what do you think of the substrate plan?

[lovleeko]

I'm going to go ahead and change the substrate in the tank that had ick. I think it is all gone. The only thing is one of the black neons has a white type spot on it, but I'm starting to think it's not ick because it has been there for like five or six days now and hasn't gone away yet at 81 degrees. Anyway, I'm dying to change the substrate and need to do a water change today because I've been putting it off due to salt in the water. I'm still gonna replace the salt for a little while longer. I'm only changing half the substrate. And I'm really only pushing the rocks over mostly so no real bacteria will be lost right away until I give the sand time to deal. What do you think? Should I stop being in a rush or you think it's a go ahead?

[Northernguy]

If you were just treating for ich I would wait until your filter cycle is stable again.Any meds you add to your trank does have a negative effect on your cycle.You should try and wait for at least a few weeks.:11:
I know its hard but when you have a tank you also need to have ...whats it called....Oh ya,Patience!:hmm3grin2orange:
I may be wrong .Let some others chime in!lol

[Sharon]

How were you treating the ick?

[lovleeko]

I was only treating with salt. Plus like I said, I'm not really taking the gravel out. It hardly has much gravel in it at all and so I'm just gonna move it over to one side and then add the gravel. Wait a couple of weeks and then do it again except that time I will remove the gravel.

[lovleeko]

If you were just treating for ich I would wait until your filter cycle is stable again.Any meds you add to your trank does have a negative effect on your cycle.You should try and wait for at least a few weeks.:11:
I know its hard but when you have a tank you also need to have ...whats it called....Oh ya,Patience!:hmm3grin2orange:
I may be wrong .Let some others chime in!lol


what does patience mean? I've never heard this word before?:hmm3grin2orange:

As I said though no meds just salt. Now what do you think?

[Wild Turkey]

Should be fine IMO, but why not actually take the gravel out? If you want to be safe just remove a third. But yea you were only treating with salt so you should be ok to begin changing if you like. I just think that pushing half the gravel onto the other half may mess up more bacteria than removing half would, or at least its close enough where i would just remove it.

Personally, i think its a good time considering it will make sure you wont get a return of the ich if you are planning on keeping the tank salted through the entire process.

[Sharon]

I'd go ahead and remove it, as well. Just be gentle, so as not to stress the fish too much...if they have had ick you don't want to stress them too much...

[lovleeko]

I'd go ahead and remove it, as well. Just be gentle, so as not to stress the fish too much...if they have had ick you don't want to stress them too much...


I know.... another reason why I was worried. But there isn't that many fish in it and it's a 55 so I think they'll be okay. I switched in my ten with the fish in it. They were all fine. A tad freaked out but nothing too serious. Except the betta who kept me company the whole time staying right around me checking out what I was doing. She could care less. LOL


Should be fine IMO, but why not actually take the gravel out? If you want to be safe just remove a third. But yea you were only treating with salt so you should be ok to begin changing if you like. I just think that pushing half the gravel onto the other half may mess up more bacteria than removing half would, or at least its close enough where i would just remove it.

Personally, i think its a good time considering it will make sure you wont get a return of the ich if you are planning on keeping the tank salted through the entire process.
How would pushing it over mess with any bacteria? The reason I was leaving it in is that it is a fairly new cycle. Only about two months. I tried to remove a tiny piece of filter media that wasn't planned for long term use and use it for another tank and I got ammonia. This was a bout a month ago, but it worried me that the cycle isn't the most stable.

Thank you for your opinion here.

[Wild Turkey]

Well i was kinda thinking; 50% gets messed up because you move it, and then the other 50% gets basically suffocated..? Cuz i mean bacteria only grows where there is water flow, so if you bury it i dont think much of it will live. Just speculation though, of course.

[lovleeko]

Well im was kinda thinking, 50% gets messed up because you move it, and then the other 50% gets basically suffocated..? Cuz i mean bacteria only grows where there is water flow, so if you bury it i dont think much of it will live. Just speculation though, of course.

Right. Okay, so I was planning on trying to take out that media again but I guess I need only do one at a time. hmmmm. I have another tank I am trying to cycle and I have one tank packed to the max with fish waiting for this tank to cycle so I really did want the media out of there. Maybe I should wait on the sand. Gosh I'm in a predicament.

