ammonia bad out of tap and Culligan machine

[danielj]

funny quote of the day from a big box pet store, after I tried to ask for some seeded filter medium. "some people recommend setting up a tank for a month, but we've found that a week is what most people need" then I start explaining that no, my ammonia is only dropping and I'm getting no nitrites or nitrates and she becomes flustered. then she suggests I buy some SeaChem tank setup bacteria of some sort. even worse, another customer steps into the conversation to tell me that if I go into ANY forum and mention the SeaChem bacteria that EVERYONE will rave and approve it.

funniest part of this scenario? when I find out that they don't sell the **** that she and the random customer raved about. I didn't plan on buying it, but I thought I'd at least look at the product. I found their SeaChem stuff that does tropical stuff, but nothing for tank setup. I don't really know tropical requirements so it was mostly giberous to me, but I can definitely say there was no tank setup or bacteria products.

Most people don't seem to understand that if people ask you a direct question, "can I have some seeded filter medium" and you sidestep the question, give bad advice and then recommend a product that you don't even sell that most can tell that you're lying. What's really sad is the poor girl probably doesn't even get a bonus on purchases so she's dancing for the man with zero extra profit. I'd rather have talked to a pissed off teenager with angler hooks in his eyebrows than someone who's selling me crap for their company, THAT THEY DON'T SELL!

So I bought the tank heater I was there to buy and went home. And the cycle is continuing, slowly...

I kind of want to ask a local mom and pop fish store for medium but it's always seemed like a kind of dirty shop. All of their shrimp are kind of docile, which is unusual for that species. Spotted 1 dead fish and 1 dead frog today while I toured their tanks. I'm not sure I want that kind of bacteria.

 

[jlk]

Send Librarygirl a pm & ask her for the link for 'angelsplus' site (i think thats the name)-they sell live, seeded filter media. How are things looking this week?

 

[danielj]

I ordered a seeded filter tonight. Finally got the temp up on the big tank. Also doubled the number of air stones. And chopped up my old filters to remove the carbon stones. Then put in some new filter media(just some plain Fluval stuff, no carbon) and then the fiber part of the old filters without the old carbon. Still no nitrites or nitrates.

 

[danielj]

Minor update. It took a long time for the seeded filters to show up. Not the fault of AngelsPlus, the post office damaged it in the mail and they had to reship, plus I ordered right before Thanksgiving.

Just got the filter put in the tank. Do I have this thing set up right? I threaded the tubing down into the plastic piece to almost 1/2" from end of the plastic tube. Then I inserted the plastic tube 1" into the filter media. The bubles are not coming out the filter media, they are rising up the top and popping out the top. Is that how it's designed to work?

Also, the cycle has been progressing while I was waiting and it is consuming more ammonia every day, but I haven't really seen any nitrite or nitrate spikes.

 

[jlk]

You will have to ask Librarygirl for the proper way set them up- i have no experience with them. Im not even sure what they look like-sorry i couldnt be of more help! But im glad your seeing some progress & seeing your amm drop!!

 

[Mikey214]

Minor update. It took a long time for the seeded filters to show up. Not the fault of AngelsPlus, the post office damaged it in the mail and they had to reship, plus I ordered right before Thanksgiving.

Just got the filter put in the tank. Do I have this thing set up right? I threaded the tubing down into the plastic piece to almost 1/2" from end of the plastic tube. Then I inserted the plastic tube 1" into the filter media. The bubles are not coming out the filter media, they are rising up the top and popping out the top. Is that how it's designed to work?

Also, the cycle has been progressing while I was waiting and it is consuming more ammonia every day, but I haven't really seen any nitrite or nitrate spikes.

Yes your set up right ! I ordered one of this filters from angel plus and I'm almost finished with the cycle just waiting for the nitrites to drop to 0 , the 'active' filter really helped my cycle move along ! My ph has been dropping the last two days so in just worried about that ! Good luck !

 

[jlk]

Yes your set up right ! I ordered one of this filters from angel plus and I'm almost finished with the cycle just waiting for the nitrites to drop to 0 , the 'active' filter really helped my cycle move along ! My ph has been dropping the last two days so in just worried about that ! Good luck !

Thanks Mikey! If your seeing your ph start to drop, its time for some pws! A ph drop can stall (or crash) your cycle. I would do one as soon as possible to re-establish your buffers & keep things moving forward. Im glad the filter helped you out!

