Urgent: Some Quick Advice

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J

Jay88

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Dec 23, 2010
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0
36
Australia
Hi Guys,

Currently in my 65 gallon, its been running 1 and half years.

Last 2 days, no fish.

Urgently need to put in some shrimp and dwarf pleco (got a VERY good deal)

Question

Shutting of Fluval cannister filter, wanting to keep the bio balls sunk inside the tank. (Will this work? like keep all my bio balls submerged in the tank)

Removing gravel (I have a VERY thin layer of scattered gravel), replacing with black gravel (thin layer also)


Putting in sponge filters (so fry don't get sucked up)


please advise if my plan is ok, so I can get the fish tonight.

Thanks in advance guys/girls!
 
I use a sponge prefilter on my eheim 2217 and havent sucked up any shrimp since I startedj. I use the maxijet powerhead prefilter, also have a fluval edge prefilter on an ac50 which keeps endler fry out of that filter.
 
Hello; Not sure what you are asking, but will hazard a guess that you are concerned about the cycle and the beneficial bacteria (bb).

No fish for two days most likely will not have resulted in all the bb dying off, there should still be active colonies.

Removing the current gravel will also remove the bb living on the gravel. Perhaps keep it wet in a container and add some ammonia producing material or pure ammonia to feed the bb. This will allow you to perhaps suspend some of the old gravel in a mesh bag in the tank later if for some reason it takes a while to get the tank going or you find that the ammonia is spikeing.

The use of sponge filters has worked well for me with fry in the past.

The bio balls will have colonies of bb on them and they will last if kept wet and do not go too long without an ammonia source.

Sounds like this change will happen soon and that your plan should work. Even without fish there may be some decay of organic material which will produce some ammonia. If you have snails in the tank they also should produce ammonial as part of their metabolism.

Do you have access to any other established tanks? If so bb loaded material can be taken from one.

Not sure how the bio load will change with the new fish and shrimp but there may be an adjustment period with regard to the bb population and it may take a few days to get into balance. You are not starting from scratch so should have a head start by using established stuff from the tanks previous set up. The sooner the better with regard to the bb.

Good luck
 
Thanks for the great advise guys. I really appreciate it. Sorry for being in a fuss. I just wanted to really get this deal going. I will turn of the filter, and keep all the gravel tied up....near the filter, and take it out later ..also ill keep the bioballs in the tank as well... and remove all this after a week :)
 
Why shut off the filter?
 
Hi All, thanks again for the great advise. I have decided to not shut the filter of and add a sponge to the intake. They had foam that could fit onto my Fluval 405 intake :D
 
After removing the thin layer of gravel..im getting 0.20 amonia. Is this normal after pulling gravel out?

My established filter is still runnnig.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
Jay88 said:
After removing the thin layer of gravel..im getting 0.20 amonia. Is this normal after pulling gravel out?

My established filter is still runnnig.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Click to expand...

Hello; I suppose that you have added the shrimp and fry mentioned in an earlier post. In the few days since you added the fish and shrimp to the tank it may be that the bb have not come into a balance with the new bioload. The population of bb will change as the ammonia load changes. You did not mention how many shrimp and fry were to be added but the bio load will likely be different and the bb may take a few days to adjust. Any time the size/number of fish/shrimp is changed, the bb population will adjust as the metabolic products they feed on will have varied. My earlier responses were based on the notion that in the process of changing the tank to new occupants, their should have been some colonies of bb still active as the tank was only empty two days.

Water changes can dilute the ammonia. Adding live plants can help with ammonia. Plants such as hornwort are reported to directly take in some ammonia and are not rooted. I like to throw some into a new setup. Live plants also take in some of the end products of a tank cycle for their growth.

You appear to have two 60 gallon tanks running, according to your signature, from which you can take some bb loaded material if the ammonia levels continue.

Here is a link to an article about nitrogen and cycling. It is an involved read but a good reference.

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/nitrogen_cycle.html


good luck
 
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