New To Fish Keeping

Thanks for the info Colin and Sue.
All my little fishy friends seem fine, and the otos look a little plumper!  The colisa loves the sinking wafers and even 'bumped' away the platies so he could eat it all himself! 
I will be reading through the links that Colin gave, but at the moment nothing is sinking in as I have gone down with some sort of flu-ey bug, and feel pretty lousy.  We have a visitor from the UK here and we often find that they bring some germ or other with them.  We always joke that we're like Amazonian tribes, as we don't seem to have resistance to UK bugs and as soon as any ex-pats get their family and friends over then then they invariably bring some lurgy with them!
Not actually sure that any of that made sense, a head full of cotton wool isn't helpful in writing anything.

OK...I have more questions...sorry.  My tank came with a Marina Slim Filter S15.  Now, it says to replace the cartridges every couple of weeks, I don't think that would be useful for keeping my hard-earned bacteria colony...would it?  Has anyone else used this particular filter?  I have read that with some filters you can change the cartridges over to sponges, is this right and if so, what sort of sponge?  Alternately, would I be better to get a different filter, again, if so which one?  Also, if you change a filter over, do you run them both until the new one is colonized and able to deal with ammonia and nitrites on it's own?
My tank is only a 60L so I like the idea of an external filter to give me more tank room.
Oh, one more question....if I rinse my filter in the tank water I take out at water changes, will I still preserve my bacteria?
Thanks guys

Rinsing out in old tank water is the right way to clean filter media. But don't scrub it too hard. The bacteria are attached pretty firmly to the media and a gentle squeeze/swish won't remove them.


I have to admit I don't like those filters which just have cartidges. Hagen's website says yours has three cartridges - 2 bio-carb and 1 bio-clear - and that both contain ceramitek which they say is "a highly porous ceramic filter medium that optimizes biological filtration for a healthy aquarium". The problem is that they mix it with carbon in the bio-carb cartridge and with zeolite in the bio-clear.

Zeolite absorbs ammonia. But it gets full and needs replacing. The chances are that the zeolite in your single bio-clear cartridge is now full so it won't be starving your bacteria (another use for doing a fishless cycle as it would have been used up before you got fish). I do not like using zeolite except for emergencies (like finding ammonia in your tank just before you go away for a few days, then it'll keep your fish safe till you get back home and can start doing water changes). If changed regualrly before it gets full, it removes the ammonia so there is none left to grow any ammonia eating bacteria. This ties you into replacing the zeolite before it becomes saturated for ever. If you forget, it will get full, ammonia will start to build up and there won't be any bacteria to remove it.
In your case, the zeolite would have been saturated during your fishless cycle. If you put a new one in now, not only will you remove a third of your bacteria when you take out the old one but the new zeolite will remove ammonia so the remaining bacteria in the other cartridges won't have enough to multiply. I would leave it there unless you want to change to sponge.

Carbon removes organic chemicals from the water and again it gets full which is why you are supposed to change it. Carbon can be left in the tank forever without much harm. I don't use carbon at all on a routine basis and my tanks don't suffer from lack of it. Once yours is full, it might as well not be there. The only risk is if you ever have to add a medication for sick fish. It is possible that the medication (usually an organic chemical) will be more strongly attracted to the carbon than what's on it now. It could push off the stuff already there and stick to the carbon in its place. But a lot of people seem to get away with that.

If you want to change any cartridges with sponge as Colin suggests do the bio-clear one first. You might have to make a slit in the bag, empty it then put the sponge inside. From the diagram in the manual it looks as though it would need the plastic frame to hold a sponge in place.




The way to changeto a new filter is to put all the media from the old filter into the new one and fill any spaces with media from the new filter. Wait a couple of months then swap one piece of old media with new. A month later take out another piece of old and so on till all the old has gone. In the case of your filter, I would include the strainer sponge as this will have some bacteria in it.
Running two filters side by side is not as efficient as this. Bacteria will grow very slowly in the new filter as the first one will still house all the bacteria your fish need. They won't need to grow in the new filter. Putting the old media in physical contact with the new is a much more efficient way of colonising the new.

It is more expense, but if you do want to change, an external would be best. For an internal, I like Eheims's biopower filters (I have one in my 125 litre tank). That would be the easiest internal to put your cartridges into during the changeover period.

Tell me, should you wear lycra shorts  while your doing that???

