Water care

[Speed]

It sure feels like that sometimes! I'd add an extra dose of prime to detoxify the ammonia and nitrite (it does look like there is a slight nitrite reading).
I don't know if there's a certain time one should wait after a pwc before re-testing, but I normally wait a couple of hours.

Nitrates look like 80 ppm. Doing a 50% now. Prime ? As dumb as it sounds, what is that lol ? I just add tap water & a dechlorinator

 

[Cactuspixie]

Nitrates look like 80 ppm. Doing a 50% now. Prime ? As dumb as it sounds, what is that lol ? I just add tap water & a dechlorinator

What brand of dechlorinator?

 

[Cactuspixie]

What brand of dechlorinator?

Duh. Sorry- the picture just loaded. Lol

 

[Cactuspixie]

Nitrates look like 80 ppm. Doing a 50% now. Prime ? As dumb as it sounds, what is that lol ? I just add tap water & a dechlorinator

Sorry I have no knowledge of that product at all.
Do you have a second filter you can fill with carbon (remove toxins) and poly fill (remove cloudiness)?

 

[Speed]

Sorry I have no knowledge of that product at all.
Do you have a second filter you can fill with carbon (remove toxins) and poly fill (remove cloudiness)?

Ok, thanks. I'll definitely look into that cause I seem to have both issues lol. Think I'm fighting a losing battle & wanting to get my 75 gal in the next couple days, but I've gotta figure out what's up with my smaller tanks 1st before I get in a mess

 

[Cactuspixie]

Ok, thanks. I'll definitely look into that cause I seem to have both issues lol. Think I'm fighting a losing battle & wanting to get my 75 gal in the next couple days, but I've gotta figure out what's up with my smaller tanks 1st before I get in a mess

For sure. Another reason not to rush the 75, is that, in my experience,the more you learn about this stuff the more it changes what you choose to do 'next time' as far as stock level and combinations, substrate, lighting etc etc.
I like to change out at least 25% of my tanks' water twice a week, but I also use a ridiculous amount of filtration on them. Lol.
And I STILL have problems here and there

 

[angelmisty]

I know uve been over loaded with info thru this post, but a little trick... With that aqueon filter,it has minimal floss, minimal carbon, and tonsof extra space for bag-able media. Between the blue slide that the filter insert sits on and waterfall...u should have plenty of space for a sac of carbon/rings/stars/balls...rings ,balls, or stars should really be ur bact.colony. Floss dirtys too quickly and doesnt last a week past its first cleaning... So in short and IMO...get a media bag or any fine mess ( womens nylons), and some biostars (they stack great in that filter) and give ur germs room to grow!!!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Pollyfil will do nothing for a bacterial bloom. Water changes can help slightly but the bacteria multiply at such a rate that they cloud the tank again in no time. I have to stress that, although ugly and annoying, the bloom is not harmful to anything.

As said, make sure you are doing the tests exactly to instructions.

It is important to do water changes to keep ammonia and nitrite to a minimum and nitrate under 20ppm. The tank will eventually even itself out but it will not happen overnight. It could take a few weeks. No need to panic over it.

I would highly recommend you switch to Prime water conditioner. It's a fantastic product.

 

[Speed]

Ok thanks a million you'll. I've gotta go back to the pet store tomorrow morning so I'll look for the prime. Just never seen or heard of it in my area. I'm going to go ahead & pick up my new tank (75gal) while there. Bought my stand, heater, background, & air pump today. (Boy this gets costly quick lol), I'm going to attempt to cycle it, but not add fish yet because I have no idea what I'm going to do. Still trying to figure my other tanks out lol.

 

[Speed]

My 20 gallon goldfish tank with fancy & black Moore

 

[Speed]

Better shot of the whole tank. A work in progress

 

[Speed]

40 gallon tropical freshwater that I'm having so many issues with

 

[Speed]

My 3 neon tetras, bala shark, Mickey Mouse plattie, pleco ( behind the heater lol ) 2 cory cats in there somewhere, & 2 clown loach's that I dnt see often.

 

[angelmisty]

If u dont mind me asking, what kinda filteration will be on the 75?

 

[Speed]

If u dont mind me asking, what kinda filteration will be on the 75?

Well, not exactly sure yet. Not even sure what's going in it. Was thinking the bala for sure & maybe the clown loach's since they'll outgrow this 40 before long, but was also thinking a semi aggressive ( bala would be great, not sure about the clowns. ). I picked up a filter for it today, but will prolly add a 2nd filter to it. Not sure on the media or whatever since I know nothing about all that yet. Gonna look @ the pet store tomorrow & see what I can get for that & my other tanks. Here's a pic of the filter I just picked up

 

[angelmisty]

Thats a little under powered and will kill u on filter cartages. If i was u id make that store toss in a sump with all ur buying. Are u handy enough to silicone some glass panes inside a tank?

 

[Speed]

Thats a little under powered and will kill u on filter cartages. If i was u id make that store toss in a sump with all ur buying. Are u handy enough to silicone some glass panes inside a tank?

Lol no, I considered building one but I'd prolly be safer just buying one. Hate to put the time & $ into to mess it up & end up buying one. A sump ? Not exactly sure what that is or how it'd work but I was gonna add another pump, maybe a 30 or 40 gallon pump with it. & I may be wrong, but ppl are telling me to not even change the cartridges because that's my good bacteria. To swish them around in water & use them till they fall apart. ?

 

[angelmisty]

they are right in a sense. The stars/balls/rings also grow ur bacty colony.the reason u shake out and reuse the cartrages is to save ur bacteria.

Would u rather lease a car or buy? Lease=low inital entry fee, high monthly rates. Buy=large down payment,low monthly.

Cheap HOB filter w/ replacement cartages is a lease...ur stuck with one media option.... Now a high end HOB or canister filter or even a sump is the buy option...endless options and combos...large bags of carbon(100g or more), balls/rings/stars, ammo-chips(directly absorbs ammonia), and every kind of floss filter felt or sponge u can try.. For 75 gals. U need HD filtering..if u can look into some canister filters. Makes a serious differance

 

[angelmisty]

Find jake swenson on youtube... He has a great DIY sump video.. More tho it shows you what little filtering a HOB filter is capable of.

 

[Speed]

Ok yeah, I've seen the sumps / over flow tanks, but how would your tank overflow ? You fill it up with 75 gal of water, & if anything the water would drop, not overflow. Seems that way anyhow. Just dnt see why you would ever need It