Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => New Fishkeepers => Topic started by: hilly on June 09, 2018, 07:45:36 AM
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Hi all.
I have two questions really. Not sure if they will both be seen in the one post but I'll try!
I have a 60 litre tank that I have /am cycling. I have really hard, alkaline water (10ยฐ and 8.0ph) so there's a little issue straight away out of the tap. I have been taking regular ammonia readings that have been consistant.. 25 Ammonia 0 Nitrite 40/80 Nitrate and it remains exactly the same even after a 60% water change. I have been tearing my hair out thinking this tank just isn't gonna cycle. It been 5 weeks and the ammonia has never been 0. I then yesterday tested my tap water for ammonia out of curiosity and there it was. . 25ppm ammonia. I think I am right in assuming this is chloramine in my water. I treat it with Seachem Prime before a water change. So am I safe to presume that this 0.25 reading is safe for my fish and to use it as 'my zero' reading.
My other question is does anyone have any experience with stingray filters? I am not sure whether much water is actually drawn in through the filter media as there is a lot of un sealed areas around the flip up lid that water could get through. Is this any problem at all. I'm just worried about the water not all passing by my benefitial bacteria in my media. When I do a water change and the level drops an inch or two below the outlet novel it stops pumping so the water is falling out of the sides and clearly not being drawn up in enough volume through the 'tail'.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Oh one important bit. I started a fish less cycle but with going on holiday for 10 days I didn't want my BB to starve off ammonia and then be back to square one so I added four Pristella Tetras. Now they did die admittedly but this was week 2&3 and when I got home my ammonia was 0.75. It has since come down to the 0.25 I mentioned.
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No experience with the stingray filters myself but th3y normally get good reviews. Could you post a photo so I can try and get my head round it? Can you feel the fl9w of the water in the tank near the filter outlet when the tank is full?
Regarding the ammonia reading... what test kit are you using and how old is it? This may sound daft but these kits vary significantly in their accuracy and have a shelf life for the chemicals they contain....
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To cycle/prepare the filter (or, more specifically, its media) to be able to build up sufficient beneficial bacteria to handle/process the proposed fish's waste, you'll need to add a source of ammonia to your tank to simulate fish waste, otherwise the readings will be much the same as what comes out of the tap. Details on how to do a fishless cycle is here https://forums.thinkfish.co.uk/fishtank-filtration-and-cycling/fishless-cycling-how-to-do-it/ Once that process is complete (usually 4-6 weeks but the readings will let you know when you're at that stage), then you can safely add fish.
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Hi guys. Thanks for the really quick replies.
Matt, yes it throws out water at the outlet as I'd expect it to, it's just that when a small piece of food or something similar floats past the inlet it doesn't really deviate and get sucked in so it's making me think the water is mainly being sucked into the unsealed sides. If this is normal and OK then so be it. I'm just not sure. ๐ค
Fcmf, I researched the nitrogen cycle a fair bit and started the first two weeks with a fish less cycle. I used food to put in the ammonia. And everything went as expected. High ammonia and nitrites and these steadily rose and fell with 'feedings'. I then went on holiday and had nobody to continue this so I had to use the 'frowned upon' approach and introduce a couple of fish. I did a large water change as I went away. Now I've come back the readings are consistently as my original post which led me to test the tap water which contains 0.25ppm ammonia. With my tank Nitrites being 0 am I safe to assume that my tank is cycled and that my water just contains the ammonia from the chloromine that is safe after being treated with seachem prime. Oh and forgot to mention the test kit is four weeks old and is the API master freshwater test kit.
Thanks
Gaz
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What is the light where you read the test result? Daylight is best - easy at this time of year :) - and it is known that fluorescent lights, including compact fluorescent energy saving bulbs, make the test tube look greener than it really is.
It is also known that people's eyes see colours differently. Some people never see the yellow zero colour even on tanks that have been running for years.
Ammonia in tap water is usually caused by chloramine, and prime will detoxify it for 24 hours, then it will turn back into undetoxified ammonia. Normally, the ammonia from chloramine has been 'eaten' by the filter bacteria within 24 hours.
