# i give up



## VRM (Jan 9, 2007)

well i have done everthing but throw the fish on the floor. i have just about emptied the tank of all water took all the gravel out cleaned and replaced,cleaned every piece i had in the tank. no food no chunks no nothing was found. i then went into the filters to see what was going on in there . i found nothing. i feed the p's once a day i leave no food ever. when they were in the small tank i had an under ground filter,and had no issues ever. well after all this cleaning the nitrates were down to 50 mg/l 4 hours later they are 100mg/l in 3 days i have changed almost 150 gals of water. i give up i have no idea why. i have probalby killed off most if not all of the bacteria in my tank ,and i still have ultra f*cking high nitrates any ideas ?

3 -4 1/2 " p's in a 75 gal. tank with and xp3 xp2 biowheel h.o.b filter no live plants i only feed one-2 shrimp a day there is no left overs.

nitrites 0
ammonia .25mg/l
nitrates 100+mg/l
pk 6.5-7


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## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

Test ur tap water for nitrates....post the readings for that.

did u gently rinse out the media from the filter in a bucket of tank water? that needs to be done every month or so.

whenver my nitrates get high, and i do a 30% water change, the nitrate reading after that is literally 30% less.

POst ur tap water reading and lets take it from there.


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## PaNo617 (Jan 31, 2005)

Hmmm...have you tried testing your tap water and see what you get for a reading? Just a thought...Also when was the last time you cleaned your filters? You did mention you checked them, but i didnt see anything about cleaning them. I don't own any XP's but maybe you should try rinsing the sponges under fast running tap water, squeeze them and make sure they cleaned well, especially if they've been running for awhile. Your bio media rinse with tank water.

I came across this in an older post about a user that would usually rinse his sponges in tank water, and was still getting somwhat of a high nitrate reading, nothing in the danger zone though..so started rinsing them with tap water he noticed his nitrates went down. I'm also going to do this when time comes to clean my filters.


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## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

PaNo617 said:


> Hmmm...have you tried testing your tap water and see what you get for a reading? Just a thought...Also when was the last time you cleaned your filters? You did mention you checked them. I don't own any XP's but maybe you should try rinsing the sponges under fast running tap water, squeeze them and make sure they cleaned well, especially if they've been running for awhile. Your bio media rinse with tank water.
> 
> *I came across this in an older post about a user that would usually rinse his sponges in tank water, and was still getting somwhat of a high nitrate reading, nothing in the danger zone though..so started rinsing them with tap water he noticed his nitrates went down. I'm also going to do this when time comes to clean my filters.*


LOL OMFG I cant believe i just read that. Let me break it down for u

Rinsing the media with tap water is extremley bad, it kills off the benificial bacteria.

YES ur nitrates will be gone...u know why? cause u have killed off the bacteria that converts the ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrates....a.k.a U are starting a new cycle in the tank..

Ammonia + nitrites are WAY more harmfull than nitrates.

do u get it?

NItrates are not a direct by product of waste, waste = ammonia, Nitrates are the end of the cycle after the bacteria takes the ammonia then it goes ot nitrite then to Nitrate.


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## PaNo617 (Jan 31, 2005)

Dawgz said:


> Hmmm...have you tried testing your tap water and see what you get for a reading? Just a thought...Also when was the last time you cleaned your filters? You did mention you checked them. I don't own any XP's but maybe you should try rinsing the sponges under fast running tap water, squeeze them and make sure they cleaned well, especially if they've been running for awhile. *Your bio media rinse with tank water.*
> 
> *I came across this in an older post about a user that would usually rinse his sponges in tank water, and was still getting somwhat of a high nitrate reading, nothing in the danger zone though..so started rinsing them with tap water he noticed his nitrates went down. I'm also going to do this when time comes to clean my filters.*


LOL OMFG I cant believe i just read that. Let me break it down for u

Rinsing the media with tap water is extremley bad, it kills off the benificial bacteria.

YES ur nitrates will be gone...u know why? cause u have killed off the bacteria that converts the ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrates....a.k.a U are starting a new cycle in the tank..

Please educate urself before u start preaching to the rest, it only spreads wrong information.
Ammonia + nitrites are WAY more harmfull than nitrates.

do u get it?

