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 tetralina3 |
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Posts: 15052 (06/20/09 04:34:40) Mad Scientist |
Okay sounds good. What do you think Shelly?
Keep an eye on the nitrites daily (if possible) or every other day at max okay? Just thinking they might show up soon. t |
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 ShellyB518 |
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Posts: 8083 (06/20/09 19:53:32) Administrator
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I'd be inclined to check both tap and tank pH and do a good size water change (50-60%) if they match. Sound ok to you, t?
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tetralina3 |
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Posts: 15066 (06/20/09 23:48:14) Mad Scientist |
Sounds good.
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planetsomsom |
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Posts: 25 (06/22/09 10:21:33) |
last night, one of my fish developed dropsy, so I put him in one of the water changing buckets and floated it in the tank to keep the water heated. I guess
Symus didn't like it because when I went to bed last night he had turned grey and had a stress stripe! That was scary!
I tested the water to check if something odd had happened but there are no nitrites yet. The ammonia, however, is getting LOWER! I thought it was odd that it went from 0.5ppm to 0.25ppm all on its own, as Symus is still eating as usual and the small water changes are pretty consistent. But now it's just a little under 0.25ppm, just barely above zero. Does this mean that the bacteria are starting to eat it but not produce enough nitrites yet for it to be readable? Ah, I wasn't able to feed Symus yesterday morning because I wasn't at home, so hopefully the ammonia will come back up a smidgen before the bacteria start going "where's the poop?" |
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planetsomsom |
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Posts: 26 (06/22/09 10:23:15) |
oh oops I should have added that symus is back to normal colours this morning. I'm sure it was partially the fact that we'd turned the light on as we
were going to bed. He REALLY hates being woken up, to the point where he'll bite and refuse food should I try to interact with him.
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ShellyB518 |
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Posts: 8091 (06/22/09 20:56:03) Administrator
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That is great news on the lowering ammonia. If I remember correctly, this tank was somewhat in the cycling process before you posted so not seeing nitrites
isn't unusual.
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tetralina3 |
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Posts: 15095 (06/23/09 03:44:51) Mad Scientist |
Glad to hear Symus is back to normal.
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planetsomsom |
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Posts: 29 (06/25/09 09:40:13) |
Freaky. So there's still no nitrites, and the ammonia is STILL just above zero. Symus has been pigging out, and I haven't done a partial waterchange
for a while, though I intended to do one yesterday but never got around to it. So there I was, expecting to see the consequences for my laziness and....
nothing. I guess it's kind of convenient because I have to go housesitting for about a week. Worst timing, too. One fish is cycling and needs care, another
fish is bloated in a smaller tank and needs care, a third fish is just about dying in an even smaller bucket and needs care.
Add a part time job to that, and I'm gonna have my hands full this weekend 
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tetralina3 |
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Posts: 15126 (06/26/09 02:06:46) Mad Scientist |
Wow it sounds like you are juggling a lot!
Do keep doing the regular 25% weekly waterchanges even while cycling of course. 
I hope this weekend goes smooth as ice, you get everything done, and you enjoy it too! Positive thoughts going your way. t |
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planetsomsom |
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Posts: 31 (06/29/09 07:29:14) |
I've noticed a goo forming around the filter media. gross. It's never happened before. I'm assuming that's a colony?
no nitrites yet. |
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ShellyB518 |
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Posts: 8130 (06/29/09 20:35:37) Administrator
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It is a white grossness type of slimy goo? Them be technical terms, lol. It isn't the good guy bacteria. I generally recommend to swish the filter media
in some old tank water that was removed after a water change. Don't use tap water because the chlorine will kill the bacteria. Are you using any
additives for plants or something else in the tank? When was the last water change and how much water was removed?
t, do you think it is ok to do a filter media swish with the tank recently cycled? |
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tetralina3 |
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Posts: 15181 (06/30/09 03:57:53) Mad Scientist |
If you haven't done the 25% changes regularly it could be a build-up of organics. Sometimes these show up as an "oil slick" at the start of a
cycle.
