May have found a female JAG for my male (seeding a AC110) questions.

[Damon0306]

Hey guys I know this post might be better off in setup/filter section, but wanted to post it here, as you know I have been looking for a female JAG for my male.

I may have found a nice 1 here in the marketplace section.

I have a spare 45-gallon tank that I want to use to set her up.

Also have some spare AC110's and was going to use 2 of them on the tank.

I currently have 1 AC110 that has been running for almost a year on my cardinal/angel-fish tank, and has only been cleaned once in that time.

The tank is bare bottom so I cannot transfer any gravel.

The filter has the basic foam block and has 4 ac110-sets-bags (boxes) of the AquaClear BioMax ceramic pellets on top of of the foam block.

How should I seed the new AC110's? Or should I seed only 1?

If so should I use the foam block, or the ceramic pellets?!

Getting all excited, with my luck I will drop her in his tank and he will kill her

 

[bigspizz]

A divider with a hole only big enough for her, would do you wonders right now. I have had good luck squeezing the foam block into the new tank, and letting it run for 48 hours. And with a single fish, you should be ok. the load will sway in the beginning...Any reason why you can not just use pure ammonia?

 

[Spaz]

A divider with a hole only big enough for her, would do you wonders right now. I have had good luck squeezing the foam block into the new tank, and letting it run for 48 hours. And with a single fish, you should be ok. the load will sway in the beginning...Any reason why you can not just use pure ammonia?

I've never heard of doing that, at what rate do you add it?

 

[le patron]

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I've never heard of doing that, at what rate do you add it?

me neither

 

[bigspizz]

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I've never heard of doing that, at what rate do you add it?

You have never heard of a 'fish-less' cycle? Yes add pure ammonia until the tank tests at .5 ppm...Test the next day...Add more ammonia until it reads .5ppm. When you test the tank after a few days, and it reads 0 your tank has been cycled. The BB takes the .5ppm of ammonia and converts it to nitrites, and then nitrates.

 

[FSM]

You have never heard of a 'fish-less' cycle? Yes add pure ammonia until the tank tests at .5 ppm...Test the next day...Add more ammonia until it reads .5ppm. When you test the tank after a few days, and it reads 0 your tank has been cycled. The BB takes the .5ppm of ammonia and converts it to nitrites, and then nitrates.

I thought it took a lot longer than a few days.

 

[Modest_Man]

Adding ammonia just cycles the tank with out fish, or could be used to feed the bacteria on an empty but established tank.

If he's wanting to avoid the cycle at all (I've not cycled a tank in over 10 years now, thank god for established media) I'd just add the foam block to the AC 110 on the new tank, and buy a new foam block for the established tank (it will get colonized quickly from the other bacteria in the tank).

Just seed the one AC110, as the second will quickly build up bacteria that came in on the established media.

Do this when you add the fish, not days before. The biggest mistake I see people do with this is they swap over the media to an empty tank and then don't do anything to feed the beneficial bacteria and it all dies off and then the get new tank syndrome anyways.

 

[bigspizz]

With all of the detritus in a foam block, squeezing it in the tank, with a fresh filter, gives you the couple days I mentioned. The poo will feed the BB as it places itself in the filter, and all over the tank. This works for me. I do not think BB dies off in 48 hours with the absence fish. That would be suggesting that your tank was at 0ppm nitrates. Considering this is not the case, that level will just drop, with no added ammonia. I have had a tank empty for a week with no problems.




And yes, FSM, it does take longer than a few days...I was typing and thinking a bit quick. I have had it work in a week. (fishless cycle)

 

[Modest_Man]

Was the empty tank already established (meaning it had an excess of organic material)? Not trying to nit-pick but if you set up a tank from scratch and then add some bacteria and let it sit they will die off very quickly with out any organic material to feast on.

It's not the absence of fish that kills it off, it's the absence of a source of energy.

I saw it a bunch when I worked in a LFS, people would get confused when I'd tell them they didn't have to cycle the new tank and could just seed it with established media. They'd then go combine the two methods, seeding it and then letting it sit empty, and come ***** at me when their fish died.

 

[Spaz]

You have never heard of a 'fish-less' cycle? Yes add pure ammonia until the tank tests at .5 ppm...Test the next day...Add more ammonia until it reads .5ppm. When you test the tank after a few days, and it reads 0 your tank has been cycled. The BB takes the .5ppm of ammonia and converts it to nitrites, and then nitrates.

That's good info! In my 19 years of fish keeping I never knew this, but it makes sense, Thanks.