Mature Media, HELP!

[ross cawthron]

Hi, i'm new here and i know i'm being cheeky!
Long story short, I need some mature biological media ASAP. I am willing to pay for this is somebody could ship some to me, a few litres is all i need. Please help me out

Thanks, Ross
Leeds, UK

 

[Eden's-Aquaria]

Hi, I am glad that you are concerned for your animals. BUT, on TFF, I don't think that trading and merchandise or sales is to be permitted. You should speak to a moderator about this. Even if, you should provide adequate information about why you need mature bio media. You should try out seachem stability, that helps with beneficial bacteria. Just a bit of harsh truth, rely on yourself first rather than others. Thank you, pls contact me if you need anything else. Happy to help..

 

[Eden's-Aquaria]

Hi, I am glad that you are concerned for your animals. BUT, on TFF, I don't think that trading and merchandise or sales is to be permitted. You should speak to a moderator about this. Even if, you should provide adequate information about why you need mature bio media. You should try out seachem stability, that helps with beneficial bacteria. Just a bit of harsh truth, rely on yourself first rather than others. Thank you, pls contact me if you need anything else. Happy to help..

 

[Byron]

Another issue with this can be very dangerous...you have no idea what pathogens may be in another individual's aquarium. Never use media, substrate, wood or rock from an aquarium that is not your own. Pathogens and disease detrimental to fish may be present and there is no way to somehow "clean" these items.

As suggested in post #3, a bacterial supplement is your best option here. Tetra's SafeStart is one of the best, and there is Dr. Tim's One and Only though this one is more a cycling product as you add ammonia and you do not want to be doing that with fish in the tank (which I am assuming is the case). The Tetra is a very good product. I have used the Seachem Stability and it worked too. I would use the Tetra if you can get it locally, otherwise the Seachem.

 

[Eden's-Aquaria]

Another issue with this can be very dangerous...you have no idea what pathogens may be in another individual's aquarium. Never use media, substrate, wood or rock from an aquarium that is not your own. Pathogens and disease detrimental to fish may be present and there is no way to somehow "clean" these items.

As suggested in post #3, a bacterial supplement is your best option here. Tetra's SafeStart is one of the best, and tyhere is Dr. Tim's One and Only though this one is more a cycling product as you add ammonia and you do not want to be doing that with fish in the tank (which I am assuming is the case). The Tetra is a very good product. I have used the Seachem Stability and it worked too. I would use the Tetra if you can get it locally, otherwise the Seachem.

I agree with Byron...

 

[ross cawthron]

Wow, thanks for the fast replies both of you. So basically i was in between changing filters and we had to rush to the hospital. Stupidly in a rush my mature media was left out and dried up. I now have a 300 litre Malawi tank with 20+ peacocks that has no bacteria within it's filtration! I am using some products you recommend aswell as ammolock to try keep on top of this but there's just no way i can see me building up the amount of bacteria needed to support them all anytime soon. Stealing some media seemed like the only way to resolve this issue, please advise! D:

 

[Byron]

Wow, thanks for the fast replies both of you. So basically i was in between changing filters and we had to rush to the hospital. Stupidly in a rush my mature media was left out and dried up. I now have a 300 litre Malawi tank with 20+ peacocks that has no bacteria within it's filtration! I am using some products you recommend aswell as ammolock to try keep on top of this but there's just no way i can see me building up the amount of bacteria needed to support them all anytime soon. Stealing some media seemed like the only way to resolve this issue, please advise! D:

Nothing has changed in my advice. The Tetra product is remarkable, it will seed the nitrifying bacteria as soon as it is poured in (follow the directions) and they begin to multiply according to the food source. Even if using another person's dirty media was safe (and it most assuredly is not) it would not be any quicker than SafeStart.

I know you might not normally have plants in rift lake tanks, but if you have some floating plants toss them in, they are ammonia sinks.

 

[Eden's-Aquaria]

Same with my advice! I strongly agree with Byron still

 

[Colin_T]

Just reduce your feeding to a couple of times a week and do big water changes if you get any ammonia or nitrite readings. Continue doing this until the filters have recovered.

As mentioned by the others, get some floating plants and beneficial filter bacteria supplements (available from pet shops) and add them to the tank. If you can't get floating plants, leave the lights on for longer to encourage algae to grow, it will use ammonia.

Double dose the bacteria supplement every day for the first week then following directions on the bottle. Try to add the bacteria supplement to the intake of the filter so the bacteria get drawn into the filter.

 

[Eden's-Aquaria]

Colin is right. Another danger of this whole "trade idea" is that there may be shipment problems, and your address will be leaked on to the web. Who knows what stalkers are out there?

 

[ross cawthron]

Thanks again for all your replies, today I've added a bottle of Tetra Safe Start as recommended. I added this by opening the cannister filter, and pouring directly onto the biological media and will be calling to the local pet store this evening for some floating plants! Thanks for the advice. I'm also doing 50% water changes every day, hopefully it'll get sorted soon because i'm running out of money haha

 

[FishGuest5123]

If you had decor and substrate in the tank and they were in water, then you still have some beneficial bacteria alive. The Safe Start will help and your bacteria will continue to multiply. It shouldn’t take that long to get going again. Good luck!

 

[Eden's-Aquaria]

I am glad that you took immediate action Ross! Good luck! IF you have any other questions or issues, i'd be happy to help! Message me privately or go on this thread! Good luck once again!