NItrates are not a direct by product of waste, waste = ammonia, Nitrates are the end of the cycle after the bacteria takes the ammonia then it goes ot nitrite then to Nitrate.
[/quote]

Maybe if you read my post again, you'll see i said that you CAN rinse the SPONGE with tap water...Rinisng the sponge won't kill off any beneficial bacteria...that's what the bio- media is for. I didnt say anything about rinsing the BIO-MEDIA with tap water...maybe YOU should learn how to READ...


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## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

PaNo617 said:


> Hmmm...have you tried testing your tap water and see what you get for a reading? Just a thought...Also when was the last time you cleaned your filters? You did mention you checked them. I don't own any XP's but maybe you should try rinsing the sponges under fast running tap water, squeeze them and make sure they cleaned well, especially if they've been running for awhile. *Your bio media rinse with tank water.*
> 
> *I came across this in an older post about a user that would usually rinse his sponges in tank water, and was still getting somwhat of a high nitrate reading, nothing in the danger zone though..so started rinsing them with tap water he noticed his nitrates went down. I'm also going to do this when time comes to clean my filters.*


LOL OMFG I cant believe i just read that. Let me break it down for u

Rinsing the media with tap water is extremley bad, it kills off the benificial bacteria.

YES ur nitrates will be gone...u know why? cause u have killed off the bacteria that converts the ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrates....a.k.a U are starting a new cycle in the tank..

Please educate urself before u start preaching to the rest, it only spreads wrong information.
Ammonia + nitrites are WAY more harmfull than nitrates.

do u get it?

NItrates are not a direct by product of waste, waste = ammonia, Nitrates are the end of the cycle after the bacteria takes the ammonia then it goes ot nitrite then to Nitrate.
[/quote]

Maybe if you read my post again, you'll see i said that you CAN rinse the SPONGE with tap water...Rinisng the sponge won't kill off any beneficial bacteria...that's what the bio- media is for. I didnt say anything about rinsing the BIO-MEDIA with tap water...maybe YOU should learn how to READ...
[/quote]

No, wrong agian, the sponge holds bacteria as well. Bio media holds a good ammount of ur bacteria but so does the sponge since its pourus. Newb, stop giving people False info.


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## PaNo617 (Jan 31, 2005)

OK, so all of a sudden you're an expert....i'm a newb? i've been on this site longer then you. I'm not giving him false info. Your the one saying he's going to kill all his bacteria if he rinses his sponges in tap water........

Here's the link:

Washing sponges in tap water


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## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

giving info out like that puts u in place of a newb.

mashunters situation can be diffrent from anyone elses.

People use one filter or less bio media or watever. Washing their sponges out in tap water can cause havoc to their water params in a few days.

Im done argueing with u, im not gonna or even attempt to have u change what u do, i frankly dont give a crap.

I posted what i needed to help the original poster of this thread and to fill in the blanks of ur False info. My work is done here..good luck with preaching bullshit


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## PaNo617 (Jan 31, 2005)

Dawgz said:


> Hmmm...have you tried testing your tap water and see what you get for a reading? Just a thought...Also when was the last time you cleaned your filters? You did mention you checked them. I don't own any XP's but maybe you should try rinsing the sponges under fast running tap water, squeeze them and make sure they cleaned well, especially if they've been running for awhile. *Your bio media rinse with tank water.*
> 
> *I came across this in an older post about a user that would usually rinse his sponges in tank water, and was still getting somwhat of a high nitrate reading, nothing in the danger zone though..so started rinsing them with tap water he noticed his nitrates went down. I'm also going to do this when time comes to clean my filters.*


LOL OMFG I cant believe i just read that. Let me break it down for u

Rinsing the media with tap water is extremley bad, it kills off the benificial bacteria.

YES ur nitrates will be gone...u know why? cause u have killed off the bacteria that converts the ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrates....a.k.a U are starting a new cycle in the tank..

Please educate urself before u start preaching to the rest, it only spreads wrong information.
Ammonia + nitrites are WAY more harmfull than nitrates.

do u get it?

NItrates are not a direct by product of waste, waste = ammonia, Nitrates are the end of the cycle after the bacteria takes the ammonia then it goes ot nitrite then to Nitrate.
[/quote]

Maybe if you read my post again, you'll see i said that you CAN rinse the SPONGE with tap water...Rinisng the sponge won't kill off any beneficial bacteria...that's what the bio- media is for. I didnt say anything about rinsing the BIO-MEDIA with tap water...maybe YOU should learn how to READ...
[/quote]

No, wrong agian, the sponge holds bacteria as well. Bio media holds a good ammount of ur bacteria but so does the sponge since its pourus. Newb, stop giving people False info.
[/quote]

Have you even read his post?? He's running an XP3, XP2 and a hang on filter. He's running 3 filters, one of them might be causing the nitrate problem....With his filtration he'll have no problem washing his sponges under tap water. I'm not arguing...you're the one that came on acting like a smart a$$, calling me a noob and accusing me of giving false info. I posted on here to help him solve his problem, who knows maybe it has nothing to do with his filtration to begin with.