That wouldn't be a very pretty sight where I'm involved  Pedal pushers at the most 

OK, like I don't get confused enough.  I had to buy another test kit as I had used mine all up, and got a different make (I went to a different shop).  My previous one was an API test kit and the new one is JBL 6in1 kit.  Well of course, they're slightly different!  Anyway here are todays results:

CL2         0
P.H.       7.2
K.H.       20 od
G.H.       >14 od
NO2         0
NO3        50
Ammonia   0

I have done 2 approximately 40% water changes in the past week to try and lower my nitrates, (I'm desperate to get my little panda corys, and Colin said I must have lower than 20 for them).
I have tested my tap water for nitrates and the reading was practically zero.  Why have I such a high nitrate reading?  Any ideas anyone?  I feed very sparingly, they clear it in about 30 seconds.  I do this twice a day.  I have no dead foliage...what else can I try, please?
Thanks guys.

I have done 2 approximately 40% water changes in the past week to try and lower my nitrates, (I'm desperate to get my little panda corys, and Colin said I must have lower than 20 for them).

Pandas are, apparently, more sensitive to water conditions than other corys.  There are, literally, hundreds of different corys.  You may be better off looking for some other ones that are more hardy. Planet Catfish lists 398 armoured catfishes (family Callichthyidae).  There may be some other ones that take your fancy.

Generally, corys are all behaviourally very similar and are an absolute treat in my opinion.

Evening Colin,
You said that when you did your big re-plant and disturbed the gravel etc, it caused a nitrate spike.  Do you think it would do that in my tank when I do a water change, as I dig about in the sand and gravel with my siphon nozzle?  Just a thought...probably makes no difference.
Steve kindly suggested that I look at some other corys that might not be so susceptible to a higher nitrate, but I don't think that will be a solution because, as you know, I only have a 60L tank so it needs to be one of the three dwarf varieties.  I can't remember now, (because frankly, a goldfish retains information better than I do) but the other two types weren't suitable for my set-up....and I love the little pandas!
So, more water changes and also the 'let everything settle' advice will be the order of the day for me.  I don't mind doing water changes actually, I find it quite therapeutic....apart from the pesky little guppies who seem to have a death wish and try to get themselves sucked up the nozzle!  I am also going tomorrow to see if I can get that plant you gave me the link for that you said helped the nitrate level in your hospital tank.
I'm looking forward to some fishy time and more browsing amongst all things aquaria.  I'm a bit stir-crazy where I have been hunkered down indoors battling bugs!  I am feeling much better, thank you Colin, although now, I have done something to my back, I don't know, pinched a nerve or something.  It's quite painful but a source of some merriment to my other half and son, when it suddenly twinges and makes my legs give way...very amusing   In answer to your question as to whether I have been pampered or not.....definitely 'or not' would be my opinion.  However, my son has been going to work in my place so that was nice of him.  It has been unusually manky weather just lately, and flipping cold, so I haven't missed doing that.  I have just been spending my time with different fish to normal

Bonsoir Colin,
yes, it has been agony, driving is especially tricky and our bumpy drive is torture but I'm determined to go and do fishy things tomorrow!  An ice-pack is definitely not for me, I have gone for the hot-water bottle option, much more pleasant
We too, had terrific sleet today, it actually left ice all over the windows....brrr!  I just hope we don't get any more snow as we then can't get out of our steep, windy and bumpy drive to get to work.  We can usually get ourselves out in the 4x4 but can't get the work wagon out.  It's a bloody nuisance.
How exciting...you're going to get pandas too!  What else are you going to have with them and how many are you planning on?  I'm aiming for 6.
I fancied having a pond here, but I'm unsure because I don't want to encourage the snakes!  Please don't tell me that they are more scared of me than I am of them....because that just aint possible!  We had a very big snake problem for a few years and have even had them in the house....aaagh!  Once, while here on my own for a few days I had one in the middle of the night in the living room, hissing and striking at me....completely terrifying!  We have reduced the number now, by gunning up the old terrace which had all cavities under it, where they were living and laying eggs galore.  One summer, in just 3 weeks we had 27 on the terrace.  They lay by the front door or behind the shutters, or come in open windows!  Last year, we had none ( or not any that we saw) until about September when I had 3 babies appear on the terrace, so I have still got at least one breeding pair about.  Fingers crossed for this summer

Resa

Hi Colin,
Just a quick post to say I have finally managed to get some fishy pics up on the gallery.....I had tried so many times, I was losing the will to live!!!
Anyway, got to have lunch with hubby now, he's grumbling about "bloody fish" and then I want to pop to fishy-shop to see what I can find....
I will post reply re. snakes...venomous? later.....

Resa

Plan b) is best. Mine are still squabbling (sp?) after months together.

I tried plan e).... a stern man-to-man talking to. Didn't work! Enjoy your shopping.

p.s. Nice pics.