Recent content by Benskoln

Ah, yes it’s one of those.

Thanks! What’s HOB?

I left it alone for concern of messing with the bio filter. Am I right that the good bacteria congregates on the filter media? Oh okay, good to know. Kind of shocking when it happened!

Seachem Tidal 55

Hi There, I just cleaned my 55-gallon aquarium for the first time and followed instructions for doing so. This included wringing out the filter sponge in the dirty water I had just extracted using my gravel vacuum. I did not mess with the filter media. When I turned the filter back on afterward...

Hey there, I am stocking a new recently cycled 55 gallon running at about 76 degrees. Started today with six sunset platys (all female). How does this sound as tank mates for them: Diamond head neon tetra Pearl gourami Black bend Cory catfish Leopard or platinum panda Angelfish My plan is...

Hi There, 1) Looking at the picture below, does this look like an algae issue or just the natural color of the water when lit? 2) If it is algae, I stopped fertilizing a few weeks ago and reduced light to five hours per day. Should I just let this ride or is there something further I should...

Hey Everyone, Having completed the cycle, Im ready to stock my new 55-gallon tank (my first). Picture is attached. It's a sparsely planted tank, and I'm envisioning some small colorful schooling fish with maybe a slightly larger few, to whatever degree I can do that without them eating the...

Thanks! The large water change once at 0-0 won’t undo the cycling work? I’ll be good to add fish immediately after?

Hey there, 2 weeks into a fishless cycle of a 55-gallon freshwater tank using fish food and bacterial starter. Ammonia is down to 0, but nitrites are at 5, nitrates at 20. Should I be continuing to add more food and, if so, how much and how often would you recommend? Also, once I get fish...

Got it. So now that the algae is there is it likely to resolve on its own with the reduction in light and elimination of fertilizer? I know you mentioned a big water change before…think it could resolve without that?

Really helpful. I’ll pick up a kit and start testing. I have read up on the cycle and understood that it should take weeks. The emergence of the algae so quickly, though, threw me and I was trying to understand it. Will definitely stop fertilizing and reduce lighting.

Thank you both! I’m actually using a higher light then the photo indicates as it was cycling off when I took it. Plan had been to fertilize twice per week. Im not adding ammonia. Have been doing a small amount of fish food and the bacteria. Could you elaborate on whether I should add ammonia...

Hey there, I have a new tank I started cycling two days ago without fish. It’s 55 gallons, has a few small plants, and some driftwood. I am adding seachem stability daily for a week per the directions and have fertilized twice so far and have been running the light 11-12 hours per day. Today...