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## VRM (Jan 9, 2007)

my tap reading are
nitrates 0
nitrites 0
ammonia 0
ph 8

that is what i dont understand. i have cleaned so much i am probably killed off my good bacteria









i did clean my filters just the sponges,and i did wash them with cold tap everything else was cleaned in tank water. i did not clean the ceramic rings ,or bio stars though. i had a white fiber type filter at the top of my xp filters that i rung out because they wre pretty dirty. they sit right under the motor. my fish are still eating and swiming around ok,but not sure for how long. i do not think they are going to make it though this


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## flashover00 (Oct 19, 2006)

It was my understanding that beneficial bacteria exist in several places in a filter.
For an HOB filter the biowheel will certainly contain beneficial bacteria, but so will the sponge or filter cartridge. 
In a cannister, the initial sponge that acts as mechanical filtration will most certianly contain beneficial bacteria as well as the seperate compartments reserved for bio-media.

Rinsing out any of these filter components in tapwater that contains chlorine and other additives will most certainly kill your beneficial bacteria. This would be water like city or municipal water. That is why everyone rinses and cleans in a bucket of tank water. Sure....you could wash sponges in tap water depending on how much other bio media is present in your tank filters. BUT WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO TAKE A CHANCE of killing too much beneficial bacteria and risk sending your tank into a mini cycle. Personally, i want every bit of that goodness in my tank keeping my params normal.

As to the OP and his question, post you params from today to make sure that you arent re-cycling your tank. Also, make sure your test kit is accurate. A lot of people have problems with a specific parameter and then come to realize that their kit is not accurate. Also, you never posted whether or not you tested your tap water for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. Test it and post those results.


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## VRM (Jan 9, 2007)

flashover00 said:


> It was my understanding that beneficial bacteria exist in several places in a filter.
> For an HOB filter the biowheel will certainly contain beneficial bacteria, but so will the sponge or filter cartridge.
> In a cannister, the initial sponge that acts as mechanical filtration will most certianly contain beneficial bacteria as well as the seperate compartments reserved for bio-media.
> 
> ...


my post above yours has my tap readings all were 0 except for ph which is 8. readings this morning are
nitrate 100+
ammonia 1.25mg/l
nitrites .3mg/l
ph 7

the p's were hitting the surface every once in awhile this morning i added some prime this morning,and turn on a bubbler. i left the nitrate test from last night sit over night and this morning it was reading 12.5mg/l so i did a freash test again and it was 100+ so it must go false if it sits to long


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## flashover00 (Oct 19, 2006)

oh thats right...skimmed right over those readings.

What kind of test kit are you using? Is it a liquid/powder/dipstick?


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## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

i didnt even read that u had ammonia present in the water....

how and why is there ammonia? if there is ammonia its a good indication that ur tank isnt really cycled.

do a 15-30% water change every other day till the ammonia and nitrite go back to 0.....


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## SangreRoja (Feb 18, 2006)

What ever you do dont give up on them Do not rinse out the filter media in tapwater rinse it in tankwater for the good bacteria and listen to Dawgz. And was your tank ever really cycled if so for how long?


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## VRM (Jan 9, 2007)

using liquid test kit . the tetratest kit to be exact. the ammonia came back last night ,as did the nitrites. i believe it was due to the cleaning of tank and filters. the tank has been up for 3-3 1/2 weeks this was a emergency move due to a cracked tank. so these fish are basically breaking in the tank. i know it is bad ,but my other option was to put the p's down. i used gravel and bio wheel filter from the other tank.the other tank was also small 20gal that is why i got the 75. the plan was to cycle the 75 and then introduce the p's to the new tank,but my dogs cracked my other tank forcing me to move the p,s with one day setup . i was lucky to atleast have proper temp,and ph. i am also starting to think i need to move my pick up tubes for the filters away from each other . i have both setup in the center of the tank within 4-5" of each other.


