treehugr

Good news - my Gourami started eating again! I assume that's a good sign, but I don't want to jinx it. I feel like I'm challenging the "fish gods" by even putting this in B&W...last time I wrote about how much I loved this fish he immediately started acting sick!

So, let me see if I have this right - until the tank cycles again (and cloudiness gets better) we should be doing 25% water changes and testing with the master kit EVERY DAY? I want to make sure because 25% seems like a lot for every day - obviously that would be equivalent to a complete water change after only four days - is that right? I'm nervous about doing any major water changes again - we've learned the hard way that it's a slippery slope.

SereneReyn

well, i'm sure you'll get a lot of differing opinions on this... but if it were me, i would consider a few things... first, what are the readings when you test the water? this would be a good indication all by itself of when you should change some water out... i would also consider what kind of filtration is going on. i know the cube typically uses those ready-made cartridges, but as i said before, an ammochip-carbon blend can help stabilize everything temporarily... ultimately i'd agree with everyone else tho, bio-filtration is the way to go - it's just slower to get going right off the bat.

bear in mind too, that 14g is fairly small still, and 4 residents are likely to build up ammonia quickly, especially if you happen to give them a little too much food, etc... if nothing else, you could do a 10-15% change daily... but ultimately i would base it on how the water tests.

oh, and i don't know if anyone mentioned this before, i was kinda skimming... but don't mess with the Ph for now... (saw you'd bought some stuff to do so). get the hang of things first.

Here_fishy_fishy

if u want to get 2 gouramis beware!!! i have a smaller tank as well and my gouramis
(jupiter and pluto) hate eachother

Blub

treehugr

>>So, are you saying to do the test first and then -- even if the test results are good -- still do the 10-25% water changes daily?

treehugr

>>Just to confirm I understnd - when you say "bio-filtration" are you referring to just letting the "bacteria/mini-ecosystem" work as the filter and just using a micron pad (rather than the pre-made carbon filter) to filter out debris?

sirdarksol

That sounds about right. At least, that's what most people around here would suggest. If you have space for two types of media (usually a carbon bag and a mechanical filter), you should put something in both places, even if it's a mechanical pad and an empty carbon bag). This will give the bacteria extra space to colonize. I plan on filling bags with ceramic media for even more extra space.

SereneReyn

pretty much what sir said... i bought a canister filter, it came with sponges/floss and carbon. i took out the carbon and bought some holy stone things... i didn't go with rings, 'cause i read up on the difference a little and the little porous stone thingies i got have more surface area that the rings. so i have like 3 trays with sponges and 2 with bio-media stuff -both will house bacteria.

if your filter is kind of how i think it is, it has a pre-made cartridge? you can cut a slit in it, dump the carbon, and refill it with some sort of bio-media - i'd choose something that's small in size and easy to kinda spread around inside the cartridge... it should last quite a while (just take the whole thing out when you're cleaning and swish it in old tank water to rinse it out), and when the floss/spongy part starts to fall apart, you can take a new cartridge and empty it and then fill it with the bio-media you had in the first one, thus preserving your bacteria, and saving yourself money as far as not having to buy more.

as far as water changes, yeah, test first. if ammonia and nitrites are 0, and nitrates are under about 20, you're in the clear... no need to do a water change. if the reading is other than that, change some, depending on how bad the reading is, would determine for me how much i'd change... anywhere between 10% and 25%... i wouldn't do much more than that in a day, but if the water is bad, then do another the next day, etc...

treehugr

We have a BioCube - the filters come with carbon backed behind the filter material...

http://www.oceanicsystems.com/produc...-cartridge.php

...so, I'm thinking, in my case, I take the filter and carbon off and just put some pieces of mircon pad in the spaces. Regarding adding the extra media in place of the charcoal, I don't think I would need to do that because the BioCube has "Integrated Wet/Dry Biological Filtration", including a unique feature: BioBalls. These look kind of like little Nerf balls and they are specifically for the good bacteria colonies to grow...kind of like a condomiunum building for the little guys .

treehugr

So, if the water is good, DON'T do a weekly water change? Hmm, now I'm confused; I have another post on the site regarding water changes -- I'm getting conflicting suggestions: some are saying to do 10-25% changes every week, some say 50% changes every week (which I read in a book was the best for your fish) and now you're saying not to do them if the water looks good. I'm confused.

SereneReyn

my response was in regard to whether you needed to do daily water changes for now. once it's established, yeah i'd try to get in a weekly change, for debris if nothing else (even if the quality is good). everyone has a different idea on how much to do then... i think that if a tanks is lightly stocked and not overfed, smaller waterchanges are great. i'm reluctant to do larger water changes unless it's really necessary (tank is overstocked/overfed) because it's more likely to cause a fluctuation in water parameters that will be hard on the fish. obviously there are several opinions on this... go with what you think is best, i personally stick to around 25%.

as far as bio-media, whatever you think is fine i'm sure and nothing to stress over - i'm sure you'll figure out what you like best.

treehugr

Thanks. My husband has been checking the water on a WEEKLY basis. I've been trying to get it through his head that the water can change in just a couple of days and we should be checking it more often until it cycles again (less we end up with dead fish). He doesn't think we need to do the test every day (or even every couple of days) because, it just so happens, every time he checks the water it's fine. I tell him about the advice all of you are giving me -- that you all have been doing this a while and know what you're talking about, but we get into an argument every time. Sigh.

Water is still pretty cloudy but fish are doing okay. I can't wait for this thing to get back to normal already - it's been a while since it was clear.

treehugr

Hey all, we FINALLY have clear water! Woo-hoo!

We stopped going to Big Al's (Tamarac, FL) and tried a small pet store nearby. The guy gave us some liquid (for free, no less) that coagulated the algae, which cleared the water by 60% within 24 hours! But then it started getting a little less clear so we went back and he showed us the product he used - it's a water clarifier. Also, he gave us some red liquid that he said was a "concoction he adds to bad water" (his helper said it was iodine) so we added another dose of the clarifier along with the iodine and BAM - crystal clear water the next day. We went on vacation a day later and the whole time I was wondering how our fish were doing - whether the water stayed clear or not. Honestly, I expected to walk in the door and see the thick green water we were battling the last few months BUT the water was still clear! Hoo-ray!

Needless to say, we won't be going back to Big Al's - they NEVER suggested anything that actually worked and we just wasted our money with them.

I just wanted to post this to a) let you know we finally solved that water problem and b) post our remedy in case anyone else was having the same problem.

COBettaCouple

Congrats.. sounds like you solved that problem AND found a great LFS.