50% used water w/ Prime+Stability for new tank????

[slednex11]

what I usually do is use 100% new water in the new tank, dechlorinate get it up to temperature, and fill one of the filters with existing media from the established tank.

let it run overnight and you are good to add some fish over.

the established filter media from tank 1 will easily handle the load when you transfer, and the new water won't be an issue at all as long as the pH's are similar. check this.

adding old water is really doing nothing but adding dirty water (ie nitrates).

I wouldn't even bother with the 'bacteria in a bottle'

your established filter media will handle your fish load with no problem and will seed your new substrate quickly.

hope this helps.

i cant use existing media 2 different filter routes

 

[dirtbikerider]

I have used stability to cycle 2 tanks so far, and everything has went smoothly, but I did put in a fish or two at a time . i will say that on my next new tank setup I will use stability + old filter media but you have already made it clear that wouldnt work for you... but like what was said in an earlier post, what works for some may not work for others. Best of Luck!

I should also add the first fish to go into my most recent setup were 10cent feeder fish, and even then I was watching my water parameters VERY closely!

 

[Toby_H]

While this is not 'all wrong', there are a few off base details...

I seriously, do not believe that it (Stability) will cycle your tank in a week, the bacteria required for proper cycling require 6 to 8 weeks to mature to the ones that eat nitrite and produce nitrate. No magic chemical is going to do it for you.

We are utilizing two forms of bacteria, one that 'eats' ammonia and 'poops nitrite' (Ammonia Oxidizing Bacteria) and one that 'eats' nitrites' and 'poops' nitrate (Nitrite Oxidizing Bacteria). Stability contains both forms.

Each of these forms of bacteria 'eat', or oxidize, ammonia/nitrite from the day they are created/bottled. They do not require a time period to mature into consuming such things.

During cycling a considerable amount of time is spent allowing the size of the bacterial colonies to increase/grow large enough to handle the bioload of our tank. Naturally the more bacteria you add (via Stability or similar quality product, or transferring from a mature tank) the less time you will need to wait.

Even if you have zero ammo and zero nitrite does not mean your tank is cycled and you still need to add fish slowly. With no source of ammo (fish or decaying food or other matter) there is no food for both types of bacteria required for a stable environment. Fish will still need to be added slowly, and you can still have an ammo spike.

This is completely true. It is possible to add enough bacterial supplement to take care of your bioload from day one, but we should never assume we have done so. Monitoring waste levels and performing water changes as necessary to keep them in check is a must.

but i squeezed all that "gunk" out into the new tank.

I personally do not encourtage "squeezing all the gunk" into a new tank. The vast majority of the gunk will be waste, not bacteria. Naturally some bacteria is transferred this way, but there are more practical ways. Transferring media, decor or biological media is much more practial. Transferring water is not very useful either...

Be cautious when applying the "squeezing gunk" method as this can add nitrates directly to the new tank thus leading you to believe nitrates are being produced within the new tank (which may or may not be happening).

Should you choose to rely on chemicals instead of biology, watch carefully and be prepared to do water changes.

Additives such as Stability are not chemicals... they are bottled bacteria. Suggesting otherwise is promoting a misunderstanding...

Thus relying on Stability is relying on biology...

What works for some doesnt work for all.

I agree here wholeheartedly. Science is quite factual and understanding/explaining the science, sticking to the facts, will set each of us up to make the best decisions. But we should also remember there are so many variables at work in each of our tanks, it is likely that we overlook details that will affect our outcome.

For this reason, I highly suggest closely monitoring parameters anytime we set up a new tank or make major changes... and water change as needed to keep parameters in check...


Personally I seed new tanks with filters/media/decor/substrate from mature tanks and water change as needed for a week or two until ammonia & nitrite remain at undetectable levels...

 

[JK47]

^ this, good post NC... This is exatly why I started the Stability thread... I works and saves people a lot of time/fish. I will double up on the "shaking the crap" out of the bottle comments though. I close the bottle after each capful and shake again.

 

[slednex11]

got it all set up today and just used new conditioned water w/ Prime + Stability and gonna put a couple of feeder comets in it per day for a week thanks for all the advice everyone!!!

 

[JK47]

If your going to use stability, add all the goldfish at once. Give the bacteria in stability a food source or it will be far less effective. Also, don't add the stability until you have fish in the tank or its wasting the stability.

 

[slednex11]

oh really? ok will do

 

[JK47]

oh really? ok will do

Absolutly, I have no reason to give ya false info. you want to slowly add fish when you add media from an established filter and NOT using stability. (a little bacteria can handle a little fish so you slowly add more fish to make sure the BB can keep up with the food supply at its current supply) when using stability, add the fish and let the bacteria do its thing... You trust prime obviously, stability is from the same company. Add the fish then the stability and your good to go. Post your results good or bad in the thread and help another member in the future when they search for it.