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In the middle of Nov. '17, I purchased a forty gallon acrylic aquarium. I had it all set up, and after testing the water with the API master kit, found the water was extremely hard, so I decided on cichlids.
I let the tank run with nothing in it but the grave and rocks, (I don't believe in cycling while fish are in the tank), and after it was cycled, changed the water, all of it to rid it of nitrates. After learning that changing the filter as well was a bad idea, i put one of the old biofilters in, and the tests returned to normal quickly.
The day before I was to order my fish, I did a 75% water change while soaking the biofilters in the water I had siphoned out of the tank. The old water to preserve the bacteria. After refilling the tank and adding a dechorinator, I found I had sky high ammonia, no nitrites or nitrites.
This is the short version. Anyway, I'm having to start from ground zero with cycling, but I have no idea what I did wrong. I had the same things in the tank, a filter that had been running, for about three weeks (the filter was made for up to 75 gallons with no problems, nothing new was added. I can't find the source of the problem. The extra time to recycle does't bother me, but I don't want to cause a problem for the fish. Does anyone have an idea of what would cause this backslide?
thanks,
croppy
In the middle of Nov. '17, I purchased a forty gallon acrylic aquarium. I had it all set up, and after testing the water with the API master kit, found the water was extremely hard, so I decided on cichlids.
I let the tank run with nothing in it but the grave and rocks, (I don't believe in cycling while fish are in the tank), and after it was cycled, changed the water, all of it to rid it of nitrates. After learning that changing the filter as well was a bad idea, i put one of the old biofilters in, and the tests returned to normal quickly.
The day before I was to order my fish, I did a 75% water change while soaking the biofilters in the water I had siphoned out of the tank. The old water to preserve the bacteria. After refilling the tank and adding a dechorinator, I found I had sky high ammonia, no nitrites or nitrites.
This is the short version. Anyway, I'm having to start from ground zero with cycling, but I have no idea what I did wrong. I had the same things in the tank, a filter that had been running, for about three weeks (the filter was made for up to 75 gallons with no problems, nothing new was added. I can't find the source of the problem. The extra time to recycle does't bother me, but I don't want to cause a problem for the fish. Does anyone have an idea of what would cause this backslide?
thanks,
croppy