Captive PBB Photos and Observations

[Zilch]

Apparently the bio media in my QT tank sat too long without a resident and I made the rookie move of getting fish into the tank too quickly to prevent a cycle =/ So right now I'm doing daily huge water changes and dosing prime till things even out. Stuck in a bad spot because I don't want to introduce possible contagion into the big poly tank, or risk any of these little guys getting scarfed down. Ammonia doesn't ever spike, it stays at like .5 to 1ppm so the bio filter is definitely working, just not developed enough to handle the load.

Argh so frustrated with myself, I NEVER do this

On the bright side, everyone is eating and don't seem bothered by it... I know looks can be deceiving but everyone is active and hungry, so at least there's that

 

[jaws7777]

Apparently the bio media in my QT tank sat too long without a resident and I made the rookie move of getting fish into the tank too quickly to prevent a cycle =/ So right now I'm doing daily huge water changes and dosing prime till things even out. Stuck in a bad spot because I don't want to introduce possible contagion into the big poly tank, or risk any of these little guys getting scarfed down. Ammonia doesn't ever spike, it stays at like .5 to 1ppm so the bio filter is definitely working, just not developed enough to handle the load.

Argh so frustrated with myself, I NEVER do this

On the bright side, everyone is eating and don't seem bothered by it... I know looks can be deceiving but everyone is active and hungry, so at least there's that

With everything u have goin on you shouldnt stress it bud

 

[Zilch]

With everything u have goin on you shouldnt stress it bud

Thanks haha, I'm trying to just remind myself that polys are tanks and evolved to live in wretched, stagnant pools of nasty water which is probably WAY worse than .5ppm of ammonia but it's kind of shameful as a fishkeeper anyway to put any fish through that. Doing my best to mitigate the damage, but obviously all the family woes are taking priority. Thankfully the QT is a 29g which takes very little time to python out!

 

[jaws7777]

Thanks haha, I'm trying to just remind myself that polys are tanks and evolved to live in wretched, stagnant pools of nasty water which is probably WAY worse than .5ppm of ammonia but it's kind of shameful as a fishkeeper anyway to put any fish through that. Doing my best to mitigate the damage, but obviously all the family woes are taking priority. Thankfully the QT is a 29g which takes very little time to python out!

Could you add some established media from the big tank ?

 

[Zilch]

Could you add some established media from the big tank ?

I did, as well as an established sponge filter from another tank but it's been slow to finish the cycle... There's a temperature variation of about 5-6 degrees between the two tanks so maybe I shocked the bacteria, I'm also sure there are other parameter differences which could have contributed. I've also got such a huge amount of media in the big poly tank that there's no guarantee that the stuff I pulled out was heavily seeded I guess

 

[jaws7777]

I did, as well as an established sponge filter from another tank but it's been slow to finish the cycle... There's a temperature variation of about 5-6 degrees between the two tanks so maybe I shocked the bacteria, I'm also sure there are other parameter differences which could have contributed. I've also got such a huge amount of media in the big poly tank that there's no guarantee that the stuff I pulled out was heavily seeded I guess

Good point about how seeded the media is. I noticed the same thing when using media from the big tank..... um still waiting for a juicy pic and vid filled thread....something titled zilch's fish...i dunno

 

[Polyaddict86]

Good point about how seeded the media is. I noticed the same thing when using media from the big tank..... um still waiting for a juicy pic and vid filled thread....something titled zilch's fish...i dunno

+1

 

[Zilch]

You mean I shouldn't call it "My Polys"? The name has a ring to it

 

[piscatarian]

I've also got such a huge amount of media in the big poly tank that there's no guarantee that the stuff I pulled out was heavily seeded I guess

I mean it's really just a freely feeding bacteria colony that eats waterborne nutrients, not actual food.
I'm sure it's heavily seeded if you gave it at least 4 weeks to filter your big tank

You mean I shouldn't call it "My Polys"? The name has a ring to it

Just waiting for mine to eat something before I post again.
I'm worried he's only going to eat blackworms.
Maybe I should just do an earthworm lol...

 

[jaws7777]

I mean it's really just a freely feeding bacteria colony that eats waterborne nutrients, not actual food.
I'm sure it's heavily seeded if you gave it at least 4 weeks to filter your big tank



Just waiting for mine to eat something before I post again.
I'm worried he's only going to eat blackworms.
Maybe I should just do an earthworm lol...

Not really. The colony will be as large as is needed to convert the bioload....that spread out of a large amount of media vs a smaller amount of media would give you a smaller colony when moving said media to another tank