[bushwhacker]

pull the gravel and put a sand bottom in that tank lov

[lovleeko]

pull the gravel and put a sand bottom in that tank lov


You think all at one time? I was thinking about just risking it. Might not be a good idea though, since I want to add more fish when I am sure the ick is gone for good.

[bushwhacker]

changing the substrate isnt gonna affect your cycle and as the ich drops off and falls into the sub before it becomes free swimming getting rid of the gravel takes some of it out of the tank

[Wild Turkey]

changing the substrate isnt gonna affect your cycle and as the ich drops off and falls into the sub before it becomes free swimming getting rid of the gravel takes some of it out of the tank

It has, in many instances effected the cycle in tanks. Lov's situation is one situation that makes it more risky (the tank isnt that old, especially for a substrate change) change it at least half at a time to be safe.IMO

[bushwhacker]

not trying to question you but as you said the tank isnt that old so there is very little bacteria built up in the gravel, i dont understand why changing it now would upset the cycle? could you give me a little more info?

[Northernguy]

Are you done yet? Wheres the pics?:hmm3grin2orange:

Keep some gravel and place it in a media bag under your intake if you are worried about keeping the cycle.Do not rinse the filter for a couple of weeks.

[Wild Turkey]

not trying to question you but as you said the tank isnt that old so there is very little bacteria built up in the gravel, i dont understand why changing it now would upset the cycle? could you give me a little more info?

Tanks have X amount of bacteria built up for X amount of ammonia. If you reduce the bacteria too much you will get ammonia spikes. So, if you can, (in this case she can) reduce the amount of bacteria you are removing or destroying at a time to lessen the risk.

Basically for the same reason you shouldnt take media to seed from new tanks. The cycle is "fragile" and theres no way to tell what exactly will happen when you start taking stuff out of the tank, so if you can take less, if something happens the ill effects, if any, will also, be less.

[Northernguy]

I think it would be best to remove the fish and empty the tank right out and rebuild it.It will take a lot less time and you will not stress out the fish as much as letting them watch you work.
Do you have something to put the fish in?
Put the filter on the bucket with tank water.Do not rinse out the filter for a few weeks.Keep some gravel and put it in a media bag under the intake.
The largest part of your cycle is in your filter.
Because the cycle is not that old it may give you a mini cycle.Just keep an eye on your peramaters and do w/cs accordingly.
Pics please!!!

[bushwhacker]

Should be fine IMO, but why not actually take the gravel out? If you want to be safe just remove a third. But yea you were only treating with salt so you should be ok to begin changing if you like. I just think that pushing half the gravel onto the other half may mess up more bacteria than removing half would, or at least its close enough where i would just remove it.

Personally, i think its a good time considering it will make sure you wont get a return of the ich if you are planning on keeping the tank salted through the entire process.

thats what i was sayin

[Wild Turkey]

thats what i was sayin

right but im talking about 50% or less in that post. i thought we are now talking about removing 100% all at once. Which im saying i wouldnt do unless i had to tear down the tank for fear of a mini-cycle.

Like Ng said, they can be dealt with of course, but its still stressful for fish regardless...and toxic to a point.

[Northernguy]

I just did it on one of my tanks and with the bag of gravel there was no spikes.The tank had cycled about two weeks before I changed over to sand.
I really don't think she will have any problems WT.:22:

[Wild Turkey]

I just did it on one of my tanks and with the bag of gravel there was no spikes.The tank had cycled about two weeks before I changed over to sand.
I really don't think she will have any problems WT.:22:

Im not saying she will NG im saying shes less likely to have problems if she does it one part at a time. Theres just no reason not to take the safer approach.

[lovleeko]

I think it would be best to remove the fish and empty the tank right out and rebuild it.It will take a lot less time and you will not stress out the fish as much as letting them watch you work.
Do you have something to put the fish in?
Put the filter on the bucket with tank water.Do not rinse out the filter for a few weeks.Keep some gravel and put it in a media bag under the intake.
The largest part of your cycle is in your filter.
Because the cycle is not that old it may give you a mini cycle.Just keep an eye on your peramaters and do w/cs accordingly.
Pics please!!!


