How's my water

[Parzival]

Ammonia still between 2-4 ppm and no nitrates showing yet (well, slightly more, but the tube is still yellow). Haven't seen my shrimp doing as much acrobatics lately. Should I do another partial water change, ammo-lock, or just sit tight?

[eklikewhoa]

How are the Nitrites?

[Parzival]

How are the Nitrites?

I didn't test the nitrites tonight.

[eklikewhoa]

That is the next step in the process which you need to monitor as well.
Right now I would think Nitrates are of little concern or use to determine how far along you are.

[Parzival]

Today's results are looking a little better

Ammonia 1 ppm
Nitrite 5 ppm
Nitrate 5 ppm

I haven't done any water changes or anything else since the initial test.

[eklikewhoa]

At those levels you seem to be fine and on your way!

[wesleydnunder]

At those levels you seem to be fine and on your way!

Yup, once ammonia and nitrites drop to zero and you get a good rise in nitrates you can do a big water change and start stocking.

Mark

[Parzival]

Today I have:

Ammonia 0.25 ppm
Nitrite 0.5 ppm
Nitrate 10-20 ppm

I've yet to do any water changes or filter changes. My plan tonight is to do a big water change, replace the carbon, and rinse the sponge in old aquarium water. If I have time tomorrow, I will finally stock this thing. My two amano shrimp are doing fine.

I know a bunch of you are anti-carbon, but given the tiny size (6 gallons) of this unit, I am inclined to run with it as I don't see what possible harm it could do.

Thanks everyone!

[Parzival]

25% water change (dechlorinated), clean sponge (yuk), new carbon. The shrimp are doing a little dancey-dance.

[Parzival]

Everything's been stable for a while. My bio filter was looking a little yucky and I changed it according to the mfr instructions. The next day my water started looking a little cloudy. It's been slightly cloudy for a few days. Today I tested and there's no ammonia, no nitrite, 5ppm nitrate (if that), 7.6 pH. I've also been running the lights longer so maybe that's it?

I'm leaning toward eventually changing the filter foam to generic stuff, carbon to purigen and replace the biomax with matrix. Seems like it will be a lot more economical in the long run that way. Not at once, obviously. Thoughts? What do you guys run in your HOB filters?

Seems like Hagen is really bent on selling supplies whether they are needed or not...?

Thanks

[mnemenoi]

I only use Aquaclear HOB's and use their sponge & biomedia. I toss the carbon and take a piece of pantyhose and use purigen in it. The carbon does little to nothing and is a waste of space in my opinion. For cleaning, I just take a bucket of old water from a water change and rinse the contents vigorously and put them back in. I never buy new stuff and have been running filters for years.

[mistahoo]

Everything's been stable for a while. My bio filter was looking a little yucky and I changed it according to the mfr instructions. The next day my water started looking a little cloudy. It's been slightly cloudy for a few days. Today I tested and there's no ammonia, no nitrite, 5ppm nitrate (if that), 7.6 pH. I've also been running the lights longer so maybe that's it?

I'm leaning toward eventually changing the filter foam to generic stuff, carbon to purigen and replace the biomax with matrix. Seems like it will be a lot more economical in the long run that way. Not at once, obviously. Thoughts? What do you guys run in your HOB filters?

Seems like Hagen is really bent on selling supplies whether they are needed or not...?

Thanks

Cloudiness could be a bacteria bloom. Lights shouldn't make your water cloudy. Does it look like this? Edit: If it does look like this, it will go away eventually and usually only happens when you first cycle the tank. Just keep up with your water changes!

(Images taken from Google)

[mistahoo]

I only use Aquaclear HOB's and use their sponge & biomedia. I toss the carbon and take a piece of pantyhose and use purigen in it. The carbon does little to nothing and is a waste of space in my opinion. For cleaning, I just take a bucket of old water from a water change and rinse the contents vigorously and put them back in. I never buy new stuff and have been running filters for years.

+1
AquaClear is the only HOB filter I trust. Also there's no need for all that extra stuff in there. You could put a coarse sponge and a pantyhose filled with purigen in the HOB. You won't have to buy a new sponge or purigen. Like mnemenoi said, just clean it in old tank water, and when your purigen is dark, you can recharge it instead of buying new purigen.

[Parzival]

I could be wrong, but I think the Fluval Edge HOB is the same as the Aquaclear 20.

Pantyhose is cheaper than the Purigen bags, thanks for that tip!

The cloudiness is very, very faint. It's just not crystal clear, like it was before I changed the bio media. It is nothing like the photos above. I didn't even see that much cloudiness during my initial cycle.

I've been replacing 5 quarts of water every week (20%).

[mistahoo]

I could be wrong, but I think the Fluval Edge HOB is the same as the Aquaclear 20.

Pantyhose is cheaper than the Purigen bags, thanks for that tip!

The cloudiness is very, very faint. It's just not crystal clear, like it was before I changed the bio media. It is nothing like the photos above. I didn't even see that much cloudiness during my initial cycle.

I've been replacing 5 quarts of water every week (20%).

I think the HOB filter in the Fluval Edge is the AquaClear20 as well.

There is usually a bacteria bloom around the time the tank is being cycled or even a little after, but it shouldn't happen again as long as the bacteria stays established. The cloudiness you have could just be some of the buildup from the bio media coming off and clouding up the water.

20% is good as long as there isn't a lot of livestock