New Tank Test Results

[glyndawn]

cool that sounds good

the filter im using in my old tank as 2 sponges in its internal filter

my new one is external will this mater ?

 

[glyndawn]

total wrong size pads

 

[Louiseness]

cool that sounds good

the filter im using in my old tank as 2 sponges in its internal filter

my new one is external will this mater ?

Shouldn't make a difference. And just cut the sponges/pads to fit, or if it's sponges you can usually just fold/squash them a bit.

 

[glyndawn]

there to small to fit new filter

 

[This Younger Spouse]

there to small to fit new filter

They don't have to fit in the slots to work. You can just stuff them into the space in front of or behind the existing filters. When we start a new tank and want to cycle with a brand new filter, we fold up the sponge/media from a different, fully cycled filter and put it in the new filter as I described. Depending on the type of filter, it's even OK if they float on top behind the new filter media. The tops on our filter units keep the floating media from being dumped into the tank.

It is best I think, though, if you can fold them up and wedge them in behind the new filter media.

I just cycled a brand new 20-gallon tank using mature filter media from another tank. It took just less than 3 days. Good luck with yours!

 

[glyndawn]

cool i will do that

ive just retested the water

ammonia 1
ph 7.6
nitrate 5
nitrite 0.50

so is it looking good ?

 

[glyndawn]

so i know ammonia and nitrite needs to be at 0

but what does nitrate have to be on ?

 

[This Younger Spouse]

You want your ammonia and nitrite both at 0, or so darn close to it you can't tell it apart from 0. I wouldn't put fish in the tank until both are 0 or, at the very most, 0.10 if they've been dropping and you're confident they'll hit 0 pretty quickly.

Nitrates can range pretty widely and the readings are usually less critical. As I understand it, they need to be there as a marker that your bacteria are functioning well. I wouldn't feel comfortable myself with a nitrate reading below 5.0 ppm and it can range upward pretty widely from there. I know there's a ceiling on how high you want it, but I don't know what that is.

My guess is that if you add the mature media to your new filter, you'll get that tank in shape PDQ!

 

[glyndawn]

ok i didnt put the media in my tank out of my mature tank thought i just leave it a day see what it is today

my ammonia is 0.50
nitrite is 1.0

does this look right or do i need to do something else now