Do you have any live plants in the tank? Plants prefer ammonia as fertiliser so they will remove a lot of the ammonia made by the fish. Floating plants are particularly good for this as they are very close to the tank lights, and can take in carbon dioxide from the air - these are the other two things needed for plant growth.
If you tell us the size of the tank we can recommend suitable plant species.
Stingray filters do have a couple of problems.
The first one to be aware of is that small fish can get stuck in the gap between the filter and the tank. The solution is to put a layer of filter wool in the gap so the fish can't get into it.
The second problem is the media. Part of the media is carbon-zeolite cartridges. Carbon is not needed on a routine basis and it will remove medication should you ever have sick fish. Zeolite removes ammonia and medication. The trouble is that zeolite gets full and stops absorbing ammonia; because it was removing ammonia not enough bacteria have grown so ammonia shoots up in the water. You are tied to replacing these cartridges before the zeolite gets full for ever.
The best thing you can do is take these cartridges out and use them to cut a piece of sponge to the same size and shape and use those in place of the cartridges. Any brand of filter sponge will do as long as it is big enough.
For anyone unfamiliar with the filter, here is the manual https://uk.hagen.com/File/c02555ca-c56a-457c-80fc-f612958bbb2f
Or get a better filter ;)
And you should turn the heater and filter off when you do a water change. Heaters have been known to explode if they turn on when out of water, and filter pumps burn out if run in air. Water changes should be 50% a week when you have fish so the level will drop well below the heater and filter.
The stingray's pump is at the top of the filter so as the water level drops past the top of the filter the pump is running in air.
Fishless cycles take longer than 2 weeks. When I did one, it took 7 weeks.
Do you have any fish left in the tank now? If you don't, I suggest you buy a bottle of ammonia and follow the method in fcmf's link. If you do have fish, the best way to protect them is with live plants. We can help you with those :)
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Forgot to mention - 10o hardness is not very hard.
There are two units used in fishkeeping, German degrees, also called dH; and ppm. Your 10 deg convert to 178 ppm. You will need these two numbers when researching which fish to buy; some fish profiles use one, some the other.
The most reliable site is http://www.seriouslyfish.com/knowledge-base/ Use this site to find out the tank size and water conditions a fish species needs and also which fish are and are not compatible.
Never, ever believe anything a fish shop tells you about which fish are suitable for your tank. Most shop workers will make up any rubbish to get a sale. Always research for yourself.
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Just to add to the helpful advice above:
* in a fishless cycle, ammonia such as Kleen-Off ammonia is a much better source of ammonia than that from fish food; I and others have tried the fish food method but it's not very reliable and is difficult to gauge how much and how frequently to dose it, whereas it's much clearer to do so with ammonia;
* if I've understood your post correctly, the fish have all died and you've not been dosing ammonia (or fish food to create the ammonia) since, in which case you'll need to resume doing so in order to enable the cycle to re-start/continue.
Hope that's helpful.
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Hi Sue.
Wow I'm glad you saw my post. Some great advice there. I'll try and answer all the questions you've asked. ๐
It is a relatively well planted tank. 3 background broadleaf plants and eight small 'anubis' type I think.
The room I check my test tubes in probably isn't the brightest so I'll go outside next time. ๐๐ป
Next water change (tomorrow) I'll change the cage material and put in some normal filler media. And I'll turn the heater off! (I never even considered that) ๐
There are three male guppys in there at the moment. A mate was overstocked after his bred and I had read that with alkaline hard-ish water I should be looking at the live bearers. They seem happy enough at the minute, quite active and hungry.
I know a few of my guys made the ultimate sacrifice because of my holiday but I'm semi confident that the tank is OK now. I was just a little stumped with a few things. But with the help here I'm hopefully turning the corner. And I think on payday I'll be getting a new filter. ๐
One further question. Will squeezing my old filter media into the one be OK or should I run them both for a while and allow it to catch up?
Thanks so much once again.
Gaz
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Regarding the ammonia test - not in direct sunlight but in a well lit location. In the shade of a bush or round the corner from the sun would be best. Or on a lightly overcast day.
