More Questions....

[HayzH]

i have seen ppl comment and say when you do water changes you should add a dose (dechlorinator) of the whole tank litrage?
well i have been dosing to replace what i have taken out..so, say i took out 10L...i will add the new water in and then add the de/chlo for that amount...is this right?

Also you guys know i bought that second tank yesterday, it dropped to 2ppm overnight. The filter has a bar sticking out, where the jets of water come out its an Aqua something? on the end of the bar is a plug, to stop the water coming out the end. well it keeps popping off..inside is white sealant. i kept pushing it back on but it keeps popping off. I have sealed it up again with waterproof sealant. Do you think this will be safe for the fish??? (when i do actually HAVE fish that is?...) or do i need to retire it?

can someone also remind me what fish prefer sand to gravel, and how many a 70ish L tank will hold?

Thanks in Advance x

 

[PyroBrit]

That's an interesting question about dechlorinator. I too only add enough to the water I am adding as what's in the tank is already treated.

As far as I am aware, dechlorinator works straight away and then it's job is done. If the dechlorinator leaves the water I believe the chlorine and heavy metals are taken with it. I may be wrong on that point.

One question is what if you overdose on the dechlorinator?

Over to someone who may have the answer....

 

[BigbruiserAl]

You dose for the whole tank not the amount taken out, If it fish tank sealant your fine if its from say B&Q bathroom section they can contain Chemicals to stop mildew.

 

[fluttermoth]

Well, there are basically two methods of dechlorinating.

You can either; dechlorinate the water in the bucket, in which case you add just enough dechlor for the new water. This is the best method with smaller tanks.

Or, you can add the dechor to the tank, in which case you need to add enough dechlor for the whole tank (as some of it gets bound up by organic compunds) and then add the new water straight into the tank. This is the method best for large tanks where the bucket method is impractical, and means you can refill with a hose straight from the tap.

 

[HayzH]

You dose for the whole tank not the amount taken out, If it fish tank sealant your fine if its from say B&Q bathroom section they can contain Chemicals to stop mildew.

#41#### fixed it now....does it matter the filter is just blowing out the end of the tube for now...till i can get some sealant tomorrow at the LFS?

 

[BigbruiserAl]

Use a bit of super glue it fine. You can use it without the little bung in forever if its the one on the end of a spray bar, prob get more flow

 

[HayzH]

Use a bit of super glue it fine. You can use it without the little bung in forever if its the one on the end of a spray bar, prob get more flow

yes its the bung..went to LFS and got some Aquarium sealant. I also asked him about the biomax stuff thats in my Fluval Filter, this one ( Aqua Flow 200 ) has none inside..it came with Carbon bits in..which i took out. do i need to buy some biomax? The LFS said no it didnt come with any??

 

[Tizer]

You dont need to put any bio media in the filter, the sponge will do a good enough job for you. I have the same filter, an Aqua Flow 50, with a sponge from my old external filter in it and naff all cermaic bits. waste of cash.

 

[HayzH]

You dont need to put any bio media in the filter, the sponge will do a good enough job for you. I have the same filter, an Aqua Flow 50, with a sponge from my old external filter in it and naff all cermaic bits. waste of cash.

oh good, didnt know if just the sponges would do the job. Doesnt seem to be doing anything yet...either of them...i so want that green to go lighter and the blue to turn purple!!

 

[Overload]

You dont need to put any bio media in the filter, the sponge will do a good enough job for you. I have the same filter, an Aqua Flow 50, with a sponge from my old external filter in it and naff all cermaic bits. waste of cash.

oh good, didnt know if just the sponges would do the job. Doesnt seem to be doing anything yet...either of them...i so want that green to go lighter and the blue to turn purple!!

lol the fun of a cycle, I am waiting for the purple to turn back to blue!

 

[HayzH]

Meh! we are never satified are we???

 

[waterdrop]

That's an interesting question about dechlorinator. I too only add enough to the water I am adding as what's in the tank is already treated.