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## AE Aquatics (Alex) (Jan 15, 2006)

It was nice talking to you. Hope everything works out. Give me a call and let me know how it went. GL


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## PaNo617 (Jan 31, 2005)

My mistake man, i didn't realize this was a recently setup tank that wasn't fully cycled to begin with. I saw your other threads also. If you can get your hands on some bio-spira, it'll help speed things up. If you know somebody with a (healthy) cycled tank willing to give you some filter media to seed your filter, that'll really speed things up...cut back on feedings also. Good luck.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Just wanted to point out that most of the info in this thread is wrong to begin with-:laugh:

I rinse all of my filter's every damn week under tap water-Never have had a problem with ne thing to do water param wise-Crystal clear water always-









People just need to sit back and read more on this subject to fully understand how it "actually" works-


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## SangreRoja (Feb 18, 2006)

I understand that AK but you didnt help out with his issue. Everybody has different ways of cleaning Equipment. And yeah I do remember your dogs cracked the tank with there Bone toy or other. Do you have any other filters or gravel/water from a Good Bacteria Source such as a petstore or a friend?


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Sangre_Roja said:


> I understand that AK but you didnt help out with his issue. Everybody has different ways of cleaning Equipment. And yeah I do remember your dogs cracked the tank with there Bone toy or other. Do you have any other filters or gravel/water from a Good Bacteria Source such as a petstore or a friend?


You are correct-With all the damn bickerring here-I cant make heads or tails of ne of it-







I just wanted to point out that I didn't like the info i was reading-Once i fully understand-then I will help-But not until then


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## VRM (Jan 9, 2007)

ok here is an update .after talking with alex at aqua scape whom i thank very much because he sat on the phone and answered every single question i had with pateince,and clear easy to understand answers gave me what i needed to know,as did all of the people that replied to my thread. i was able to get 2 huge cycled sponges from the lfs for the cost of replacements a total of 13.00 bucks. i have now done a big water change ran the new sponges through my tank water that i took out of the tank (they were a little dirtyand was instructed to do so) added them to both of my rena fitlers,and to the bio wheel filter i have hanging on the back of the tank.i refilled the tank with treated water,and now it is a waiting game i will retest the water in an hour to see what is going on, and again later this evening. feeling bit better now ,but i know i ma not out of the woods. this is killing me cuase i had major shoulder surgery 8 weeks ago.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

sonicrx said:


> ok here is an update .after talking with alex at aqua scape whom i thank very much because he sat on the phone and answered every single question i had with pateince,and clear easy to understand answers gave me what i needed to know,as did all of the people that replied to my thread. i was able to get 2 huge cycled sponges from the lfs for the cost of replacements a total of 13.00 bucks. i have now done a big water change ran the new sponges through my tank water that i took out of the tank (they were a little dirtyand was instructed to do so) added them to both of my rena fitlers,and to the bio wheel filter i have hanging on the back of the tank.i refilled the tank with treated water,and now it is a waiting game i will retest the water in an hour to see what is going on, and again later this evening. feeling bit better now ,but i know i ma not out of the woods. this is killing me cuase i had major shoulder surgery 8 weeks ago.


At least things are getting sorted for you-Sorry to ear about the surgery-My dad just had major shoulder surgery as well-Cant be fun doing all of this-Keep us updated please-


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## flashover00 (Oct 19, 2006)

You should be golden.....let your tank cycle out and keep checking the params.



> Just wanted to point out that most of the info in this thread is wrong to begin with-
> 
> I rinse all of my filter's every damn week under tap water-Never have had a problem with ne thing to do water param wise-Crystal clear water always-


What was wrong with the info given? 
You rinsing your filter media under your tap water may be perfectly fine. It all depends on the water source that is supplying your home. For me, i have city water that is treated with chlorine and other additives therefore i must use with caution and treat with the necessary treatments.


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## AE Aquatics (Alex) (Jan 15, 2006)

sonicrx said:


> ok here is an update .after talking with alex at aqua scape whom i thank very much because he sat on the phone and answered every single question i had with pateince,and clear easy to understand answers gave me what i needed to know,as did all of the people that replied to my thread. i was able to get 2 huge cycled sponges from the lfs for the cost of replacements a total of 13.00 bucks. i have now done a big water change ran the new sponges through my tank water that i took out of the tank (they were a little dirtyand was instructed to do so) added them to both of my rena fitlers,and to the bio wheel filter i have hanging on the back of the tank.i refilled the tank with treated water,and now it is a waiting game i will retest the water in an hour to see what is going on, and again later this evening. feeling bit better now ,but i know i ma not out of the woods. this is killing me cuase i had major shoulder surgery 8 weeks ago.