Sometimes bogwood/driftwood gets what I also call rather scientifically "bogwood slime"  which looks like a clear gooey slime (not white). Does
it look at all like that? I wouldn't expect it to be bogwood slime but maybe some variant? It will usually clear with time and is not harmful but people
often get grossed out and scrape it off the wood.
It will be interesting to see if you have used any products such as StressCoast, Melafix, BettaFix, or plant fertilizer (or something else) as Shelly asked. If the goop is OUTside the filter only, I would try a partial waterchange, using only the amount of dechlorinator for the water changed, and try to suction out the goop when taking out the water. If it is somewhat INside the filter, I think a very light swish as Shelly described just to scrape off the surface goop from the sponges would be in order. If you could describe it a bit more (clear, white, goopy, bubbles, thin strings, etc.) maybe we might have more input as well. Anyone else have input on this? t |
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planetsomsom |
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Posts: 34 (07/02/09 10:46:48) |
oh wow how to describe it. Well it's right on the filter bag itself. At the top where the water flows out, there are strings of it floating along the
surface. On these "invisible" strings of goo, there are white bits. On the plastic filter case where the water flows back into the tank, right above
the water line (not actually in the water just above it) there's a trail of white spots growing there. The flow of the filter itself is DRAMATICALLY
lowered. I had a piece of mesh there to block the flow a bit, but now I don't even use it anymore because it's slow going through the filter media.
So how does something like that happen, anyway? This is the first time this has happened, but I've definitely gone this long without cleaning the filter without this happening. I'm not adding anything other than prime at this point. All of the plants are silk. I am curious about the plants, though. Right now, I had to take my silk plants out of my smaller tank because they were leaving bits floating around in the tank. Almost like flakes of skin, if I can even describe it properly. Since taking them out, the water in the smaller tank has been much cleaner. Maybe I should take the plants out of the cycling tank? They are getting to be a year and a half old now. Some kind of glue breaking down perhaps? |
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ShellyB518 |
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Posts: 8146 (07/02/09 17:25:33) Administrator
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Fake plants/decorations have been known to break down over time. Coated gravel will flake off regularly so check that if you have it. The cheaper types of
heaters will also flake too so check that as well.
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Mattsmommy2 |
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Posts: 12882 (07/03/09 07:34:49) Administrator
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Hey planetsomsom,
Your silk plants are aquarium grade, correct? Btw, congratulations on your newly cycled tank! Michele |
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tetralina3 |
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Posts: 15222 (07/04/09 03:20:34) Mad Scientist |
Does the filter bag contain carbon? If so, does the carbon have white chunks in it? Just doublechecking.
Usually my rule is that when the filter slows a lot, it is time to do a quick swish in some removed tankwater and maybe a bit of gunk scraping. However, I would like to fully understand your filter contents first before we go ahead with this. t |
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planetsomsom |
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Posts: 37 (07/07/09 16:31:58) |
It was hard to see the carbon, but I didn't notice anything odd about it. I did a bit of a swish in some of the tank water I was taking out. There were a
lot of white floaty bits in that water. yuck.
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tetralina3 |
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Posts: 15282 (07/08/09 03:49:34) Mad Scientist |
H m m m . . . does it seem better since you did the filter swish?
t |
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planetsomsom |
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Posts: 39 (07/08/09 10:00:38) |
ah well there's no longer strings of goo hanging off of it so that's something. Actually when I pulled the whole filter media out, I didn't notice
the water suddenly push any faster, but it still doesn't seem as fast as it did before. Maybe i'm just imagining it. Either that or it's because
the water in the tank doesn't get a chance to evaporate down so I can't tell. either way I'm sure Symus likes it. He prefers stillwater.
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tetralina3 |
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Posts: 15296 (07/09/09 03:03:41) Mad Scientist |
Okay at least the goo is gone.
t |
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