Good Idea to use "CYCLE"?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
richardhmc;653032; said:
Well, I used to have 10 gallon before this 55. For about 2 weeks, I have had my 10 gallon hob filter on the 55 but about last tuesday, 5 days ago, I made the switch from sand to gravel since sand kept getting my sink clogged. So i had to empty out all my water and redo it. UNfortunatley, in the process my 10 gallon filter blew up ( it stopped working ) and so I was forced to just put in the fish. I did the drip-drop system and everything and the fish came out fine.

Right now, I have a canister: Filstar xp2 on it. What is a Bio-Spira? Can someone give me a link or picture of it? Thanks.

Nitrates are right now 20 ppm. Nitrites are 3 ppm. ( i think thats right ).
Im guessing this could be because of the mistake I made with live bloodworms. I put in a bunch into the worm dispenser and a couple minutes later, a whole GLOB of worms came out and went into the tank. I did a water change a couple hrs later to make sure everything was okay.
Click to expand...

sounds like you didnt seed your xp2 with bio ? and yes the excess worms will cause hell on your system did you vacuum the substrate?
 
Yes I did vacuum the gravel - about 40 percent water change along with that .
Doesnt it come with bio?
 
here is the link for the bio spira

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produ...ll&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&N=2004&Nty=1

your tank is probably not cycled, your main concern is ammonia and nitrites. If you have ammonia I would treat with ammo lock and do 50% water changes daily in order to protect the fish.

The link for ammo lock;
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...x=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&pc=1&N=2004&Nty=1

-Do you have a test kit for ammonia?
-Are the 3 baby ebjd's the only fish in the tank?
 
Oh. thats what you meant by bio...

No, the three ebjds arent the only fish.
I have 6 common jds and 2 plecos with them. only about 2 - 3 inches big each
and the plecos about 3 -inches.

I am going to have to get an ammonia test kit. I only use the 5- in - 1 test kit with nitrite, nitrate, ph, general hardness, and something else i cant remember..
 
Yes you definetly want to be able to test for ammonia. You do have quite a few fish but at least they are small.

Also how long has the xp2 been running? was it running while the HOB was running?
 
Yes, For the days before I made the switch from sand to gravel, the hob was running with the canister.
 
I did the 5 gallons/1 tablespoon thing radlymiller told me to do.
Also, I think Ive found out another reason why I have some high nitrites and stuff like that - When I added salt, all of a sudden, a bunch of worms began to come out of the gravel! and then my dempseys had a small snack :)

Ill just keep the salt in there until I can get a good chemical - bio spira i guess although its ridiculous expensive. >.<
 
Richard,

Good to hear that you added the salt. Keep adding it until the nitrites hit 0. Guys, just because he has nitrates doesn't mean he has finished his cycle, the tank is still cycling. Ammonia may be 0 or it may be not, but what you need to do is keep up with the 50% daily water changes. Also, start looking for homes for the other Jack Dempseys and just keep the EBJDs, becuase it is a cramped tank and JDs are pretty mean. I know a guy who has one in a 250 that kills everything. This JD is also 15 years old. Keep up with the water changes, get some bio-spira and start looking for homes for those fish. What media is in the canister? SubstratePro or Matrix rock?
 
Thanks.

How many times should i add the salt? every day? week?

I plan on moving the dempseys into different tanks once they start pairing off. the 55 will be home to a pair i hope :) (crosses fingers)

The left over dempseys I will give away.. probably on mfk.

I am not sure whats in the canister.. all i see are carbon, and 4 black foam pads, and a white pad
 
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