As far as I am aware, dechlorinator works straight away and then it's job is done. If the dechlorinator leaves the water I believe the chlorine and heavy metals are taken with it. I may be wrong on that point.

One question is what if you overdose on the dechlorinator?

Over to someone who may have the answer....

Fluttermoth has very nicely answered the question about bucket dosing of the conditioner versus whole tank dosing when using a hose and I completely agree - it's important to dose to the whole tank volume when dosing the tank directly.

The second question above, about overdosing is one I can comment on. In general, other than being a waste of money, there is not much danger in overdosing if one is treating a mature tank. The rub comes for immature tanks (meaning tanks that are less than one year old) in that it is better not to exceed 2x overdosing of conditioner because the N-Bacs don't like it. In particular, if you are in the midst of any type of cycling, you don't want to slow your N-Bac growth from too much conditioner overdose. During cycling, the recommendation would be to dose at 1.5x to 2x the manufacturer recommendation but not more than 2x. Most aquarists with mature tanks past the year mark will just toss in an amount they know is not an underdose and will not worry about it being an overdose.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[HayzH]

That's an interesting question about dechlorinator. I too only add enough to the water I am adding as what's in the tank is already treated.

As far as I am aware, dechlorinator works straight away and then it's job is done. If the dechlorinator leaves the water I believe the chlorine and heavy metals are taken with it. I may be wrong on that point.

One question is what if you overdose on the dechlorinator?

Over to someone who may have the answer....

Fluttermoth has very nicely answered the question about bucket dosing of the conditioner versus whole tank dosing when using a hose and I completely agree - it's important to dose to the whole tank volume when dosing the tank directly.

The second question above, about overdosing is one I can comment on. In general, other than being a waste of money, there is not much danger in overdosing if one is treating a mature tank. The rub comes for immature tanks (meaning tanks that are less than one year old) in that it is better not to exceed 2x overdosing of conditioner because the N-Bacs don't like it. In particular, if you are in the midst of any type of cycling, you don't want to slow your N-Bac growth from too much conditioner overdose. During cycling, the recommendation would be to dose at 1.5x to 2x the manufacturer recommendation but not more than 2x. Most aquarists with mature tanks past the year mark will just toss in an amount they know is not an underdose and will not worry about it being an overdose.

~~waterdrop~~

One of my tanks is 4m old and one is more than a yr..but new to me (does that make it new?) I have been dosing what i take out of the tank..so if i remove 10L i pour in new 10L then add dechlorinator for the 10L i replaced, im just wondering if this is stalling my cycles?

 

[waterdrop]

That's an interesting question about dechlorinator. I too only add enough to the water I am adding as what's in the tank is already treated.

As far as I am aware, dechlorinator works straight away and then it's job is done. If the dechlorinator leaves the water I believe the chlorine and heavy metals are taken with it. I may be wrong on that point.

One question is what if you overdose on the dechlorinator?

Over to someone who may have the answer....

Fluttermoth has very nicely answered the question about bucket dosing of the conditioner versus whole tank dosing when using a hose and I completely agree - it's important to dose to the whole tank volume when dosing the tank directly.

The second question above, about overdosing is one I can comment on. In general, other than being a waste of money, there is not much danger in overdosing if one is treating a mature tank. The rub comes for immature tanks (meaning tanks that are less than one year old) in that it is better not to exceed 2x overdosing of conditioner because the N-Bacs don't like it. In particular, if you are in the midst of any type of cycling, you don't want to slow your N-Bac growth from too much conditioner overdose. During cycling, the recommendation would be to dose at 1.5x to 2x the manufacturer recommendation but not more than 2x. Most aquarists with mature tanks past the year mark will just toss in an amount they know is not an underdose and will not worry about it being an overdose.

~~waterdrop~~

One of my tanks is 4m old and one is more than a yr..but new to me (does that make it new?) I have been dosing what i take out of the tank..so if i remove 10L i pour in new 10L then add dechlorinator for the 10L i replaced, im just wondering if this is stalling my cycles?

