New Zebra tank build Information required please.

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zebramike
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New Zebra tank build Information required please.

Post by zebramike »

I've kept fish for the last 5 years or so and always remember having a tank in the house from a young age. I have a 90L community tank with a neutral PH and the stocking is as follows; 3rasboras, school of Cory's, some baby clown loach purely in there to grow out, 2BN Plecos male and female and my favourite 1zebra Pleco. All growing and survining fine. So with my love for Zebra Plecos I went to my local fish shop on my birthday and bought 3 wild caught 1male and 2 female. I also bought a 54L tank to house them. So I got home and got the tank set up I transfered a 3rd of my existing tank water and used fresh tap water for the rest. I used one of my existing internal filters hoping it wouldn't need to cycle. I added 3 Neons to help the bioload. The tank was set up on Saturday and by Tuesday my nitrites were at0. 8 and one neon was dead. I presumed this was a mini cycle and am planning on doing g a water change. I wanted to use ro water and was going to do a 50% change but have never used this before and wanted to know what I would need to add back into it before I add it to my tank? I also wanted to know if it would effect an external filter I plan on adding to my community tank for a month or 2 to mature the filter and then add it to my 54L would this cause a mini cycle again? Cheers for giving your time to read and your replies.
Many thanks, Michael
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TwoTankAmin
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Re: New Zebra tank build Information required please.

Post by TwoTankAmin »

Tetras here are a very bad idea, get them out. A sick tetra which can kill a healthy zebra ...... makes no sense......

Adding bio-load does not help a cycle, it makes it more deadly and take longer.

Moving water does not help a cycle. The bacteria live inside a bio-film which attaches them to solid surfaces out of the light, there are almost none in the water. Moving substrate, decors and filter media all transfer needed bacteria.

Ammonia can only be helped with water changes or chemicals. Nitrite can be countered with tiny amounts of salt. It is actually the chloride in sodium chloride which block nitrite from being able to affect fish. here is a link to an article I wrote on another site I no longer visit which will help witrh the nitrite and chloride part http://www.fishforums.net/threads/rescu ... il.433778/

You likely do not need RO water. Without knowing your tap parameters you (and me) are operating in the dark here. Provide pH, TDS (of GH and KH or all 3) temperature of tank water. All additives used.

Right now you need to focus on getting the zebra tank right.

I assume you Mean Manchester as in the UK? Location matters re what products may be available.
What makes the common person uncommon is common sense.
zebramike
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Re: New Zebra tank build Information required please.

Post by zebramike »

Manchester, UK yes and I am using ro water with discus trace.

I have used denitrol as my beneficial bacteria.

My ph is 7.
Nitrite 0
Nitrate is at about 60

Current stock 2 NEONS AND 6 DANIOS

Running aquael internal ASAP 150 filter
Eheim eccopro 200 external canister filter

I need suggestions I've had conflicting advice and been told to do different things.
zebramike
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Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2017 5:11 pm

Re: New Zebra tank build Information required please.

Post by zebramike »

TwoTankAmin wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2017 4:43 pm Tetras here are a very bad idea, get them out. A sick tetra which can kill a healthy zebra ...... makes no sense......

Adding bio-load does not help a cycle, it makes it more deadly and take longer.

Moving water does not help a cycle. The bacteria live inside a bio-film which attaches them to solid surfaces out of the light, there are almost none in the water. Moving substrate, decors and filter media all transfer needed bacteria.

Ammonia can only be helped with water changes or chemicals. Nitrite can be countered with tiny amounts of salt. It is actually the chloride in sodium chloride which block nitrite from being able to affect fish. here is a link to an article I wrote on another site I no longer visit which will help witrh the nitrite and chloride part http://www.fishforums.net/threads/rescu ... il.433778/ cheers more advice welcome

You likely do not need RO water. Without knowing your tap parameters you (and me) are operating in the dark here. Provide pH, TDS (of GH and KH or all 3) temperature of tank water. All additives used.

Right now you need to focus on getting the zebra tank right.

I assume you Mean Manchester as in the UK? Location matters re what products may be available.
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TwoTankAmin
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Re: New Zebra tank build Information required please.

Post by TwoTankAmin »

I only suggest two bottled bacteria products in terms of cycling. The best is Dr. Tim's One and Only Nitrifying bacteria. This is hard to find in the UK/Europe, but not impossible. The next best choice is Tetra's Safe Start.

The nitrifying bacteria do not form spores. They reproduce by dividing. When conditions are bad, they go into a state of hibernation. They basically shut down almost completely. So any good bottled bacteria will contain live bacteria rather than spores. Part of the problem with most bottled bacteria is those which do contain live bacteria do not contain the proper one for Nitrite due to patents held by the makers of the two products I mentioned above.

Ammonia is not a good thing ever with fish. Zebras do not like nitrate, especially when young. However, they are pretty tolerant of pH and hardness. They are also able to tolerate high temps and "dirty water" as long as nitrates are not high. When forced to skip water changes I almost always choose Hypancistrus tanks to omit (as long as they do not contain fry).

The amount of bacteria in any tank will tend to size, up or down, to the bio-load in the tank. Live plants will use ammonia and will not produce nitrite. When one adds a new filter to an existing tank, it does nothing to increase the amount of bacteria. All it does is to spread it out. So when one moves such a filter, they will get some level of mini-spike.

A better idea is to use some existing media and/or decor from a cycled tank. This goes into the new tank and then you can do a fishless cycle using ammonia and no fish. This give you a fully cycled tank capable of receiving a full fish load all at once.

You can jump start a fishless cycle by rinsing out media from a cycled tank into the new tank, Do not worry about getting thing yucky, that "dirt" aka mulm contains the bacteria you want. Then use ammonia to make the bacteria reproduce. You can also jump start a cycle using bottled bacteria- but brand matters.
What makes the common person uncommon is common sense.
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