Bodhi-Licious Posted October 11, 2003 Share Posted October 11, 2003 Ok Im pretty sure my tank has cycled I had a ammonia spike then nitrite and now I have some small amount of nitrate around 5 or less depending on the light. So should I do a water change now? It only took my tank 13 days to cycle but I did use well cured rock from my LFS', my levels are ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 3-5ish Ph 8.4 Kh/alk 12/13 temp 80deg f s/g 1.023 15gal 13lbs live 3lbs base rock 40lbs araganite live sand @ 3 1/2" do these levels look ok? The guy at the LFS said they were ok so he sold me 5 cerith snails and 2 bumble bee snails, to add to my one blue leg hitch hiker who braved out the cycling. that guy has a huge stomach for green hair alge it great If I should do a water change, how much? 2gal, 5gal? Oh yeah I also got one of those mag float glass cleaners allthough when I used it lots of alge particles end up floatin around in the water, is this normal/ok? Link to comment
Quash Posted October 11, 2003 Share Posted October 11, 2003 yeah 2 gallons sounds good. I have still to find a better solution to the glass algae cleaners, I hate that gunk floatin around. I get my fish net and get it out with the help of some floss in the HOB. Perhaps there is a snail that eets offa the glass Link to comment
caja Posted October 12, 2003 Share Posted October 12, 2003 A two gallon WC once a week would be ideal for that size tank. As far as the film algae on the sides of the tank even adding more snails won't keep it sparkling clean, but it will help. Ceriths tend to stay on the rocks and sand, I occasionally see mine on the glass. Bumble bees are the same way. Bumble bees are detrivores, which means they'll clean up all junk on the sandbed and LR. A better choice for glass cleaners would be astreas, margaritas, nerites, turbos (rather big so no the best for a nano). HTH Link to comment
Bodhi-Licious Posted October 12, 2003 Author Share Posted October 12, 2003 Is there any special technique to doing a water change? Im goin to do one today so any help would be apreciated. I mixed the water yesterday so now I would just like to hear about any tips or tricks. Link to comment
Dingo Posted October 12, 2003 Share Posted October 12, 2003 Just siphon it out into a gallon milk jug or pail, and dump in the new water. Try not to swallow too much when you start the siphon. :x If adding 2G to your 15G tank, you probably want to heat up the replacement water to be tank temperature before you dump it in because you could easily drop that tank temp a few degrees if your replacement water is cold. Link to comment
blk_g20 Posted October 12, 2003 Share Posted October 12, 2003 how close do you have to match the temperature? as long as its withing a couple of degrees, i don't see how a 10% WC can drastically change the overall temp. of the tank. i've been going thru the trouble of trying to match the temps but are really doubting all the effort. Link to comment
caja Posted October 12, 2003 Share Posted October 12, 2003 You should keep an extra heater and thermometer on hand for WC's, that way you can match the tank and WC temps. Try to get them as close to the same temp as possible so as not to shock any tank inhabs by a sudden temp fluctuation. You also want to be sure the salinity is the same in the WC as it is in the tank. Link to comment
Bodhi-Licious Posted October 12, 2003 Author Share Posted October 12, 2003 yup got the water temp and the s/g the same all I have to do is change the water. YAY!!!!!!!! here I go Link to comment
tylernt Posted October 13, 2003 Share Posted October 13, 2003 Nice thing about an overpowered heater in a very small tank. I don't heat my water change SW because not long after starting to pour, the heater kicks on and by the time I'm done, the tank temp hasn't gone down more than a few tenths of a degree (digital thermometer). Of course I avoid pouring directly on critters. Of course, I'm also talking about an entire quart of water here. Link to comment
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