Kilgore
Aquarium Advice Activist
Some of you may recall an earlier post on this board in which I asked for advice on moving the inhabitants of my 25-gallon tank over to a 46-gallon. I had originally planned to move everything over - filter, fish, plants, wood, etc. for an easy cycle.
However, my boyfriend convinced me that we really should keep the 25-gallon going, because it looks so nice, it's already cycled, and we can have more fish. How could I argue? So I bought an XP1 for the 46-gallon and we got it set up last weekend. On Tuesday night, I moved 12 fishes (slightly less than half the fish from the 25-gallon) over to the 46-gallon. Yes, my 25 was way overstocked, hence setting up the 46. I moved 3 Sterbai cories, 4 marbled hatchets, and 5 zebra danios. None are full-grown. I realize the cories and hatchets are delicate fishes, but I found it so incredibly difficult to catch everyone that I figured the stress of being chased around the tank and having all the plants torn up should not be repeated. Have you ever tried to catch zebra danios in a densely planted tank? I think I caught the neons 10 times each, but the danios were near impossible.
I also moved about half of the Eheim Ecco filter media into the XP1 at the same time as the fish. After 24 hours (Wednedsay morning), my readings were:
Ammonia - 0.5 ppm
Nitrite - somewhere between 0 and 0.25
Nitrate 0
So, I took this to mean these 12 fishes were producing somewhere above 0.5 ppm ammonia per 24-hours (assuming the plants absorb some). My results were still the same this morning, however. Should I do a water change to keep the ammonia below 0.50? Should I add more bio-media from the other filter? The conditions on the 25 are perfect in spite of the loss of half its media, probably since so many fish were removed and the plants are well established. At least they were, until I pulled them all up Tuesday night!
Perhaps my bacteria in the XP1 is experiencing transplant shock and will kick it into high gear soon, but I was disappointed to see any ammonia, truthfully. Is it worth it to buy some Bio-Spira, or would that be a waste of money? Please give me some advice.
However, my boyfriend convinced me that we really should keep the 25-gallon going, because it looks so nice, it's already cycled, and we can have more fish. How could I argue? So I bought an XP1 for the 46-gallon and we got it set up last weekend. On Tuesday night, I moved 12 fishes (slightly less than half the fish from the 25-gallon) over to the 46-gallon. Yes, my 25 was way overstocked, hence setting up the 46. I moved 3 Sterbai cories, 4 marbled hatchets, and 5 zebra danios. None are full-grown. I realize the cories and hatchets are delicate fishes, but I found it so incredibly difficult to catch everyone that I figured the stress of being chased around the tank and having all the plants torn up should not be repeated. Have you ever tried to catch zebra danios in a densely planted tank? I think I caught the neons 10 times each, but the danios were near impossible.
I also moved about half of the Eheim Ecco filter media into the XP1 at the same time as the fish. After 24 hours (Wednedsay morning), my readings were:
Ammonia - 0.5 ppm
Nitrite - somewhere between 0 and 0.25
Nitrate 0
So, I took this to mean these 12 fishes were producing somewhere above 0.5 ppm ammonia per 24-hours (assuming the plants absorb some). My results were still the same this morning, however. Should I do a water change to keep the ammonia below 0.50? Should I add more bio-media from the other filter? The conditions on the 25 are perfect in spite of the loss of half its media, probably since so many fish were removed and the plants are well established. At least they were, until I pulled them all up Tuesday night!
Perhaps my bacteria in the XP1 is experiencing transplant shock and will kick it into high gear soon, but I was disappointed to see any ammonia, truthfully. Is it worth it to buy some Bio-Spira, or would that be a waste of money? Please give me some advice.