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Has it cycled?


Ant

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OK i'm a bit confused. I have setup a small 2ft aquarium. It has 1 corner filter filled with crushed marble and some filter wool and it has a sponge filter. Both are ran off independent airpumps so there is a fair bit of turn over. I had squeesed out some sponges from a power filter running in another tank and i have 2 goldies in the tank to help the process. I have been feeding the goldies 3 times a day a fair bit. The tank has been running for a week and a half and still no ammonia spike. Could this sponge squeese have been sufficient to handle the bio load and thats why it hasn't cycled?

Anthony

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Sounds like it's a bit early yet... however with a couple of well fed goldies I would have expected there to be a reasonable ammonia reading.

Got any nitrate or nitrite readings yet?

Are you in a hurry to have that tank ready?

Cheers - OziOscar.

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No i usually just go by ammonia readings, I am kind of in a hurry because i have 25 foai fry in a fry saver waiting for their new home to cycle. I likely wont take the risk though. I understand that it is very early but yea, i usually get ammonia readings from day 5-7.

Anthony

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Might be worth seeing what the rest of the readings are or try one of the 'magic soups' for start-up tanks and risk one or two of the fry only at first. However, the soups have their own risks too.

Without full stats, I'm pretty much guessing I'm afraid. sad.gif

I would hate to see any of the fry lost to be frank, as I am sure you would be.

Cheers - OziOscar.

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Thanks guys. It was aged water but not aged substrate and sponges. Ill have to get myself a master test kit at some stage.

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Good idea teflon, but it's not quite enough. The majority of the 'good' bacteria tend to cling to surfaces rather than being free swimming, as I understand it.

However, pinching some of the filter material from the tank in which they reside now wouldn't be a bad idea.

Cheers - OziOscar.

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Why not fill the 2 footer with water from the parents tank?

Just a suggestion

Hey Adam,

I dont thinkt here is many bacteria in the water, what you need is aged filter/gravel preferably with a large surface area..

AA - I'd dump some gravel into the 2fter from the parants tank and also use water from the parants water for the purpose of not killing off the live bateria in the gravel when it comes into contact with new water. I'd throw some nitrovec in the tank and test it every day till the ammonia and nitrites are zero..

Also, i personally would have a canister on the 2 fter for 25 foai fry and also a double barrel sera sponge filter that does up to 300L.

if you are serious about water quality, get soemthing that takes nitrates out of the water also. Sera makes a product that looks like noodles from a canister filter. Its meant to 'reduce' nitrates. If you have enough of it it will reduce it to zero (so i'm told).

There are other methods also.

i just recently invested in a water filter ( with potential R/O capabailities - adjuctable TDS). For africans i dont bother with the R/O stuff, if anything its bad for them them For Tangs such as your Foai, id definitely reccomend a two stage water filter. They only cost around $250 and when you compare it to the amount of money you throw down the drain on water conditoners, its very worth while IMO.

Anyways. Ive got a whole lot on my mind about water quality ATM, so dont mind me. Just my two cents worth.

AA feel free to Msn me if u wanna chat wink.gif

EDIT: damn u all beat me 2 it when i was writing this damn long post lol

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I always start tanks with water from another tank where possible. The bacteria is both free swimming and living in attached colonies. If you filled the sponge up with a good squeeze of gunk and started the whole tank from another tank you have a substantial start. I've stocked new tanks like that many times and never had a problem. (I have had problems starting a from scratch when overseas without a tank of water to start with).

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lol....if i could afford another cannister i would Mike. The corner filter is quite big and the air pump is fairly powerfull thats running it for bio filtration. I also have a turbo double sponge filter with another air pump that is cranking over a fair bit of water. I plan on getting these guys to a certain size then putting them into the 6ft to grow out as i realise this 2ft isn't big enough to grow them out. I am sceptical about products that claim to remove nitrates as i don't see how they can possibly work and would be worried about what they put into the water. If i want to remove nitrates ill do a water change..lol. Thanks for all the advise it great, keep it coming.

