Recent content by Autopsywoman

We didn't turn it off completely, only for an 8 hour period per 24 hour day. And the tank wasn't completely without O2 as the filter was still pumping the current and dropping water in through our "waterfall" system, it just doesn't produce as much O2 as the aerators do. But that was the only...

Hi all, I have a 55 gallong tank that cycled and has had perfect parameters (0 nitrites, 0 ammonias, 5 nitrates, 7.0-7.2 ph) for the past two weeks. We have two bubble wand aerators, a Rena XP3 filter with a special tubing system that inputs extra water drops over the top, and a small current...

Oh yeah, we talked about that. We have a Penguin biowheel filter that is still running sufficiently (even though it is a little noisy too). We are keeping that in, and if I don't keep the Whisper filter I will probably take the bio-bags out of it and put the media in the new filter to "seed"...

Thanks for the suggestions. I actually bought a Rena Xp3 filter today (it was on sale for $179). It moves 350gph and is for up to 100 gallons, so it should be more than sufficient for my tank size. My nitrites have also gone down to 0 again so things are in order. I will probably assemble...

There are fish in it, but I was thinking I could leave the biowheel filter on for a bit longer as it seems to have quieted down a little. The whisper filter is the one that is really noisy now. We tried rinsing it but that didn't help. I was seriously considering a cannister filter - it is a...

Hello again, My tank finally cycled again after months of waiting. Now, both of my filters have decided to start acting up. I was wondering if it wasn't sand getting into the motors somehow, as they are both functioning but they are rattling so loud I can't sleep at night because the noise...

Thanks for the responses guys. I've been using Amquel as one of my "water conditioners" the past two days just to try and combat the nitrites that have been plaguing me. I also vaccum a bit with each water change, but I'm trying to avoid sterilizing the tank with too much vacuuming. I am...

Hi all, I think the our tank might be close to the end of its second (unexpected) cycling process. The ammonias finally went from 8.0 down to 0. Now, the Nitrates are up to between 10-20 again (they were at 5) and the nitrites are spiking at 1.0 and moving on up. I have been doing daily...

I think my original pH problems were because we have soft water, low alkalinity and so the pH didn't maintain once it was in the tank. It came out as 7.0 but with the goldfish we used to have and the CO2 in the water (because we removed our plants), it just couldn't stay at 7.0. So it sank so...

I'm using an API test kit (drops, not strips). I don't have a Nessler kit - I was told that the Nessler kits sometimes give false readings if you use chemicals like Ammolock and Amquel... or that they will give a high reading of ammonia because they read both NH3 and NH4. My kit uses...

I wondered about that, but we have a dropper test system and it isn't a nessler test (which we were told was the most unreliable), so I'm not sure why it is reading that high unless, like I mentioned before, the less toxic ammonia portion is higher than the toxic (because the test may read the...

Yeah, we've been doing water changes every day (yesterday I did two because the pH was so high after my husband did the first). We did a 45% waterchange the day before yesterday and today, and the ammonias went up to 8.0 after two hours. I've kept adding ammolock though (which claims to...

Still bad. Nitrites are .25 right now which isn't terrible but any amount bothers me. Nitrates are less than 20 (around 10-12 I think), and Ammonias are (get ready for it...) 4.0. I know this is supposed to be extremely toxic, so either my fish are superheroes, or it is predominantly the...

Hmmm, I think maybe it was the pH because after I did another water change and the pH went down a bit, the Rosy's color is picking up again. She still doesn't appear to be eating much though - I wonder if she eats something other than the flake food that we were told she would eat? Maybe I...

Oh I definately don't plan to add anymore fish. I wouldn't have added these if I hadn't been told that we were "ready" (and the water quality was good at that time). Now I'm just trying to keep them all alive. I don't think the pet store "babysits" fish for you when your tank goes wacko, do they?