Drip Loop
06-21-2008, 01:03 AM
I bought a 125g tank on Wednesday to replace my 55g which housed my cichlids. The deal in the sale was that I would trade them my 55 for the 125 and pay the difference. So heres the story as it unfolds (wall of text alert).
We had to time it pretty well so that neither my fish nor hers would be without filtration for too long. I bought a 40g NEW trash can and put my cichlids in it with their own water. I broke down the 55g and set it in my truck. By the time I got to their house, unloaded the old tank, loaded up the new tank and got it home, about 2 hours had passed. It was definitely longer than I anticipated but I kept an airstone+heater in the trash can with the fish just to keep things from getting too stagnant. Anyways, I setup the new 125g with aragonite sand and filled it up.
I bought a emp 400 HOB to supplement the wet dry but more-so to keep my old biowheels and added old gravel to the biological compartment they give you now on the emps to hopefully help reseed the new gravel and filters. I kept a nylon of old gravel and laid it near the intake of the HOB filter as well.
That night I went to sleep and woke up with things ok. The tank was really cloudy from the gravel but no fish died. The story takes a turn for the worse from here on out. The morning of the 2nd day (today) I woke up and my clown loach and one of the super red emperess' were dead. I tested the water and the ammonia was around 1ppm, 0 nitrites, 0 nitrates. I guess the shock of sitting in the trash can + new tank must have got them cause 1ppm ammonia is bad but fatal after one night??? Anyways, I did a 30% water change this morning and went to work. When I got home everyone was still alive but my blue ali is breathing rather heavy. I think he may die next. I treated the water with a little more Prime than normal when I did the water change so I am wondering if he is just stressed out and showing effects from the transfer a little later than the other fish, or if the ammonia is killing them? Bottom line is this tank is recycling. I do not want to lose anymore fish so what should I do? Does water changes early in a cycle set it back? I know the bacteria clings to surfaces of things and not really in the water but is daily water changes too much?
Thanks for reading the blinding text, hopefully I can get some good info here from everyone. Thanks again.
We had to time it pretty well so that neither my fish nor hers would be without filtration for too long. I bought a 40g NEW trash can and put my cichlids in it with their own water. I broke down the 55g and set it in my truck. By the time I got to their house, unloaded the old tank, loaded up the new tank and got it home, about 2 hours had passed. It was definitely longer than I anticipated but I kept an airstone+heater in the trash can with the fish just to keep things from getting too stagnant. Anyways, I setup the new 125g with aragonite sand and filled it up.
I bought a emp 400 HOB to supplement the wet dry but more-so to keep my old biowheels and added old gravel to the biological compartment they give you now on the emps to hopefully help reseed the new gravel and filters. I kept a nylon of old gravel and laid it near the intake of the HOB filter as well.
That night I went to sleep and woke up with things ok. The tank was really cloudy from the gravel but no fish died. The story takes a turn for the worse from here on out. The morning of the 2nd day (today) I woke up and my clown loach and one of the super red emperess' were dead. I tested the water and the ammonia was around 1ppm, 0 nitrites, 0 nitrates. I guess the shock of sitting in the trash can + new tank must have got them cause 1ppm ammonia is bad but fatal after one night??? Anyways, I did a 30% water change this morning and went to work. When I got home everyone was still alive but my blue ali is breathing rather heavy. I think he may die next. I treated the water with a little more Prime than normal when I did the water change so I am wondering if he is just stressed out and showing effects from the transfer a little later than the other fish, or if the ammonia is killing them? Bottom line is this tank is recycling. I do not want to lose anymore fish so what should I do? Does water changes early in a cycle set it back? I know the bacteria clings to surfaces of things and not really in the water but is daily water changes too much?
Thanks for reading the blinding text, hopefully I can get some good info here from everyone. Thanks again.