Recent content by Aiken Drum

The specs do repeatedly use the term "chemical" filtration without ever being specific on what that is. It may be there is some chemical removal of ammonia going on. On the other hand you have some nitrite and that should be coming from the nitrogen cycle. Unfortunately the nitrate test will...

Hi Mike Welcome to the community. Looking forward to seeing and hearing about what you are getting up to. How about a photo of your 75g? And what are your plans for the 125g?

Ive kept 3 electric blue rams together with no aggression problems before. They are a colour varient of the same species of ram. My problem with them was these rams needed much warmer water than i kept that aquarium at. They don't suit the temperature most tropical aquariums are kept at. 26c...

And to add, keeping the lights on or off won't help your cycle at all. The microbial growth isnt effected by light. Keeping them off all the time will stop your plants photosynthesizing and eventually they will die though. Turn your lights on for 6 to 8 hours a day on a regular schedule same as...

Did you take into account that the household ammonia isnt 100% ammonia when you calculated your 1.5ml? I cant find the actual concentration of the ammonia you used (i didnt look too hard though) but I think its a 10% solution. Household ammonia is typically between 5% and 10%. Commercial ammonia...

Is aquarium temperature really that much of an issue for you? I live in the UK and we don't have hot summers or AC, but my aquariums that are typically 24/25c (75/77f) can get upto 30c (86f) for a week or two in the summer without any problems. This has happened the last 2 summers when we had...

Assuming both filters are the same, removing one will also half of those microbes responsible for your cycle and you would likely see elevated levels of ammonia and/ or nitrite at least for a while. If the remaining filter is sufficient to provide filtration on its own then your cycle will...

Please feel free to contribute to the forum. Everyones experience is valuable and we learn more from contributing than just sitting on the sidelines listening in.

Theres not a lot to go on really. Maybe going through the "unhealthy fish" sticky might bring something to light you hadnt considered. It could be nothing, could be old age, a neurological issue, picked up a disease. If it was a toxin it would effect other fish as well...

If your tank is cycled you wont see ammonia or nitrite. You have enough of those microbes to consume ammonia and nitrite in short order. If either shows up on your testing when it previously wasnt, either something happened to kill off those microbes or more ammonia got into the water than...

You really need to get yourself a good test kit and report your water parameters. API freshwater master test kit is a good one to get. https://apifishcare.com/product/freshwater-master-test-kit If you could find out the size of the tank that would be great. If you dont know the volume, measure...

The cloudiness is called a bacterial bloom. Its a normal stage new aquariums go through. Its bacteria in the water feeding on excess nutrients. As your cycle establishes and the nutrients get more into balance it normally clears up on its own. How long has your aquarium been set up? Do you...

If you want to add fish now you will be doing a fish in cycle. Do 100% water change before you add fish and proceed with a fish in cycle. If you want to finish your fishless cycle, redose ammonia once the ammonia once the ammonia and nitrite are zero. When you dose 2ppm ammonia and see zero...

Your initial ammonia probably came out of the live rock, but with no more going in it wont cycle. Wait for the nitrite to drop to zero, then redose ammonia back up to 2ppm. Wait for that to cycle out to zero ammonia and nitrite, then redose ammonia again. When 2ppm of ammonia cycles to zero...

Follow this thread for a fish in cycle. https://www.aquariumadvice.com/threads/fish-in-cycle-guide.382320/ But set all the equipment up, run it for 24 hours to make sure everything works OK, drain it down, set up your aquascape, refill with water conditioner etc, get it up to temperature and...