 Mattsmommy2 |
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Posts: 13088 (07/26/09 08:12:25) Administrator
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Hey Judie,
Actually... the ice idea wasn't half-bad... but I do worry, as T3 pointed out, that the coldness in the filter may make the good bacteria more sluggish. As well... the ice cubes/chips would also have to be dechlorinated. To keep the temperature cooler in a tank... we recommend setting up a fan and blowing air across the top of the water (but that doesn't work with tanks containing jumpers... unless you affix some sort of mesh covering over the top instead of the lid. Keeping the tank lights off helps to keep the temps down a bit too. As for the carbon... yup again... it's basically just a money maker for the filter companies. Carbon is not really needed unless you need to remove meds from the water. A good sized colony of the beneficial bacteria is totally enough to keep the water params free of measurable ammonia and nitrItes, along with appropriate water changes too. As well, carbon (and other ammonia removing products) actually interferes with the growth of the good bacterial colony because it absorbs the ammonia... leaving less "food" for the good bacteria... so the colony never grows large enough. Rest assured... most of us just use sponge in our filters and never have to replace it...and our tanks' water params are always perfect. I was a bit skeptical at first too... but I tried it myself and it does work wonderfully this way... providing a much more stable and safer environment for our wet pets. Michele |
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 BeavisMom62 |
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Posts: 27 (07/26/09 08:43:28) |
Poo! You guys are so smart! The good thing is everytime you tell me something that I should have thought of (ice killing bacteria, needing to
dechlor ice) at least it will stick with me because it is usually just common sense. I guess I will just save myself some money then and just
hang on to the carbon filters if I need to medicate a tank and remove the residue. Just FYI, the ice idea wasn't necessarily to cool the tank
itself, it was just to cool the water I was adding after a water change that comes out warm from the tap, if that makes sense. I knew I had read
somewhere that it wasn't a good idea to use ice, but it must not have said WHY, so it didn't really stick in my head. But to cool the
water, since I'm adding dechlor anyway (Prime), wouldn't it be ok to float a few cubes in the tank and not the filter? Or would that
still affect the bacteria? One time I didn't cool the water and all of my goldfish took a dive to the bottom of the tank for about a half
hour, scared me to death! I'm pretty sure it was because of the temperature.
So, since the carbon in the filters doesn't last very long, should I just leave the carbon containing filter cartridges in the filters, since the carbon will be "used up" eventually? Would there be any reason to remove the carbon at this point? As far as using a "sponge" in the filters, exactly what do you mean? In other words, my filter has a blue, carbon containing filter cartridge as well as a sort of plastic kind of sponge. So, can I just use THIS sponge or a different sponge in place of it or another sponge in addition to the one in the filter? Do you know what I mean? If I need to use a different kind of sponge or an additional sponge, what kind should I get? Another one just like the one I have or something different? I know these sound like dummie questions, but you guys are so understanding in taking the time to answer my questions and you don't make me feel like an idiot, so I don't mind asking. Thank you for that! |
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| Mattsmommy2 |
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Posts: 13097 (07/26/09 09:17:26) Administrator
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Hey Judie,
The whole ice-cube thing... I'm not sure about... Can you mix hot and cold water from the tap to get the right temperature? As long as it's within 1-2 degrees of the tank temp, it should be ok. I would feel better about doing it that way than "artificially" adding colder water to too warm water - creating cold and warm spots, or too wild temperature fluctuations that might stress the fish more. Are you using buckets of water to fill the tank or are you using a hose (like a Python) directly from your tap? Don't worry about your questions Judie... as I said before... they're probably questions on other members' minds too... As for your filter cartridges containing carbon.... how long has the new cartridges been in there? If it has only been a few days... I'd leave the carbon in for now. After about 2 weeks, I'd remove the carbon and other ammonia removing products and stuff the cartridge cavity with some aquarium sponge (like this) and cut to fit. Or... you can carefully peel off the "fuzzy" part of the current cartridge you have in there and attach it to a full piece of sponge with some string or just let it sit beside or on top of it (depending on how your filter is set up). My idea of leaving the carbon cartridge in there for now is to try to colonize the fuzzy area, even just a bit, while the carbon is still absorbing some of the ammonia so as to prevent higher levels of ammonia and nitrites that will eventually make the fish sick. Eventually, as the carbon becomes less effective... the good bacterial colony will start to grow. But we don't want to leave the carbon in for too long either, as T3 mentioned, the carbon will start to re-release the ammonia and nitrites as it gets too old. T3, Shelly or some of the others may have some other (better) ideas... but regardless... you'll have to test the water more frequently while the tank is cycling to be able to deal with some of the inevitable spikes. If you want to start a thread in the FW forum, we can help you along the way of stabilizing your tank. Michele I hope its ok to do this. It probably wasn't my prerogative to start a new thread like this, but I didn't want to lose the end of the other thread, which was in the wrong place. Michelle, about the water temperatures, I had to laugh about mixing hot and cold water. Since we live in FL, we pretty much only have hot and warm water coming out of out taps. We don't really have cold water. Hence using the ice. So when I add the tap water, turned on to cold, its still warmer than what is in the aquarium. Thankfully, my aquarium is on the bar above the kitchen sink, so I just use the hose attachment to fill it up. Since the goldfish aquarium is 30 gal and up so high, it would be almost impossible to use buckets to fill it. I do use a bucket for my smaller aquarium since its smaller and lower. I do mix warm and hot water for that one to get to the right temperature, since that tank uses a heater. I just use a thermometer before I add it to the tank. I'm pretty sure both of my tanks are already cycled. I've never had an ammonia spike since they've been cycled. Even after adding a new filter cartridge. Which I just did the day before yesterday when I did my w/c. Speaking of which, I mentioned this in the goldfish forum but I'll repeat it again here for you other experts. I have a question about my water parameters. Since I got my API tester about a month ago, my parameters in both tanks have been: ammo 0, ph 7.2, nitrites, 0 and nitrates 7.5 (between 5 and 10 on the card). But when I tested the water yesterday, the goldfish tank was the same but my15 gal tank was ammo 0, ph 6.6, nitrites 0 and nitrates 15! What could cause the drop in ph and the raise in nitrates? To let you know, between the last w/c and testing and this one, I have added a heater, a piece of driftwood, a couple of live plants, as well as the two otos and two ADF's. I'm pretty sure the driftwood could cause the drop in ph. Is it too low? If so, what should I do? I put it in there mostly for the otos, but I actually don't ever see them sucking on it. Should I just remove it? What would cause the rise in nitrates? Is it too high? Again, if so, what should I do? I will definitely keep my eyes open for sponges on my next visit to the pet store. I like the idea of having a healthier tank and healtier fish and saving money is always a plus! I'm sure I'll have more questions. I appreciate your patience and your knowledge. |
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Judie
