A different way to cycle

[Arshis]

A bio wheel is just a place for the bacteria to grow right?
I really just want whats best for my fish but I think I need to buy a better water conditioner in a different fourm I stated that my water supply has lots of chlorine in it so I bought/used a water conditioner that removes chlorine , ammonia, nitrite and nirates. So every water change I think I kept killing my newly formed bacteria. I need to buy a different conditioner I think. !

 

[Arshis]

Update 12/23/05

Ph 7.0
Ammonia 2.0 ppm
nitrite 0.25 ppm
nitrate 5.0 ppm

I'm not seeing much progress if anything I feel i'm at the same spot lol. I guess time to do another 50% water change.
After yesterdays 50% water change used some TetraAqua- Easy Balance (says it has nitraban and stuff *grumbles*) different from my usual amquel+ that was removing my beneficial bacteria . I think I will go buy some prime today at my lfs with my new found knowledge thanks to you guys

 

[bosk1]

Neither Amquel nor water changes remove the bacteria. The beneficial bacteria grow on your filter media (whether it be a bio wheel, spong, filter floss, etc.), you substrate, and other surfaces. You lose a negligible amount of bacteria just from doing water changes because they do not generally just float around in the water. The toxic chemicals that kill your fish (ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate) do reside in the water. The bio wheel is great, but is not necessary if you already have a sufficient filter. Yes, it is a place for the bacteria to grow, but so is whatever filter media you have in your other filter. The point of the water changes is that you have to get the toxins out of the water NOW before they kill or harm your fish since you do not yet have sufficient bacteria colonies that will do it for you. Keeping a successful tank is a delicate balance. You want to keep some toxins so that you can keep the beneficial bacteria alive. But you never want to keep more than very small amounts or your fish will (not "might") suffer. You are making progress if your ammonia lowered from 4.0 to 2.0, but it is still too high, so more pwc's are needed. Keep in mind that your fish are constantly producing ammonia, so you will not be able to completely eliminate it until the beneficial bacteria has been established (3-6 weeks unless you introduce it artificially through used filter media or Bio-Spira)--and given that your tank is so heavily stocked, you are producing a lot of ammonia. The constant pwc's just keep it in check.

 

[Arshis]

oh well that explains alot i thought the bacteria floats freely in my tanks water, thanks so much. But I heard bio wheel is good for keeping water crystal clear, so i still might get one : p

 

[bosk1]

I'm not knocking the bio-wheel by any means--I just wanted you to understand that it is not the immediate solution to what is going on in your tank. If you do get one, I would suggest keeping it running with your existing filter for a while since it looks like you have started building some beneficial bacteria on your existing filter media already. You wouldn't want to throw them out until you have a good colony established on the bio wheel. If they'll both fit, you might try running them both for a couple of months (don't worry--there is no such think as over filtration). Or, if the filter media will fit inside the new bio-wheel filter, you could just put the filter media in there intstead.

 

[Arshis]

Update 12/29/05

Ph: 7.0
Ammonia : 0ppm
Nitrite: 2.0ppm
Nirate: 40ppm or 80ppm haveing a hard time telling color difference

I think my cycle process has finaly complete or near completeion.
Lost zero fish and never let my ammonia get over 4ppm :|
"I think" bio wheel helped alot .

 

[bosk1]

Your bacteria seem to be handline the ammonia just fine, which is GREAT news, but haven't quite caught up on the nitrites. That 2.0 is very high. I would highly recommend staying with the frequent pwc's to keep it under control. The bacteria that change nitrites to nitrates multiply much more slowly than the kind that change ammonia to nitrite, so you've still got a little while to go. Hang in there!