Not a problem anytime. I'm 2 years recovered from 2 major shoulder surgeries (got hurt working at the docks) which cost me to miss the acedemy for NJ State Corrections but [email protected] happens and we move on. GL again. Alex


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## VRM (Jan 9, 2007)

AKSkirmish said:


> ok here is an update .after talking with alex at aqua scape whom i thank very much because he sat on the phone and answered every single question i had with pateince,and clear easy to understand answers gave me what i needed to know,as did all of the people that replied to my thread. i was able to get 2 huge cycled sponges from the lfs for the cost of replacements a total of 13.00 bucks. i have now done a big water change ran the new sponges through my tank water that i took out of the tank (they were a little dirtyand was instructed to do so) added them to both of my rena fitlers,and to the bio wheel filter i have hanging on the back of the tank.i refilled the tank with treated water,and now it is a waiting game i will retest the water in an hour to see what is going on, and again later this evening. feeling bit better now ,but i know i ma not out of the woods. this is killing me cuase i had major shoulder surgery 8 weeks ago.


At least things are getting sorted for you-Sorry to ear about the surgery-My dad just had major shoulder surgery as well-Cant be fun doing all of this-Keep us updated please-
[/quote]

yeah it does suck doing this . i am unable to lift with the arm yet hell i still can't bring my arm to 90 dgree position. i had 5 anchors put in,and had the rim of my labrem rebuilt .i was in a sling strapped tight to the body for 6 weeks. i have done more for the p's than i have for myself in the last 4 days







they better make it through this or i will kill them :rasp:


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

flashover00 said:


> ok here is an update .after talking with alex at aqua scape whom i thank very much because he sat on the phone and answered every single question i had with pateince,and clear easy to understand answers gave me what i needed to know,as did all of the people that replied to my thread. i was able to get 2 huge cycled sponges from the lfs for the cost of replacements a total of 13.00 bucks. i have now done a big water change ran the new sponges through my tank water that i took out of the tank (they were a little dirtyand was instructed to do so) added them to both of my rena fitlers,and to the bio wheel filter i have hanging on the back of the tank.i refilled the tank with treated water,and now it is a waiting game i will retest the water in an hour to see what is going on, and again later this evening. feeling bit better now ,but i know i ma not out of the woods. this is killing me cuase i had major shoulder surgery 8 weeks ago.


At least things are getting sorted for you-Sorry to ear about the surgery-My dad just had major shoulder surgery as well-Cant be fun doing all of this-Keep us updated please-
[/quote]

yeah it does suck doing this . i am unable to lift with the arm yet hell i still can't bring my arm to 90 dgree position. i had 5 anchors put in,and had the rim of my labrem rebuilt .i was in a sling strapped tight to the body for 6 weeks. i have done more for the p's than i have for myself in the last 4 days







they better make it through this or i will kill them :rasp:
[/quote]

Damn sound basically the same thing-Unfamilair with the Labrem-But my dad slipped on the ice this winter and had torn ligements and ripped the muscles as well-He now has had two surgeries and now has two pins holding the tendons together-6 weeks in a sling as well and another three months of rehab-And then it's just the waiting game after that-


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## VRM (Jan 9, 2007)

yep they told me 3-6 months before full use,and a year to a year and a half full recovery. with that said here is the retest 1 hour or so after the sponges,and change of water.

nitrates are between 50-100 mg/l
nitrites are jst a touch over 0 mg/l
ammonia is between 0 -.25 mg/l it is closer to zero

i am going to hold off on feeding them tonite,and test before i go to bed. i guess i should ask how long before it will cycle with the sponges? ,or is there other factors involved. and is it normal to have nitrates spike with ammonia,and nitrites?


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## flashover00 (Oct 19, 2006)

> It is what it is my friend-I dont have the time nor the patients to get into this arguement!!!!!!! Haveing different water conditions dont mean squat-It's all about the bio-load-If one is running his tank properly-they shouldn't never be a problem with rinseing in tap water or replacing them altogether-I'm done with this subject now-


lol....its not an argument haha.....im just curious why you think this was wrong. I agree with you in terms of bioload also dictating. That obviously plays a role. If your bioload is light and you wash your filter media in tap water from a source that contains chlorine etc( or if you do water changes from that source without adding additives) than as long as you dont wipe out all of your beneficial bacteria colony than you should be fine. 
If your tank is heavily stocked and you wipe out your beneficial bacteria then you're setting yourself up for a mini cycyle.

