Seachem Stability: PUT TO THE TEST/blank slate (daily perams/pics)

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
daveydoodle;4136523; said:
JK47 - No, I'm not running a UV Sterilizer. My setup is (previous post)

"150 gallon w/ 40 gallon sump (I've been using the measurement of 200 total gallons for dosing)- 2 Large plecos (good poopers), 1 Large Firemouth and 1 Large Green Terror added at the end of day 1. Water temp is consistent at 80, tested everyday at 1600 hrs, Stability added AFTER test."

Are there any other variables anyone can think of? I'm feeding twice daily (beef heart and then pellets). My numbers for today (Day 10) are:

Ammonia .25 ppm (mg/L)
Nitrate 20 ppm (mg/L)
Nitrite .50 ppm (mg/L)

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/album.php?albumid=4101&pictureid=46252
Click to expand...

I would strongly advise you to cut back your feeding while cycling the tank. Every other day would be more than enough for your fish during this process. There is only so much bacteria in each dose and if you have nitrites present it means the bacteria are trying to balance out, probably due to the excess amount of waste being produced by the twice daily regiment and plecos. Once your readings are coming out looking good, then you can slowly start feeding more to give the bacteria time to multiply enough to consume the waste produced by consistant twice daily feedings. ;)
 
THANK YOU!!!

I'm feeding 1 beef heart (frozen cube) and maybe 6-10 pellets in the evening, so if that's the variable that's screwing me up....THANK YOU! I'll cut back and see how it goes. I thought that I was doing everything right based on the instructions from the Seachem bottle, other google articles and threads from here. So I was getting frustrated and starting to grab at straws (ie..bad batch of Stability) because I had no other ideas. Hopefully this is the variable.

Everytime I walk by they swim up to the feeding spot and wait, and they always eat everything I feed them; never any leftovers or wasted food. Guess I'm just a sucker for a manipulative fish!!

Thank again JK47, I was running out of ideas.
 
daveydoodle;4136742; said:
THANK YOU!!!

I'm feeding 1 beef heart (frozen cube) and maybe 6-10 pellets in the evening, so if that's the variable that's screwing me up....THANK YOU! I'll cut back and see how it goes. I thought that I was doing everything right based on the instructions from the Seachem bottle, other google articles and threads from here. So I was getting frustrated and starting to grab at straws (ie..bad batch of Stability) because I had no other ideas. Hopefully this is the variable.

Everytime I walk by they swim up to the feeding spot and wait, and they always eat everything I feed them; never any leftovers or wasted food. Guess I'm just a sucker for a manipulative fish!!

Thank again JK47, I was running out of ideas.
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No worries at all. ;) FYI, when I am cycling a tank (depending on the fish/age) I usually feed every three days or so. The next week, bump it up to every other day, then daily after that. Most fish can go a week or so with no food with no ill affects. Certainly less ill affects than a cycling tank.

On a side note, beefheart unless your dead set on using it is not a great idea with larger fish. The frozen kind breaks off into very tiny particles they ignore and gets sucked up in to the filter etc.. to rot. I honestly would say that is may be more of an issue than the twice daily feeding. Wait till the tank is mature before using it. Pellets and a slice of cucumber/zucs for the plecos ever other day and your good to go with significatly less waste. Let us know in a couple days what the readins look like. :popcorn:
 
I was really hoping to get a new Motoro Ray in there this weekend, but I'm guessing that's not going to happen. I went out and bought a new API Maser Test Kit today even though the old one isn't used up yet. I just wanted to double check and make sure my numbers were reading accurately. Test results from (BOTH kits) today were:

Ammonia .25 ppm (mg/L)
Nitrate 20 ppm (mg/L)
Nitrite 1.0 ppm (mg/L)

No feeding last night or today.
 
It's a 150 gallon tank with a 40 gallon sump. Sump is 3 Intakes going into the sump with 3 micron filter socks- through 2 baffles into a large filter mat, dripping into 5 gallons of bio balls- then through 2 baffles then return pump. Substrate is about 50 lbs of Tahitian Moon Sand, 1 large piece of driftwood, nothing else. 2 Large Plecos, 1 Green Terror and 1 Firemouth.

I was wondering if the Seachem Stability was getting sucked into the overflows too fast before being distributed throughout the tank. Today I shut down the powerhead and overflows for about 10 minutes to try and allow the Stability to fill the tank. I understand that the majority of the optimum surface area is on the bio balls and the filter pads in the sump, however there is still some surface area in the tank itself.

Temperature is consistent at 80, always test the same time everyday PRIOR to treatment.
 
Hmmmm...Are you dosing for 190 gallons?, or maybe get a fresher bottle of STABILITY...BTW what is the exp date listed on the bottle? How close to the exp date are we?

Yours is the first time ZERO ammonia isn't the result after the initial 8days...
 
I'm with Ben on this one. I would get a new bottle and start again. It can't hurt.
 
This is at least my third bottle of Seachem. I just bought a new one today, and the exp date is 2/13, which is the same as the last one I just finished. I bought it from a different Petsmart today, but I'm guessing it's from the same overall shipment.
Petsmart is (unfortunately) the only place nearby that carries this. Otherwise it's a 45-60 minute drive.

I did a 19 hour shift yesterday so no feeding, no dosing, and no testing. Today's results are the same as before.

Ammonia .25 ppm (mg/L)
Nitrate 20 ppm (mg/L)
Nitrite .50 ppm (mg/L) (down from 1.0 on Thursday)

I know other people run bare bottom tanks, so having too little surface area shouldn't be a problem. I do have 5 gallons worth of bio balls in the sump, as well as filter pads, etc. I'm almost wondering if doing a water change and then continuing dosing would help. The nitrates have been high for a while; I'm somewhat concerned about the fish.

Any other suggestions??
 
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