people's initial tanks for them. This website offers fantastic advice and articles.

http/www.piranha-fury.com/information/index.php?Act=index