The water source does play a role as well as the bio-load of the tank and the amount of filter media that is being cleaned at the given time.

This is all basically the same as running 2 established cannisters on a cycled tank and then removing one or swapping in a brand new one in the place of the established. If your bio-load is light = you will be ok. If you are running a stocked tank and do this then you are asking for trouble.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

flashover00 said:


> > It is what it is my friend-I dont have the time nor the patients to get into this arguement!!!!!!! Haveing different water conditions dont mean squat-It's all about the bio-load-If one is running his tank properly-they shouldn't never be a problem with rinseing in tap water or replacing them altogether-I'm done with this subject now-
> 
> 
> lol....its not an argument haha.....im just curious why you think this was wrong. I agree with you in terms of bioload also dictating. That obviously plays a role. If your bioload is light and you wash your filter media in tap water from a source that contains chlorine etc( or if you do water changes from that source without adding additives) than as long as you dont wipe out all of your beneficial bacteria colony than you should be fine.
> ...


Are you referring to-if you clean your filter media and you have a heavily stocked tank,it will crash-Is this what your saying here-or no-

sorry I dont read and comprehend things well-Lets just say it's a little learning disorder-


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## VRM (Jan 9, 2007)

sonicrx said:


> yep they told me 3-6 months before full use,and a year to a year and a half full recovery. with that said here is the retest 1 hour or so after the sponges,and change of water.
> 
> nitrates are between 50-100 mg/l
> nitrites are jst a touch over 0 mg/l
> ...


bump for some thoughts on my questions.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

sonicrx said:


> yep they told me 3-6 months before full use,and a year to a year and a half full recovery. with that said here is the retest 1 hour or so after the sponges,and change of water.
> 
> nitrates are between 50-100 mg/l
> nitrites are jst a touch over 0 mg/l
> ...


bump for some thoughts on my questions.








[/quote]

Yes there are many other factors that play a roll in this-

Yes it is also normal when a tank has not been cycled properly :nod:


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## VRM (Jan 9, 2007)

AKSkirmish said:


> yep they told me 3-6 months before full use,and a year to a year and a half full recovery. with that said here is the retest 1 hour or so after the sponges,and change of water.
> 
> nitrates are between 50-100 mg/l
> nitrites are jst a touch over 0 mg/l
> ...


bump for some thoughts on my questions.








[/quote]

Yes there are many other factors that play a roll in this-

Yes it is also normal when a tank has not been cycled properly :nod:
[/quote]

AK i am using a tetratest test kit. i am going to go buy the api master test kit in the a.m. so i know my test kit is not giving false readings. i have noticed some flicking against some decorations







i see no spots or fungus i think 1 p is getting sensitive from ammonia,and nitrates. also should i use some cycle at this point? biospira is not readily avail by me,and if it was would it be good to use it now?

i should also mention i am using peat pellets in one of the filters will this effect nitrates?


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## Leasure1 (Jul 24, 2006)

yeah dude. Here is what I have to say. Any of these are possible.

1. Tank isn't cycled completly

2. High chlormines in your city water may kill off SOME of you bacterias if you are not using a conditioner in the new tank water, or rinsing filter pads in city tap water. Some cities water is higher than others in this chemical. AK, yours must be low, but in some towns you can smell it coming out of the tap. LITERALLY!!!

3. Test kit is giving you false readings

4. You are colorblind. lol (I am, and have to get the wife to read the ammonias since low levels barely change color)

5. Thats all I got, just wanted to point that out. lol


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## VRM (Jan 9, 2007)

Leasure1 said:


> yeah dude. Here is what I have to say. Any of these are possible.
> 
> 1. Tank isn't cycled completly
> 
> ...


1. tank is not cycled compmetely

2. i treat all water going into my tank ,and test before it goes in(yes iam am crazy)

3. i am buying a different test kit today to retest the water

4. color blind nope,but i have been called stupid,and i do things that my wife tell me will make me go blind :rasp:

5. thanks for the input. everyone is giving me something to work with.