Since you do have plants, I would not worry too much about the ammonia reading. I know that anubias are slow growing plants and will therefore not take up ammonia very quickly but they should cope. I have all slow growing plants (including anubias :) ) except for the water sprite and hornwort floating on the surface, and my tank is quite heavily stocked. A few months ago I turned the filter off to adjust it and forgot to turn it back on. I found out a day later and tested for ammonia & nitrite to be on the safe side. Both were zero. With the amount of fish I have, that can only be due to the plants using all the ammonia made by the fish.
Re the filter, looking at the manual there are 2 pieces of sponge in the 'tail' and a cartridge in each 'wing'. Leave the sponges there and swap one cartridge for sponge at first. You will need to trim the sponge to the same size and shape as the cartridge. After a month, swap the other cartridge. Carbon and zeolite will grow bacteria so changing one at a time means you are not removing a lot of bacteria at one go.
If you do get a new filter on payday, 'persuade' the stingray sponges to fit the new filter, with a pair of scissors if necessary. Fill any spaces with the media that comes with the new filter. After a month, you can replace the stingray sponges with the media that comes with the new filter, a bit at a time, once a month. The cartridges will be more of a problem as they won't fit any other filter. I would suggest leaving them in the tank for a few weeks in a region where the water flow is quite strong.
And make sure the new filter doesn't have a lot of carbon or carbon-zeolite cartridges ;D If you tell us how big the tank is, we can all tell you our favourite filters for that size.
Guppies are fine at hardness 10 deg/178 ppm (they need 143 to 536 ppm); but before buying check that any future hard water species are OK at 10 deg/178 ppm. For example, mollies need 15 to 35 deg, a lot more than your 10.
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Thanks again Sue.
It's a juwel monolux 60 ltr. It's really comforting to know that a well planted tank gives you a window of safe operation with regards to ammonia. More plants will be bought! ๐ท
My local shop has quite a lot of Eheim gear so would imagine the new filter may be one of those.
Thanks again for all your help.
Gaz
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I have Eheim filters. I use their Biopowers in my big tank, and I had the Aquaball in my old 50 litre tank. Both of these have baskets which would fit the stingray sponges with a bit of cutting up. Other people have used their Pickup filters and like them. These have just one sponge, but you should be able to cut some of that off to make room for the stingray's sponges. Looking at the photos, I think the sponge is hollow so you might be able to get the stingray's sponges in there. @TopCookie has one of these so he'll be able to help you better.
Aquaball - get the 130
Biopower - the 160
Pickup - the 160.
Those models are rated for bigger than the tank you have but the flow rate can be adjusted with all of them. I always prefer to have a model rated for slightly bigger tanks and turn the flow down rather than one that can only just cope.
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Yeah, I have the smallest Eheim Pickup 45... I use it for two principle reasons, main one is to add some additional flow around the tank as a supplement to an external canister filter, and secondly as a support act in general to the main filter, to help reduce the maintenance demands of the bigger filter...
In terms of additional flow, that is why I went with the smallest one as there is already flow from the main canister filter and I just wanted a modest boost... Choosing a larger model in my case would have provided too much additional flow...
Great little filter though and a piece of cake from a servicing point of view... I would certainly recommend them... :) Just look closely at flow rates when choosing a filter as you need to careful not to either over do it, or even under do it...
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@TopCookie - how would you use existing media in a Pickup? Is there a hollow in the sponge that could be used? Or would it mean cutting up the Pickup's sponge?
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In the 45 it is a single block of sponge, no hollow etc... In my case, I'm not looking for the 45 to be a muncher colony as those bad boys will be in the canister filter and everywhere else etc, plus with all the plants doing their bit too... so when it comes to cleaning the sponge, I just rinse it under the tap... Naturally, this wouldn't be recommended in most cases...
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Ok, just one more query.
Will nitrates of. 40 and above be a problem. Again my tap water comes with . 40 nitrates straight out of the tap so is only going to go higher.
Im so tempted to get a RO system so at least I can start from a blank canvass each time.
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The UK allows 50 ppm nitrate in drinking water which is why you can have 40 ppm and still be 'legal'. But fish really need 20 or less ppm.
