My jebo 835 + cycling question

[stipe]

Here i finaly got my jebo canister filter. Its a powerful machine, the only problem is i dont know how to change the strenght of the output. WOuld anyone know how to?

Heres some pics of it, the inside and it getting set up with my new 4foota.

I bought alot of live plants for my tank but them i found out it was leaking, so it was back to the drawing bored for now but during the time i was fixing my new tank i put the plants in a sink with the sand for nearly a month now. I fixed the tank and transfered it all to the tank while i was finaly setting it up. DO i really need to cycle as the sand and drift wood and plus half the water in the tank is already cycled? Im giving it a week to adjust anyway.
So do i have to still cycle, my readings are all 0 with about 15 nitate, so does that mean its cycled as there is a nitrate reading?

I will post pics of the tank all set up later.

 

[sharn]

well if there wasnt anything in the temp tank to create waste i doubt it... not sure how much waste a plant actually makes unless its decomposing? if you have to put your axies in now just keep an eye on them and see if anything happens. feed them lightly so you dont create ammonia spikes while the bio load catches up.

nitrate can happen in uncycled tanks too i think, some tap water even has it in it if it (woah tounge twister!!) has been contaminated by fertilsiers or sewage and not purified properly.

sorry i cant help bout the canister, i dont know much about them

 

[stipe]

Ok the whole bottom of the tub was filled with decomposing leaves, i mean the leaves turned to mush when i touched them. Well they had to be when the plants had to survive on the ceiling light, plus i think the CO2 saved them.

I removed all the decaying plant leaves of the bottom befor i put the sand in. I gave the sand i little rinse but i read that that wont harm the bacteria.

So im guessing its cycled so far unless anyone says other wise. Dont worry Squidy isnt in there, his still in his old 2 foota till im sure its cycled, i was stupid the first time, i wont be this time.

Another question is if the is enought rings in one of the baskets and if do i jsut rinse them or scrub them ( heard scrubing kills the bacteria and i wont use hot water to rinse either).

 

[stipe]

Can some one please reply to the cycling question, i want to know if i can put squidy into the tank or not.

 

[theresa]

Well, if your reading s are accurate, it sounds like it is. i would not do anything with the pieces of ceramic. They will become colonized by the good bacteria. i never bother w them in my tank. i just rinse the sponge filter every few water changes in the syphoned tank water. Never use hot water or wash them. If you have room, I would also add a sponge. i'd probably put squidy in there, but do readings often and keep the water clean. Don't let the nitrates ever get over 20.

 

[sharn]

only ever use tank water if you are washing something that holds significant amounts of bacteria. a simply rinse/swish around should be ok for your rings. i would put a thick coarse sponge in the first basket to remove your big particles, filter floss in the second and your rings/noodles in the third, that should stop them getting clogged up with gunk.

id say its cycled as well but do keep an eye on it!

 

[stipe]

Ok i still havn't moved squidy in until im sure. Ammonia is still zero and the nitrite has rises to 0.25 followed by the nitrate dropping to 5. I wasn't home for 2 days so mabey there was a slight ammonia spike while i wasnt present which decreased and now followed by this slight nitrite rise. Im guessing the tank is already cycled but since some rocks and half the water is new that it should have some small spikes to recycle a bit. By the looks of things my tank is on the second stage of the nitrogen process and mabey in a day or two the nitrite will drop and nitrate will rise slightly. I will not put in Squidy until the nitrate drops indicating the fourth and final stage of the cycle is complete where the nitrate turns into harmles nitrogen gas.

If thats not necessery then should i just do i 10-20% water change and put him in or wait till the cycle process completes. Also i have about 20-30 guppies in there and 2 mystery snails as well as 8 freshwater shrimp or prawns, what ever you call them. Oh yeh dont forget about the 10-20 live plants i have.

Advice would be great thanks, Stipe.

(Message edited by stipe on January 25, 2006)

 

[sharn]

if your tanks going through mini cycle then you should do small water changes daily if any animals are in there. id say your bio load was just catching up with the little spikes, itll be gone in no time. hope that answered your Q

 

[stipe]

Thx Sharn, i'll start daily changes tommorow for a week or so.

 

[jennifer]

In addition to moving Squidy, can you also move some ornaments from the old tank to the new one? The more the better, and don't clean them when you move them. These will help colonize the tank with good bacteria. Then test the new tank regularly for ammonia and nitrite and you should be fine.

 

[stipe]

All his ornaments are now in the new tank except for his log. I kept that there so he could have a place to hide while the big move was in process. Also im going to move all his gravel, which will also help.

 

[stipe]

Ok the nitrite is still at 0.25. Do you think this is ok to move him in. In addition to moving him i am going to add all his sand and his laft ornament, the big log. So if i move him now along with that stuff would he be ok. Oh and i'll move half his water. So is that ok?, will the nitite drop then?