I will if I change all the sand. If it's just a quarter or half it really wont be any big deal. It will take like ten minutes if I'm not doing the whole tank and there isn't that many fish in it. But I see what you mean. I think I might wait though because I did move a piece of media to use for another tank. It is a small piece compared to the other stuff I have in there, but the last time I tried it got a bit of ammonia in the tank so I'm kinda worried but I think it may be best to keep the substrate as is until I make sure there are no problems with that. But the conversation is still helpful because I plan to do it soon. I wanted to add more fish soon if the ick stays away and I probably shouldn't have moved the media because of that but I sort of had to. I needed to move some fish around and needed an instant cycle. I really hope all goes well. I also hope to change the substrate because I'm itching for the change. Thanks for all the help. You guys agree I should wait since I removed some media?

[Northernguy]

All you had to do was rub the sponges together to jump start the cycle.The bag of gravel also helps.

[lovleeko]

All you had to do was rub the sponges together to jump start the cycle.The bag of gravel also helps.


This is hard to explain, okay once upon of time the ten gallon in question was cycled. Well, when I first got the 55 gallon going and I took out the filter media from the ten gallon tank and stuck it in the 55 because there is a whole load of room in the 55 filter and I wanted to help cycle faster. Well now that I have the ten going again and needed an instant cycle, I just took the media back out and stuck it in the ten which it fits perfectly in. Did that make sense ? :ssmile:

[Northernguy]

Did you leave any in the 55?
Why not split up.

[lovleeko]

Did you leave any in the 55?
Why not split up.


Oh yeah, there are four huge pieces of foam (been there without rinsing since cycle started) two small pieces of foam (that just got added less than two weeks ago) and then another one of the same types of pieces that I took out that came from one of my other ten gallons (both ten gallons have the same filter) that also got placed there when the 55 first got started with it's cycle because I wanted a quick cycle which I eventually plan to take out since they are just stuff shoved in there for bacteria and probably don't contribute much to the filtration. So I hope just taking out the one wont hurt much.

[Northernguy]

Test your tanks today and post the readings again today.:22:

[Wild Turkey]

How many tanks to you have total lov? Im always confused as to how many/what size since youve been doing so much lately.
I think a lot of the reason you are having ammonia problems in several tanks lately is mostly just patience. Do everything thats cycle-sensitive slower and let the tanks run without change for longer.

I 100% understand how much you want to throw some fuel on the fire and get things going, its hard to be patient with tanks sometimes.

Honestly for your situation. I would put a hault on any changes for a few weeks and just test and do my normal maintenance.

[lovleeko]

How many tanks to you have total lov? Im always confused as to how many/what size since youve been doing so much lately.
I think a lot of the reason you are having ammonia problems in several tanks lately is mostly just patience. Do everything thats cycle-sensitive slower and let the tanks run without change for longer.

I 100% understand how much you want to throw some fuel on the fire and get things going, its hard to be patient with tanks sometimes.

Honestly for your situation. I would put a hault on any changes for a few weeks and just test and do my normal maintenance.


This change was a must. I am only having ammonia in one tank. Due to having quite sensitive fish in that tank, I moved them out of there and over crowded another tank. I have been doing a lot lately but everything is pretty much done and cycled except for the one ten I am having problems with. I understand that it is early to take stuff out of the 55 but like I said, these were pieces I wanted to get out of there at some point and I really needed to get some out of my crowded tank so I took the media. If push comes to shove, I'm thinking I can always put everything back the way it was. So I have my fingers crossed. I really haven't rushed into anything besides taking media out of my 55. It's been cycled maybe 3 months so hopefully all will go okay. There really isn't a whole lot in there. I am impatient but I have done no wrong honest. The problems I have been having are things like ick, I had a betta with fungus, I got a bad batch of bettas recently trying to get some more females for a sorority and they have caused me a lot of work. On top of these things I lost a betta by not covering her tank back up and things such as these have been my probs lately. Honestly it occurred to me that the fungus and ick and such were sort of over due because I did use a maintenance amount of salt in every tank since I've got started and a few months back I became informed of the bad that salt can do and stopped. I dont plan on using salt again because I'm trying to look at it like this..... If my fish are not constantly slightly stressed by the use of salt and are thoroughly happy in true freshwater than I will just deal with the fungus ick or whatever might come due to lack of it.