 

[Mikey214]

Thanks Mikey! If your seeing your ph start to drop, its time for some pws! A ph drop can stall (or crash) your cycle. I would do one as soon as possible to re-establish your buffers & keep things moving forward. Im glad the filter helped you out!

I actually did a 60% pwc yesterday and I'll check the levels again today and see how they are looking !

 

[danielj]

Close to finishing the cycle, possibly. I add ammonia every day to bring it up to 4PPM and by the next 24 hours, there are zero ammonia, nitrite or nitrates. I'm now starting to remove some of the airstones each day until the tank is running the way it would be if fully inhabited by the fish. If it keeps testing clean I'll go ahead and start stocking.

Part of my conservative approach is because I see a few spots on the gravel where there is sort of a nickel sized black fuzzy spot. I don't know if these are bacterial blooms or what they are.

I've also continued planting more bulbs.

 

[jlk]

Zero ammonia & zero nitrites?? YAY!!!! I will officially congratulate you on being cycled!!!! As long as things stay steady as you move stuff around, all you need is a big wc (100%) on the day you plan on buying fish with water condit & adjust the temp to whatever will be suitable for your planned fish. Im not 100% sure on the black spots but it sounds like some type of mold. I would try a good gravel vac & see if this helps. How are your bulbs doing?

 

[danielj]

Apparently the additional airstones were definitely making a difference. Just one day without them and my ammonia and nitrates level rose. I'll keep dosing with Ammonia, testing and then lowering the temperature to the correct temp and update before I finally toss some fish in.

 

[librarygirl]

Apparently the additional airstones were definitely making a difference. Just one day without them and my ammonia and nitrates level rose. I'll keep dosing with Ammonia, testing and then lowering the temperature to the correct temp and update before I finally toss some fish in.

Bacteria do love oxygen. I'm not sure that's why the toxin levels spiked though, but could be. Nitrates should rise, that's a normal part of the process; even with fish you'll have nitrate. The ammonia rising is an indicator that the bacteria somehow stalled out so possibly removing the air stone did it (although I'm not convinced that that alone would have done it). Have you tested your PH lately? PH drops are common during cycling and if it drops too low conversion can stop. Might be worth checking.

 

[danielj]

I've been testing the PH daily and it's high but steady. Most days it will be between 7.8 and 8.0. Maybe every fourth day it will spike up to 8.2 and then I do a 10-20% PWC to fix it.

I guess the other change is that I brought the tank up to a full level. Before I was keeping it at 60% or so to get a little more aeration. I'll test again tonight and let you know how it goes. Thanks for the input.

 

[danielj]

things calmed down today and I'm back to 0 on ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. I'm really not sure why my nitrates have not spiked as that is what all the guides predict to happen. Perhaps the plants are taking care of it, since it's fairly heavily planted.

ph is at 7.8. I've dropped the temperature on the heaters. I'm going to add enough to bring ammonia up to 1PPM just so the bacteria stay healthy overnight. tomorrow I'll add some fish.

 

[librarygirl]

things calmed down today and I'm back to 0 on ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. I'm really not sure why my nitrates have not spiked as that is what all the guides predict to happen. Perhaps the plants are taking care of it, since it's fairly heavily planted.

ph is at 7.8. I've dropped the temperature on the heaters. I'm going to add enough to bring ammonia up to 1PPM just so the bacteria stay healthy overnight. tomorrow I'll add some fish.

Sounds good. It could be the plants sucking up the nitrate if you have enuogh in there; also the API test kit can be finicky if you don't do the test exactly right (have you tried shaking both bottles and banging bottle #2 on a hard surface a few times? It has a reagent powder in it that can get clumped and cause inaccurate readings).

I'd test nitrate again before you add fish just to be sure it's low (<5 is best just before you add fish), if it's higher than that I'd do a water change to get it down. Don't add ammonia. Turn the heater down (although I think you've done this) and then add your fish. Do a YouTube search for 'drip acclimation;' it's the best way to acclimate fish slowly to a new tank. Post pics of your fish when you get them. Congrats.

 

[danielj]

WHOA! I am so glad you told me about banging the #2 bottle. I was at 20PPM and had no idea! PWC coming right up. Temps down to 77. I think I might try to bring it to 80 since all that's going in this tank is a Betta and an Apple Snail.

Thanks again so much for cautioning me on the #2 bottle!