Using half tap, half RO would get the nitrate reading down to 20 ppm. Or you could use 100% RO and add some remineralisaton salts as none of the fish in the trade can survive in pure water.
A half and half mix would also lower your hardness from 10 to 5 deg, so if you went down this route you would need to look at soft water fish. But if you used 100% RO, and added a lot of remin salts, you could make the water hard enough for hard water fish or soft enough for soft water fish.
There are all sorts of filters that reduce nitrate before adding it to the tank eg pozzani filter https://www.pozzani.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=185
All these methods need the fish keeper to have something always available - RO water, remin salts, pozzani spare cartridges in case of the need for emergency water changes. So an unopened cartridge/tub of salts in the cupboard at all times, and buy a new one as soon as the last one is opened. You must never run out as these methods mean you can never use plain tap water again.
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I have tap water that contains 40ppm nitrates, with hardness 17dh.
Most of my tanks are just de-chlorinated tap water with limited amounts of live plants (certainly not heavily planted) and I find that my nitrates do not go up beyond 40ppm. Live plants, especially floating plants, are great for controlling nitrates, along with regular tank maintenance & water changes.
I do use a mix of tap & RO for one tank, but that is more to reduce the hardness to make it more acceptable for the fish.
Obviously it is entirely up to you if you would prefer to use the filters that Sue has suggested, or get an RO system, but I just wanted to point out that your nitrates may not go up, so it may be a lot more work for you. As for whether <40ppm is better for the fish, yes I would have thought so, but some fish are more hardy than others, so it depends on what fish you want to keep.
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Water changes should be 50% a week when you have fish so the level will drop well below the heater and filter.
Just scanned this thread and went :yikes: I've only been doing 20% water changes per week? If I need to do 50% I'll do them twice a week as it would take me all evening to do 50% I'd imagine, haven't figured out a quick way of doing it yet.
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I do my changes on a daily basis. Would this work for you ? As the amounts are smaller thereโs less shock to the fish as the changes are subtle. Especially if your looking to change 50% of the volume per week.
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I do a 50% water change on 180 litres per week. It takes about an hour and a half, but a lot of that is waiting for a full kettle to boil 9 times. With a combi boiler, hot tap water can be used to warm the new water so it would be quicker. (With a hot water system that has a cylinder in the airing cupboard, hot tap water should not be used because of what could be in the header tank in the loft)
Two 30% changes are about the same as one 50% (don't forget the second water change removes some of the new water added at the first water change)
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I must admit, I don't bother heating water any more for changes . I fill up my container in the evening and leave it overnight at room temperature. The fish seem to like the โcoolerโ water be added, especially the Corydoras I have.
Mind you Iโm only adding 20 litres per day into a 270 litre aquarium. I usually get a 0.1 - 0.3 degree drop in temperature.
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Such small amounts at room temp are fine. When I get to the end of refilling my tank the last bucket is usually less than a full one (ie less than 9.5 litres) so I use just cold tap water - and in winter that can be 6 or 7 deg C.
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Tank maintenance & water changed take quite a long time in the Littlefish household due to numbers of tanks.
Having never really thought about it before, I now consider myself quite lucky that both my largest tanks (approx. 450L each) are temperate/cold tanks with Fluval external filters, which have a drain port. I bought some long hose, which I attach to the port. The aolotl tank is near the patio doors, so that is used to water the back garden, then refilled with mainly cold water so the chiller unit doesn't have to work so hard. The river tank is close to a window, so the hose is thrown out of that to water raised beds & containers in the front garden. The river tank is refilled with a mix of hot & cold treated tap water to around 20C.
The smaller tanks actually take more effort as containers of water are carried to the garden, but I'm very happy that I don;t have to do that for the big tanks. :)
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This is a little off topic, but it didn't seem to make sense to start a new thread.
There is a third type of domestic hot water system in addition to combi boiler and boilers that use a cold water header tank.
A year ago we replaced our combi boiler with what's called a system boiler. It stores hot water in a tank, but is a closed system so doesn't have cold water header tank. Because it is a closed system, I actually use hot water from the hot tap to fill my fishtank. (With cold water to try and match the tank temperature).