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## VRM (Jan 9, 2007)

MY THRUSDAY MORNING TEST RESULTS see for yourself they are looking alot better the nitrates look a bit darker in the picture they are actually between 25 and 50 mg/l but a bit closerto the 50mg/l mark

PH AMMONIA NITRITES NITRATES


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## VRM (Jan 9, 2007)

well i think the seeded sponges might have been a huge help. i retested with an api freshwater master kit(liquid) which i have to say cast me 14.00 bucks at petsmart because they price match thier internet prices. normaly 28 bucks so saved half. anyways i found that a couple of my other tests from the tertatest kit were reading on the high side. so i seems that i had some false readings. my nitates have come down and leveled out,and ammonia is gone as is the nitrites. i am going to retest with both kits and compare the readings. all in all good news the p's are once again crazy with swimming ,and having some pirahna fun. thanks everyone.

special thanks to alex from aqua scape


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## AE Aquatics (Alex) (Jan 15, 2006)

sonicrx said:


> well i think the seeded sponges might have been a huge help. i retested with an api freshwater master kit(liquid) which i have to say cast me 14.00 bucks at petsmart because they price match thier internet prices. normaly 28 bucks so saved half. anyways i found that a couple of my other tests from the tertatest kit were reading on the high side. so i seems that i had some false readings. my nitates have come down and leveled out,and ammonia is gone as is the nitrites. i am going to retest with both kits and compare the readings. all in all good news the p's are once again crazy with swimming ,and having some pirahna fun. thanks everyone.
> 
> special thanks to alex from aqua scape


Happy it helped. You'll be amazed how simple the solution is sometimes. As soon as you added those sponges you had enough good, active bacteria. Problem solved. Imagine the treatment I would of given you if those we're my fish.


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## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

see, and u were getting told to rinse with tap water...further killing off any colonized bacteria..pfft


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## AE Aquatics (Alex) (Jan 15, 2006)

Dawgz said:


> see, and u were getting told to rinse with tap water...further killing off any colonized bacteria..pfft


LOL, Vic ur gonna start this all over. After talking to him it was a simple bio load when he switched tanks. For him, cleaning the sponges didn't help because he didn't have enough bacteria as it was. For others it may not matter. Me for instance it wouldn't matter because I have alot of biomedia in my filters. Its not good practice for ur avg novice but people who are more experienced they can compensate for it.

Alex


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Dawgz said:


> see, and u were getting told to rinse with tap water...further killing off any colonized bacteria..pfft


He was also told by the same guy the ultimate solution that was used.....


> PaNo617:
> My mistake man, i didn't realize this was a recently setup tank that wasn't fully cycled to begin with. I saw your other threads also. If you can get your hands on some bio-spira, it'll help speed things up. *If you know somebody with a (healthy) cycled tank willing to give you some filter media to seed your filter, that'll really speed things up*...cut back on feedings also. Good luck.


You should have read the discussion about cleaning sponges before reacting like you did...you might have learned something.


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## VRM (Jan 9, 2007)

alcas74 said:


> see, and u were getting told to rinse with tap water...further killing off any colonized bacteria..pfft


LOL, Vic ur gonna start this all over. After talking to him it was a simple bio load when he switched tanks. For him, cleaning the sponges didn't help because he didn't have enough bacteria as it was. For others it may not matter. Me for instance it wouldn't matter because I have alot of biomedia in my filters. Its not good practice for ur avg novice but people who are more experienced they can compensate for it.

Alex
[/quote]

i added alot more bio stars today also. so i have 80 biostars,and 2 boxes of ceramic rings 4 total trays of biological filtration the rest is filters :nod:


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## PaNo617 (Jan 31, 2005)

Grosse Gurke said:


> see, and u were getting told to rinse with tap water...further killing off any colonized bacteria..pfft


He was also told by the same guy the ultimate solution that was used.....


> PaNo617:
> My mistake man, i didn't realize this was a recently setup tank that wasn't fully cycled to begin with. I saw your other threads also. If you can get your hands on some bio-spira, it'll help speed things up. *If you know somebody with a (healthy) cycled tank willing to give you some filter media to seed your filter, that'll really speed things up*...cut back on feedings also. Good luck.


You should have read the discussion about cleaning sponges before reacting like you did...you might have learned something.
[/quote]

Thanks GG. I thought he had a fully cycled tank with fully matured filters. I didn't know it was a recently setup tank. i mentioned that already.

Sure rinsing sponges in tap water will kill off some bacteria, but when you have a fully cycled tank with multiple filters it won't affect your water parameters. It's also helped people solve "brown algae" problems (including myself). I'm not going to get into this. If anyone even bothers to read the link i posted on this method, you'll see that the most knowledgeable and successful fish keepers use this method. I'm not claiming i'm a water chemistry expert, FAR from it, I'm learning new things all the time, i just did a lot of reading on this subject. Just trying to give some helpful info, but what do i know?? i'm just a noob with a low post count, lol. It's all good









Glad to hear your tank is cycled man.