I know this can sound odd if you are a beginner but if you add the conditioner directly to the tap water in a bucket, then add the bucket of water to the tank then you only need to calculate the 1.5x to 2x dose for the amount of water in the bucket. BUT, if you pour both the tap water and the conditioner directly in to the tank then it is chemically a different situation and you need to calculate the dose of the conditioner to be 1.5x to 2x (but not more than 2x) of the -tank- water volume (not the volume of new water added.)

The reason is complicated to explain: Any fresh declorinated water body with bacteria growing in it will begin to have thousands of types of organic molecules (invisible to you of course) floating around in it and the sodium thiosulfate (or any conditioner chemical) will react with lots of these, leaving less sodium thiosulfate to deal with the chlorine product, which is your main concern (the chlorine being deadly to bacteria and fish of course, in high enough concentrations.)

[Conditioner is cheap insurance against the fairly rare but definately possible event that the water authority shocks your water supply with an overdose of chlorine. Nearly all the experienced aquarists I know use Prime (or perhaps cheap pond dechlor if the tanks are mature) so that even dosing for a large volume is still just a partial capful or a few drops.]

~~waterdrop~~

 

[HayzH]

That's an interesting question about dechlorinator. I too only add enough to the water I am adding as what's in the tank is already treated.

As far as I am aware, dechlorinator works straight away and then it's job is done. If the dechlorinator leaves the water I believe the chlorine and heavy metals are taken with it. I may be wrong on that point.

One question is what if you overdose on the dechlorinator?

Over to someone who may have the answer....

Fluttermoth has very nicely answered the question about bucket dosing of the conditioner versus whole tank dosing when using a hose and I completely agree - it's important to dose to the whole tank volume when dosing the tank directly.

The second question above, about overdosing is one I can comment on. In general, other than being a waste of money, there is not much danger in overdosing if one is treating a mature tank. The rub comes for immature tanks (meaning tanks that are less than one year old) in that it is better not to exceed 2x overdosing of conditioner because the N-Bacs don't like it. In particular, if you are in the midst of any type of cycling, you don't want to slow your N-Bac growth from too much conditioner overdose. During cycling, the recommendation would be to dose at 1.5x to 2x the manufacturer recommendation but not more than 2x. Most aquarists with mature tanks past the year mark will just toss in an amount they know is not an underdose and will not worry about it being an overdose.

~~waterdrop~~

One of my tanks is 4m old and one is more than a yr..but new to me (does that make it new?) I have been dosing what i take out of the tank..so if i remove 10L i pour in new 10L then add dechlorinator for the 10L i replaced, im just wondering if this is stalling my cycles?

I know this can sound odd if you are a beginner but if you add the conditioner directly to the tap water in a bucket, then add the bucket of water to the tank then you only need to calculate the 1.5x to 2x dose for the amount of water in the bucket. BUT, if you pour both the tap water and the conditioner directly in to the tank then it is chemically a different situation and you need to calculate the dose of the conditioner to be 1.5x to 2x (but not more than 2x) of the -tank- water volume (not the volume of new water added.)

The reason is complicated to explain: Any fresh declorinated water body with bacteria growing in it will begin to have thousands of types of organic molecules (invisible to you of course) floating around in it and the sodium thiosulfate (or any conditioner chemical) will react with lots of these, leaving less sodium thiosulfate to deal with the chlorine product, which is your main concern (the chlorine being deadly to bacteria and fish of course, in high enough concentrations.)

[Conditioner is cheap insurance against the fairly rare but definately possible event that the water authority shocks your water supply with an overdose of chlorine. Nearly all the experienced aquarists I know use Prime (or perhaps cheap pond dechlor if the tanks are mature) so that even dosing for a large volume is still just a partial capful or a few drops.]

~~waterdrop~~

ok..so i've been doing it wrong then??? can i dose both tanks now? argh!!!