Broken Cycle Not Recovering -PLEASE HELP

[4D3]

I just did a decent water change, I went for 40% to start with but i noticed that the media in my moving bed filter goes shiny white when it was a brown color before the water change...

I can only assume that the water going in is completely destroying my beneficial bacteria....

is the same happening in my canisters?

WHAT THE HELL... is the point of water changing if all it does is kill everything...why not just dump loads of Prime into the tank every day to keep all levels at zero and do an actual WC once a year....

How am i supposed to maintain a good eco system for the fish if the damn water going in just kills everything...

Is there some special way of doing a water change that i dont know about that removes the chlorine/chloramine before it actually hits the tank?

 

[Reedmaster16]

Adding and mixing water in a separate tank or container before adding to the tank.

Since you have chloramines (which is a compound of chlorine + ammonia) you cannot aerate and age the water to allow the chlorine to gas off. You will need to fill up a separate container with the amount of water needed for the water change. Add your dechlorinator (prime, chloramx, etc), mix it and you can add a heater to match the new water temperature with the tank water temperature.

This way you can match the parameters of the new water used for the water change with the tank water parameters which will limit fish stress and have no negative impact on your bio filter giving it a chance to recover.

 

[4D3]

Adding and mixing water in a separate tank or container before adding to the tank.

Since you have chloramines (which is a compound of chlorine + ammonia) you cannot aerate and age the water to allow the chlorine to gas off. You will need to fill up a separate container with the amount of water needed for the water change. Add your dechlorinator (prime, chloramx, etc), mix it and you can add a heater to match the new water temperature with the tank water temperature.

This way you can match the parameters of the new water used for the water change with the tank water parameters which will limit fish stress and have no negative impact on your bio filter giving it a chance to recover.

How long should I have the water in a separate container?a day?

Thanks

Sent from my HTC Evo 3D GSM using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[Reedmaster16]

If your using prime or a similar product I bet an hour or two of aerating & mixing the water and dechlorinator will be fine. Just give the chemical reaction time to bind the chlorine, allow the ph to stabilize, co2 to gas off etc. So much better for your fish this way (and giving your bio filter better conditions to regrow as well).

 

[4D3]

If your using prime or a similar product I bet an hour or two of aerating & mixing the water and dechlorinator will be fine. Just give the chemical reaction time to bind the chlorine, allow the ph to stabilize, co2 to gas off etc. So much better for your fish this way (and giving your bio filter better conditions to regrow as well).

Ok great...I have a 160l container I'll find a pull to circulate the water and see how that goes.thanx again

Sent from my HTC Evo 3D GSM using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[Owens]

According to what you listed as filtration, your only running 500-600 gph.

You should be shooting for almost 3x that, especially in an overstocked tank. You also probably should be doing at least 1-2 large waterchanges a week to keep up with nitrates.

 

[4D3]

Hi,

I have myself a 2262 on order so hopefully that will help.

Should I run the 2080 and 2262 and get rid of the 2217 or just the 2262?

Although the water changes seem to be what is causing the issue...the chlorine is killing everything so large water changes aren't really going to help my broken cycle....unless I turn off the 2080 while I water change and give the prime about an hour to do its thing then turn the 2080 back on?

Sent from my HTC Evo 3D GSM using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[Owens]

Im not entirely convinced that is the issue honestly, but Im certainly no expert thats just my opinion.

I would lean towards the fact you just dont have enough filtration for your stock; possibly a combination of that and the chlorine issue.

I would personally keep doing water changes if your still unsure of the issue, atleast that way you are manually de-toxifying the water. I would think the amount of chlorine in your water is not as dangerous as high ammonia and nitrites even if it is possibly breaking your cycle.

With that said, I have never had an issue with chlorine killing all my bio while using prime. I do large 30-50% water changes, usually twice a week, because I keep my tanks overstocked. I just add in prime as I fill with water (city water) and count on the current from my python to mix up the water. Has always worked for me.

Its probably worth noting I turn off all of my filters while I do water changes.

 

[4D3]

Its probably worth noting I turn off all of my filters while I do water changes.

Thanx a lot,I have been keeping my filters going while water changing,I think I should leave the Otto and powerhead running to mix the water and prime rather than dragging the chlorine through my filters.

(I am completely new to city water...I usually have rain water but an especially dry summer and my wife's need to have a daily 40 min shower drained the tanks!)


Sent from my HTC Evo 3D GSM using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[Owens]

NP, I still would be really surprised if it was solely the chlorine problem. I have gone a week or two continuing with water changes without prime before with no ill effects, but I guess everyone's water is different.