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## VRM (Jan 9, 2007)

PaNo617 said:


> see, and u were getting told to rinse with tap water...further killing off any colonized bacteria..pfft


He was also told by the same guy the ultimate solution that was used.....


> PaNo617:
> My mistake man, i didn't realize this was a recently setup tank that wasn't fully cycled to begin with. I saw your other threads also. If you can get your hands on some bio-spira, it'll help speed things up. *If you know somebody with a (healthy) cycled tank willing to give you some filter media to seed your filter, that'll really speed things up*...cut back on feedings also. Good luck.


You should have read the discussion about cleaning sponges before reacting like you did...you might have learned something.
[/quote]

Thanks GG. I thought he had a fully cycled tank with fully matured filters. I didn't know it was a recently setup tank. i mentioned that already.

Sure rinsing sponges in tap water will kill off some bacteria, but when you have a fully cycled tank with multiple filters it won't affect your water parameters. It's also helped people solve "brown algae" problems (including myself). I'm not going to get into this. If anyone even bothers to read the link i posted on this method, you'll see that the most knowledgeable and successful fish keepers use this method. I'm not claiming i'm a water chemistry expert, FAR from it, I'm learning new things all the time, i just did a lot of reading on this subject. Just trying to give some helpful info, but what do i know?? i'm just a noob with a low post count, lol. It's all good









Glad to hear your tank is cycled man.








[/quote]

thanks man it was a bad 4 days this week. i am glad people started throwing ideas ,and suggestion out there for me to try. it is amazing what 2 cycled sponges will do for a tank :nod:


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## PaNo617 (Jan 31, 2005)

sonicrx said:


> see, and u were getting told to rinse with tap water...further killing off any colonized bacteria..pfft


He was also told by the same guy the ultimate solution that was used.....


> PaNo617:
> My mistake man, i didn't realize this was a recently setup tank that wasn't fully cycled to begin with. I saw your other threads also. If you can get your hands on some bio-spira, it'll help speed things up. *If you know somebody with a (healthy) cycled tank willing to give you some filter media to seed your filter, that'll really speed things up*...cut back on feedings also. Good luck.


You should have read the discussion about cleaning sponges before reacting like you did...you might have learned something.
[/quote]

Thanks GG. I thought he had a fully cycled tank with fully matured filters. I didn't know it was a recently setup tank. i mentioned that already.

Sure rinsing sponges in tap water will kill off some bacteria, but when you have a fully cycled tank with multiple filters it won't affect your water parameters. It's also helped people solve "brown algae" problems (including myself). I'm not going to get into this. If anyone even bothers to read the link i posted on this method, you'll see that the most knowledgeable and successful fish keepers use this method. I'm not claiming i'm a water chemistry expert, FAR from it, I'm learning new things all the time, i just did a lot of reading on this subject. Just trying to give some helpful info, but what do i know?? i'm just a noob with a low post count, lol. It's all good









Glad to hear your tank is cycled man.:nod:
[/quote]

thanks man it was a bad 4 days this week. i am glad people started throwing ideas ,and suggestion out there for me to try. it is amazing what 2 cycled sponges will do for a tank :nod:
[/quote]

I've been in the same situation where i needed to get my tank cycled ASAP. You were lucky enough to find someone to give you some media to seed your filters. I had to overdose on bio-spira. I had tried one very reputable LFS, besides having to drive 35+ minutes to get the bio-spira. I asked for a sponge to seed my filter and he looked at me like i was asking for gold, lol. He was like.."AHHHH i'm going to have to charge you A LOT!! Just get the bio-spira dude! it works great!"


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## VRM (Jan 9, 2007)

all is doing fine still p's are very active,and for red bellies they are coming up to the glass when you hand is in front of the glass.my nitrates are still a little high ,but i think with a couple of changes here in the next couple of days all will be straight with the api test my readings

ammonia 0
nitrites 0
ph 7.0
nitrates between 40-80 closer to 40 these are next to each other on the card


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Dawgz said:


> see, and u were getting told to rinse with tap water...further killing off any colonized bacteria..pfft


No one told him to rinse with tap water-we were just pointing out that it can be done-Big difference man-:nod:

Glad to hear things are getting sorted for you man-thats excellent news to hear!!!!


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