zerotona

Hi fish fans.. I've been lurking for a couple of days but I have a couple of questions, which would be great if you could help me with

Is it advisable to vacuum the gravel of a tank that is still cycling with fish? We have cloudy water (when examined in a small glass cup the water is clear, not yellow or green) and I am not sure if it is because of a bacterial bloom as it has been cloudy for a number of days now. We haven't vacuumed the gravel yet because I have read conflicting information stating that most of the good bacteria will be living in the gravel so I've been concerned that vacuuming it will interrupt the cycle.

Secondly, we have an AquaOne Hang on filter, with the 'wool' pad and carbon. It has been rinsed with tank water a couple of times but still looks dirty. It's been in the tank for 2.5 weeks. I don't know whether to replace it or try clean it a bit more thoroughly. I read on another forum that replacing the filter media will remove all the good bacteria from the filter, however in the filter instructions it says that the biogrid in front of the 'wool' and carbon cartridge should NEVER be cleaned as this is where the good bacteria is.

I guess I am just a bit confused!

Any help would be appreciated.. thanks!

armadillo

Hi Zerotona, and welcome to Fishlore!

Are you cycling with fish? If so, do keep track of your water chemistry to perform the water changes when needed. i.e. when nitrites/ammonia/nitrates too high.

Your good bacteria lives in the gravel and in the filter pad, so while cycling, don't vaccuum the gravel or clean the filter pad. If you're concerned that your filter pad is really too dirty to be doing a good job, then you're doing the right thing by rinsing it in tank water (in a bucket, not in the tank, obviously, but am sure you know that! ), but I am surprised one rinse was not enough and it is still dirty.

COBettaCouple

that type of filter is really 3 filters in one (if yours has a sponge - does it? if not, you might want to get a sponge filter to go with your filter or a thin sponge to slide into your filter). Your mechanical filter is the pad (catches the debris), your biological filter is your sponge (where the good bacteria grow) and your chemical filter is the carbon (which soaks in water toxins, but releases them back into the water when used up).

sometimes the carbon can make the filter look dirtier than it is and unless you're using the marineland black diamond AC, i'd replace the carbon every week or 2 at least.

some good bacteria is in the pad, on the decorations and even a little in the water, but the substrata (gravel) and filter sponges are the favored homes of the good bacteria colonies.

you could try something like AccuClear for clearing up the water, along with frequent partial water changes until the water clears.

zerotona

Thanks for the advice. I'm not sure about the filter, it has the wadding part and inside is the carbon, then there's the biological filter.

We changed 20% of the water again tonight and our molly whom we thought was male gave birth! 'She' has terrorised our two guppies into hiding and there only seems to be 2 babies left We had no idea she was even female, and have been in another room all night, only to come out and see tiny ginger molly shaped babies swimming around.

COBettaCouple

http://www.fishlore.com/Forum/index.php?topic=2834.0 - here's a nice visual guide to sexing the livebearers.

sometimes a female will be grumpy when pregnant. livebearers can drop fry for a few days and she'll have a batch about every 25 days or so. the fry can hide really well and if you want to find them all, you pretty much have to take everything out of the tank, starting with the adults and carefully sort through the substrata a few times to flush out any hiding fry to net and put in a tank of their own or a breeding net in the main tank.

do you have any pics? we love baby pics.

armadillo

'I read here's a nice visual guide to sexy livebearers.' and figured. Hang on a minute Dave, that's TOTALLY inappropriate material!

COBettaCouple

yes, we don't allow fish porn here at fishlore! people will just have to go to sexy-livebearers.com for that. :P

armadillo