Some Basic, Bitty, Preliminary Questions.

[Nosphaer]

Hi, everyone,

Yesterday I dosed some ammonia in my tank, since I'll be getting a bit of mature media from a generous local hobbyist, next week... When adding mature media, should I take the chunk of the filter that I was given, and rub it all over the wheel in my biowheel, or will simply sticking it onto the pad that I have suffice?

I also got a 1 Gallon pitcher for small water changes (I have the patience), and I was worrying a little bit about whether I would have issues, if I used it both for taking out water from the tank (into buckets), and gradually adding dechlorinated fresh water back in. I'm hoping that I would merely have to rinse it, for such to be safe.

On the same evening, I bought a terracotta pot for my fish to try hiding in. It is "store-new", and it has no specific scent to it, so it seems proper for the use, but I would like to know if I must boil it or scrub it very thoroughly before adding it to the tank.

A few weeks ago, my mother got a potted flower from a good friend, and it has attracted or transported some very small insects that nearly resemble "fruitflies". I forgot whether aphids could fly, but these little buggers most certainly do. They're not "ALL OVER THE PLACE", but... They're quite prevalent. Should I fight tooth and nail to exterminate these otherwise indifferent insects, or could they do me harm by flying into the small openings on my lid and dying? I opened the lid up to take out some of the tank water for an ammonia test, and there were 2 or 3 of them being waved toward me, dead, by the filter's flow. I would hate to think that they're potentially introducing dozens of parasites to my tank.

I'm paranoid ><

Thank you all, for any advice on any of the following.

 

[Louiseness]

Hi, everyone,

Yesterday I dosed some ammonia in my tank, since I'll be getting a bit of mature media from a generous local hobbyist, next week... When adding mature media, should I take the chunk of the filter that I was given, and rub it all over the wheel in my biowheel, or will simply sticking it onto the pad that I have suffice?

I also got a 1 Gallon pitcher for small water changes (I have the patience), and I was worrying a little bit about whether I would have issues, if I used it both for taking out water from the tank (into buckets), and gradually adding dechlorinated fresh water back in. I'm hoping that I would merely have to rinse it, for such to be safe.

On the same evening, I bought a terracotta pot for my fish to try hiding in. It is "store-new", and it has no specific scent to it, so it seems proper for the use, but I would like to know if I must boil it or scrub it very thoroughly before adding it to the tank.

A few weeks ago, my mother got a potted flower from a good friend, and it has attracted or transported some very small insects that nearly resemble "fruitflies". I forgot whether aphids could fly, but these little buggers most certainly do. They're not "ALL OVER THE PLACE", but... They're quite prevalent. Should I fight tooth and nail to exterminate these otherwise indifferent insects, or could they do me harm by flying into the small openings on my lid and dying? I opened the lid up to take out some of the tank water for an ammonia test, and there were 2 or 3 of them being waved toward me, dead, by the filter's flow. I would hate to think that they're potentially introducing dozens of parasites to my tank.

I'm paranoid ><

Thank you all, for any advice on any of the following.

1) add the media that you were given (presumably a bit of sponge?) into whatever part of your filter holds the existing sponge. Water needs to flow through it, you won't transfer much useful just by rubbing it around.

2) you don't even need to rinse it. I'd imagine pretty much everyone who uses jugs/buckets to water change uses the same bucket to take water out and put it back in.

3) I'd give it a wash under the hot tap just in case, but I've never had any problems with terracotta pots. Don't boil it though, could be dangerous.

4) to be honest, if there were fish in there the flies would probably get eaten Nothing to worry about here either.

 

[Nosphaer]

Thank you! I appreciate the help.

I'm not positive of what the media that I will get is, but I had figured that it was going to be like the plastic mesh of my biowheel.