Anthony

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Hey AA,

You would prolly get away with a good sponge filter or 2. But i would feel much more secure with canister under my belt, even an eheim ecco, which has a low flow rate.

Foai are quite a messy fish arent they? I have a sponge filter that does a 300L tank on my colony of Bristenose (stdrd 2 ft tank). They water is quite cloudy. If they were anything but bristlenose (tough and cheap) id be very worried. I feed them 3 algae wafers a day, thats all.

Get some test kits tho, you definitely need them for checking whether a tank has cycled or not tongue.gif

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Mike - a cannister on a 2' aquarium which is going to be used to grow 25 fish to about 3-4cm before they move on? Why ???

Mate as you know, all my tanks run on airpowered filtration (sponges, corner boxes and a couple of side drops on some tanks which I only use in summer) A large sponge filter and a box filter is more than adequate for a 2' fry growout. The difference is that larger particles of waste will settle visibly as opposed to settle in the cannister. You pull more solid waste from your tank in water changes without a cannister filter, rather than leaving it to continue breaking down inside your cannister.

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I am with ducksta. A fry grow-out tank work really well with sponge filters.

I also wouldnt be adding salts to the fry tank if parents dont get them in theirs. The change wouldnt be good for young fry.

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25 fish of a tiny size?

They will proably outgrow the tank pretty quickly. I use a sponge filter on my fry tank which is almost 3f 120L. I dont really have any problems. 2ft is so small. Any waste from food or otherwise can quickly turn the water bad without good filtration IMHO.

I also wouldnt be adding salts to the fry tank if parents dont get them in theirs.

Sorry to disagree, but if you have water coming out of the tap at 80ppm and tangs like it at around 320ppm, i reckon youd run into problems poretty quick, especially with small fry. Some shell grit or limstone would suffice. Surely u gotta have some sort of buffer in both tanks! Sydney water around my area ia 120ppm only.

Anyways, I'm happy to agree to disagree tongue.gif

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I appreciate information but i know all about buffering the water and using cichlid salts, and i know all about having the fry tank to the same parameters as the parents tank, it's common sense. I also know about filtration. I have both mechanical and biological filtration in my 2ft and also am using crushed marble as a buffer and medium, this is more than sufficient IMO. I am also using sachem tang buffer in both my adult and fry tank as i have always used it. I also know that foai are very slow growers and will not grow out the tank as quick as you think. I can not justify buying another cannister filter for a tank that is both temporary and too small for a cannister filter in the first place.

Sorry to sound a bit straight but I think much of what has been stated is common sense to someone who has been around the hobby for a few years now (not that i claim to be an expert as i'm far from it). My question was based around wether of not people thought my tank had cycled or not and i got some very good answers.

Anthony

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....Sorry to sound a bit straight but I think much of what has been stated is common sense to someone who has been around the hobby for a few years now (not that i claim to be an expert as i'm far from it)....

yes.gifthumb.gif

LOL.gifLOL.gifLOL.gif

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Hey AA...

Good on you for being straight up and side-lining the prevaricators (sp?). IMHO, that tank isn't cycled. Time for chem testing, "magic soup", or seeding with 'live' filter media. And perhaps somewhat swiftly.

Cheers - OziOscar.

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Ill have to get myself a master test kit at some stage

Not a problem Mike, whats the go ($) on a master test kit these days?

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Ant,

I do what Mianos does.

Empty tank, fill 60% with parent water, fill box filter with medium from parent filter or better still add already established sponge filter (I always run a spare sponge filter, somewhere), add fry, presto, instant cycle.

add 10% aged water per day until tank is full. (but truthfully, I just add the whole 40% in one go. my change water is pre-aged and pre-heated)

If I was in your situation, I'd do the above. But that's only my opinion.

Standard disclaimer: take my advice at your own risk smile.gif

ps: Get yourself some test kits... at some stage.

LOL.gif

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