Crashed Cycle

[jackleroy]

Maintenance is cleaning it. I haven't touched it. I turn it off because my water is highly chlorinated and having it go through before the prime removes it all is the only reason for the crash that I can think of.

 

[gilpi]

Maintenance is cleaning it. I haven't touched it. I turn it off because my water is highly chlorinated and having it go through before the prime removes it all is the only reason for the crash that I can think of.

Ok, firstly do not clean the filter... for now. You need to build up bacteria in it, cleaning it (especially during cycling) is a sure way to disturb the cycling process. Even with an established tank, the filter media needs very little rinsing and not very often. If you have to clean the filter often (not sure how often in your case) most likely you are over feeding.
Im trying to understand... you put the chlorinated water in the tank before de-chlorinating it?

 

[Caliban07]

It is possible that switching the canister filter off could deplete oxygen levels for the bacteria as canister filters are essentially just a pump in a bucket.

The other thing people don’t realise is that a lot of chemicals, conditioners and medicines can use up oxygen during chemical reactions.

Whilst I agree 2ppm ammonia is high this is total ammonia nitrogen and not ‘free’ ammonia. Free ammonia toxicity is dependent on both ph and temperature so although your TAN is high it doesn’t necessarily mean your fish are in danger.

How are the fish doing? If you’re water is highly chlorinated and is mot chloramine treated you can just allow the water to sit over night to degas the chlorine removing the need for water conditioner.

If you are concerned about ammonia, you can add a floating plant in the mean time to help control it. Amazon frogbit for soft water or duckweed for harder water.

 

[Crw]

Bought angleplus filter DOA

So, basic question here, but I feel like I'm in the weeds with this thing and I'm currently too stupid to find my way back out.

I crashed my cycle back in June and I still haven't been able to get it back. I know there's some level of bacteria colony because I've been getting low amounts of nitrate the entire time and it's not coming from my tap. It's just not enough to keep up with the ammonia.

I've been letting the ammonia sit between .5 and 1ppm and doing a water change when it spikes at 2ppm, but nothing is improving at all. I've obviously been dosing with Prime and I added a bottle of Frtiz a couple of weeks ago.

My water spiked at 2ppm today and my instinct is to do a water change, but have I been keeping it too low for the cycle to finish? Should I let it sit at 2ppm instead? I really don't want to lose any fish, but something has to give at some point. My pH is 7.0-7.5 and I just did a double dose of Prime. Is that safe enough?

Thanks for reading, I appreciate it. I bought a angle plus filter that was supposed to been loaded with beneficial bacteria...however after 2 days in my well planted tank the ammonia levels was off the chart...it killed 2 fish...so my point is...this filter arrived DOA...I'm sure from the hot UPS truck and 5 days shipping that was I payed 2 days shipping ..the filter caused very bad situation on my tank...I removed the filter after 2 weeks or so and 50% water change and my tank begain to recover with BB from one of my other filter from another cycled tank...so here's the deal...dont order this stuff by mail to help your tank...it will make matters worse...get locally medium from your aquarium stores that I fine out are very helpful people if you go to a well organized aquarium store business only....now if you order this stuff through mail...I'm sure fine if its received by 2 days or less... oxygen has to be present to survive these sponges by mail and without that they die off very fast and will pollute your tank....my advise to you is do a 50% water change and add filters from another tank that's well cycled..best of luck.

 

[jackleroy]

My fish are all doing fine, actually. The Prime really seems to be making a difference. I did a 50% water change and knocked the ammonia back to 1ppm. I'll have to check it tomorrow to see what's going on.

As far as chlorine, I dose the tank after removing the water then I start adding in tap water. I just don't have any way to store 15-20 gallons for 24 hours to let it dechlorinate naturally. That's why I shut off the filter while I'm filling. I don't know of any better way to do it.

 

[Aiken Drum]

I shut off my filter when i do water changes too. Beneficial bacteria will be fine for the short period it takes to do a water change. It will survive for a few hours if allowed to dry out. 2 to 3 days if kept wet, but not oxygenated. A few weeks if you keep it wet and oxygenated but without an ammonia source.

If you are adding dechlorinator as you are doing, ie dosing in the tank before adding new water, rather than dosing the new water before adding it, make sure you use enough dechlorinator for the whole tank, not just the water you add.

 

[Caliban07]

I shut off my filter when i do water changes too. Beneficial bacteria will be fine for the short period it takes to do a water change. It will survive for a few hours if allowed to dry out. 2 to 3 days if kept wet, but not oxygenated. A few weeks if you keep it wet and oxygenated but without an ammonia source.

If you are adding dechlorinator as you are doing, ie dosing in the tank before adding new water, rather than dosing the new water before adding it, make sure you use enough dechlorinator for the whole tank, not just the water you add.

You would be surprised how quickly oxygen can run out in a canister filter.

I wouldn’t trust any arbitrary values from websites as none of them have been tested. We don’t even know what organism are responsible for nitrification and are still discovering new species all the time.