No worries, I'm being patient. Wait, whats that mean again:hmm3grin2orange:

[Wild Turkey]

This change was a must. I am only having ammonia in one tank. Due to having quite sensitive fish in that tank, I moved them out of there and over crowded another tank. I have been doing a lot lately but everything is pretty much done and cycled except for the one ten I am having problems with. I understand that it is early to take stuff out of the 55 but like I said, these were pieces I wanted to get out of there at some point and I really needed to get some out of my crowded tank so I took the media. If push comes to shove, I'm thinking I can always put everything back the way it was. So I have my fingers crossed. I really haven't rushed into anything besides taking media out of my 55. It's been cycled maybe 3 months so hopefully all will go okay. There really isn't a whole lot in there. I am impatient but I have done no wrong honest. The problems I have been having are things like ick, I had a betta with fungus, I got a bad batch of bettas recently trying to get some more females for a sorority and they have caused me a lot of work. On top of these things I lost a betta by not covering her tank back up and things such as these have been my probs lately. Honestly it occurred to me that the fungus and ick and such were sort of over due because I did use a maintenance amount of salt in every tank since I've got started and a few months back I became informed of the bad that salt can do and stopped. I dont plan on using salt again because I'm trying to look at it like this..... If my fish are not constantly slightly stressed by the use of salt and are thoroughly happy in true freshwater than I will just deal with the fungus ick or whatever might come due to lack of it.

No worries, I'm being patient. Wait, whats that mean again:hmm3grin2orange:

LOL yea seriously what does it mean?
Ive just been feeling your frustration lately, wanna help out anyway i can ! :D

[Northernguy]

Lovleeko you need to sit down and have a heart to heart with yourself so you can figure out what you are going to put in what tank.Changing your fish from tank to tank to tank,you have me confussed.Almost.lol
It is also not recomended.I hope you are floating them.

[lovleeko]

Lovleeko you need to sit down and have a heart to heart with yourself so you can figure out what you are going to put in what tank.Changing your fish from tank to tank to tank,you have me confussed.Almost.lol
It is also not recomended.I hope you are floating them.


Nope, just throwing them in there. LMAO J/K Yeah I float them. All my tanks are the the same as far as ph and the tank I'm moving them from have the same temp too but I still acclimate just in case. I'm not a total ditz. :hmm3grin2orange: Just having a run of bad luck. I kept fish with no probs for so long and those days will return to me. I hope!

[lovleeko]

LOL yea seriously what does it mean?
Ive just been feeling your frustration lately, wanna help out anyway i can ! :D

Thanks WT I'm hoping it all passes.

[Lady Hobbs]

I would be worried about switching fish from an Ick tank into other tanks period until the Ick is known to be eradicated. You may now have to watch all your tanks for awhile.

[Northernguy]

Nope, just throwing them in there. LMAO J/K Yeah I float them. All my tanks are the the same as far as ph and the tank I'm moving them from have the same temp too but I still acclimate just in case. I'm not a total ditz. :hmm3grin2orange: Just having a run of bad luck. I kept fish with no probs for so long and those days will return to me. I hope!

:11: I never thought you were a total ditz!

What color is your hair?:hmm3grin2orange:
lol just kidin'!:14:
I was just making sure.Its the little mistakes that can end up doing the most damage.
Lady Hobbs has a good point!

[lovleeko]

:11: I never thought you were a total ditz!

What color is your hair?:hmm3grin2orange:
lol just kidin'!:14:
I was just making sure.Its the little mistakes that can end up doing the most damage.


It's brown! HEHE It used to be blonde. I think it was still blonde in my profile pic. Pay no mind. It's naturally brown. LMAO

I'm a brunette ditz! YAY for diversity!!

It is the little things somtimes. I know I'm taking a risk in a couple of things but hope it is for the better good.