I'm curious what the experienced fishkeepers think of this?
Edit to add:
And water changes on my 240l tank take a couple hours. I have a 15l out bucket and a 10l in jerry can shape bucket. And my tank is not really near any windows or doors, so all water changes rewuire me to lug buckets across the house! Water changes on my new 25l hospital tank were a dream - it's about 1m from a sink and tap!
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With a closed system like you describe there should be no problem using hot tap water.
There is only one scenario where I would be cautious. When the system is newly installed with lots of new copper pipes/cylinder there is a risk that there could be too much copper at first for a dechlorinator to remove, and this could affect shrimps and snails. I once read of someone who had a combi boiler fit complete with new pipework and it wiped out all their shrimps. In this scenario I would avoid using hot tap water for a few months.
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@Helen Im not quite as sure, the system boiler bit only describes how the central heating side of the boiler works, it could be used with a vented or unvented cylinder (with or without the tank in the loft) You say no tank so it's unvented but there are several types of these, some will have copper coils that the tap water flows through, others heat the the tanks with a coil that the central heating water flows through and the water in the tank is what you get from the taps. This second type will definitely be okay because the tank has to be stainless steel. The first type is probably okay but a quantity of tap water (5 litres perhaps) will sit in the coil for long periods at elevated temperature and could cause copper contamination. If you were to run off hot water for a couple of minutes after you feel it run hot I think this would remove the risk.
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I know the configuration we have quite well because I chose / designed it just over a year ago. Our old combi boiler failed, but we knew it would, so I'd already done quite a bit of research. The boiler is a new condensing boiler and the new high efficiency tank was put in next to it. The only new pipework is between the boiler and tank, the rest of the pipework is existing. The tank fitted into the existing pipework as though it were an extra radiator adjacent to the boiler. It is the type where the heating coil is fed off the central heating (but with its own controls and valves). (I am certain of this because it also has an extra heating coil for solar hot water)
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@Helen On the time to do a water change. I started with buckets but quickly got fed up with all the tramping around and risk of spillage so I now have two 'house hoses' and syphon water into a plastic dustbin that has a sump pump, the type for emptying pools or ponds, in it. I have two hoses because the of the length of the hose creates too much resistance to get a decent flow. When I was buying the hose I saw there are three sizes of hoze 12.5mm is the common one but you can also get a 15mm? and a 19mm. The garden centre didn't carry any hose fittings for the larger size so I went with standard hose and two lengths in parallel. I have since seen the fittings online, Gardena and Hoselock both have a professional range of quick connects for the larger sizes. Using this method I get a 160-180 litre actual change amount including packing everything away in under 45min. The hoses and pump cable coil up and live in the dustbin and is sooo much easier.
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@andyThe Minion I'm not sure if ive understood your description correctly. Do you use two hoses at the same time (in parallel?) to empty your tank into a "sump" dustbin? How do you get the water out of the dustbin? And then how do you refill the tank, get the water to the right temperature and add dechlorinator?
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@Helen I would attach a picture but I'm sure it would fail and drive me nuts again. IM me if you would like one by direct email.
So correct, two hoses from the tank into the bin, I have a weighted screw top tub with dozens of 2mm holes drilled through the sides and two male hose quick connectors through the lid The syphon hoses (2off) attach and end in the bin. I have quick connects on the bin ends as well so I can pour (or leave) water in the bin and pump a small amount from the bin into the tank to start the syphon.
Once the syphon start, disconnect the hoses from the pump and connect two long hoses that go to a drain, sink or garden, these also have quick connects on both ends. The tank will drain down in 4-5 minutes, if I need to vac the substrate I also do this into the bin.
To refil I connect the long hoses to the syphon hoses with two straight quick connects and the other end of the long hose now goes to the taps or in my case a buffer store of aged, temperature controlled, dechlorinated water. You could of course fill the bin straight from taps blending to the correct temperature, dechorinate it a bin at a time and then pump it into the tank through the syphon hoses. Bins hold about 60 litres I think.
This will sound complicated I'm sure, a picture would have been better, but it is really is very efficient the with the only connectors in bin so any connector leaks don't matter