MikeWs Fish Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 All i test for is pH, NO2, NO3, NH4. Should set you back $60 absolute max. Prolly cheaper from AOA or something. I think you have a pretty good grasp on the nirto cycle, so test and adjust as you see fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ant Posted August 24, 2005 Author Share Posted August 24, 2005 Well i still havn't had a spike and i know my kit is working. A couple of days ago i took out some medium from one of my cannisters and placed it in the corner filter. I also squesed out the sponge from my cannister into the 2ft. It has probably been 2 weeks now. I still havn't got around to getting any test kits cause funding doesn't permit, but i would ahve expected a second spike by now but am still waiting for the first. Ill give it another 3 days and if i still havn't had a spike i could probably assume it had cycled (will hopefully get test kits in the mean time to be sure). Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeWs Fish Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 What kind of spike were you testing for AA, Ammonia? Maybe it has cycled up to the point where is it producing nitrite? If I were you, I'd take a healthy sized water sample to the LFS, pay them whatever they want for some tests. (couldn't be more than $5) You want ammonia = 0 , NO2 = 0 and there should be some measurable amount of NO3. You know all this anyways Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ant Posted August 25, 2005 Author Share Posted August 25, 2005 (will hopefully get test kits in the mean time to be sure) I do Mike but begginers may be interested in that information rather than myself. They can find this in formation in the FAQ and they can quite easily find the article i wrote on the nitrogen cycle a year back. Here is the link: http://www.cichlids-aust.com/articles.html. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bijengum Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 I regularly set up fry tanks the way you are doing, either with filters (sponge) that have been in other tanks or squeeze out a sponge in the new tank. As long as the water is right I have never lost a fry. (will hopefully get test kits in the mean time to be sure) I do Mike but begginers may be interested in that information rather than myself. They can find this in formation in the FAQ and they can quite easily find the article i wrote on the nitrogen cycle a year back. Here is the link: http://www.cichlids-aust.com/articles.html. ← Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gav Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 I regularly set up fry tanks the way you are doing, either with filters (sponge) that have been in other tanks or squeeze out a sponge in the new tank. As long as the water is right I have never lost a fry same here david, i have set up tanks countless times without even thinking twice about it. if i get a little worried on water quality i just do a water change. would be close to 2 years since i did any sort of test outside ph testing my discus/angel tanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeWs Fish Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 would be close to 2 years since i did any sort of test outside ph testing my discus/angel So if you had fish you didnt want to lose for water ever reason (expensive or 1st MF of fry) do you just 'chuck em in'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gav Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 indeed i do, even with fry worth over $20 each. i dont get any losses, so i must be doing something right. when you have been around fish long enough you know what you can and cant get away with. nothing beats experience i guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ducksta Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 would be close to 2 years since i did any sort of test outside ph testing my discus/angel So if you had fish you didnt want to lose for water ever reason (expensive or 1st MF of fry) do you just 'chuck em in'? ← I do If you move a seeded filter and water from the parent tank, there is little to no chance of anything crashing IMO If on the other hand you set a tank up and run it entirely seperately while you wait to get your craP together, you run the risk of by the time the fry move, the tank has totally whacky parameters and you'll kill your fry with shock, or the bacteria with a 100% water change to make the water right for fry. edit:Posts: 3,000 SOMEBODY STOP ME. No, seriously, I think it is a disease? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mianos Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 So if you had fish you didnt want to lose for water ever reason (expensive or 1st MF of fry) do you just 'chuck em in'? I've often chucked discus and $80 fish in my stable tanks. I'll admit I'd be more careful with new tanks but not much more. The most recent tank I set up I started with 100% of the water from my oldest tank, the bioballs from one of the 4 trays and a particularly skanky bit of the floss from the same tank. I then put $200 of fish into it 2 days later. YMMV but if you don't see a spike in 5 days you probably never will in my experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeWs Fish Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 Congratulations of 3000 posts, ducksta! Maybe im a little more cautious than most but i would definitely check the water parameters in the 'new' tank a day after seeding it to see if it had indeed stayed cycled as theory suggests it should. Sometimes what happens in theory and reality are two different things. Testing the water is the only way to test if your theory holds. If it doesn't, u have a tank of gasping/dead fish. JMHO edit: do they gasp from nitro/ammo posioning or just sit on the bottom, lose balance and die? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ducksta Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 Mike I back my instinct over a $8 test kit any day of the year I guess I am a bit slack, and probably a bit arrogant/cocky, but if there is something going wrong with my fish I'd back myself to find out about it pretty quick smart, without doing 140 water tests a week. When something goes wrong, I agree, test kits can come in handy to help nail the cause, although I admit, not knowing the 'before' results renders the 'after' result useless sometimes. So you trust everything to a bottle of pH test solution... Do you check the expiry date before every test? Do you set up multiple controls to ensure your results are accurate? (ie. do you test pure water to make sure your tests return a perfect 7.0 pH and 0ppm carbonate hardness) Or do you just assume they are always accurate? Like I said, I'll always back my experience and my gut reaction ps. ammonia burns the softest bits first, usually it is first noticable by a reddening around the gills and an increased 'breathing/gasping' rate. At least IME. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeWs Fish Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 Like I said, I'll always back my experience and my gut reaction Dude, I don't have that much experience to back, so I trust a test kit from a good, well known, reliable brand than my 'gut' feeling any day of the week LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mianos Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 edit: do they gasp from nitro/ammo posioning or just sit on the bottom, lose balance and die? ← In my sad experience, they sit on the bottom with gills flaring looking unhappy and die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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