# A Couple Questions About My New Cycling Tank...



## TheWaterChanger (Jan 4, 2014)

*So recently I purchased a 25-gallon tank* and I've begun cycling it with a *honey gourami*, a *ghost catfish*, an *upside-down catfish* and a *balloon molly*. I've got a few questions early on about what I can expect during and even after the cycling process.

*First question* is about my PH...what should my PH levitate around during the cycling process? Currently my tests show that my PH is hanging around 8.0-8.2, which is a bit high for some of the fish in the tank such as the ghost catfish. Is there anything I should do during the cycling process to lower the PH such as do a partial water change with distilled water or add driftwood to the tank? Or will the PH naturally become more acidic over time? I've been told to avoid chemicals as it causes the PH to fluctuate too rapidly and it harms the fish more than it helps.

*Second question*...is there anything I should do to regulate ammonia levels while the tank is cycling? Currently I am running a filter and a 100 watt heater in the tank and I've been doing 10-15% water changes every 3 days (only had to do it once since I got the tank 5 days ago). 
*
Third question*...how often should I rinse the carbon cartridge in my filter? And when should I replace the carbon cartridge entirely? I've got an Aqueon QuietFlow 20 running in my tank.

Any and all help is appreciated! Thanks for the pleasant welcome to the forums.


----------



## dam718 (Nov 25, 2013)

Question 1) I haven't had to deal with fluctuating Ph levels, and thankfully my fish seem happy with my Ph levels out of the tap, which makes things easy for me. Hopefully some of the more seasoned folks can chime in regarding lowering Ph. I know driftwood can help, but you may need more than just driftwood in your situation.

Question 2) During this stage of the game, because you already have fish in the tank, I wouldn't stick to a set schedule and finite percentages of water changes. You need to let your testing dictate how often and how much water to change. You don't want Ammonia OR Nitrite to get above 1PPM... So, if you see ammonia OR nitrites rising up close to 1PPM do a water change right away, probably to the tune of 50% or more depending on your levels. You will see a change in nutrient levels equal to the percentage of old water removed... So if you remove 50% of your old water, you should see a 50% drop in ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels. The key here with fish-in cycling is to check your ammonia and nitrite levels every day, and change water as necessary. 3 days in between changes, and such small percentage changes at that, will probably end up in your fish dying, or experiencing permanent health issues.

There were times during my cycle, especially during the Nitrite spike where I was having to change 50% every day... 

100W heater should be plenty. I'll address the filter in the next question...

Question 3) The carbon only needs to be rinsed once to get any dust off that settles in during the manufacturing and shipping process. Carbon should be changed every 2-4 weeks... That said, carbon is not really all that necessary, and changing your entire cartridge every 2-4 weeks can cause more harm than good, because the filter material harbors quite a bit of beneficial bacteria... One of the reasons I really don't care for the Aqueon filters is that the carbon is built in to the filter cartridge. You may be able to cut the filter open and dump out the carbon rather than replacing your filter, rather than throwing away 4 weeks of bacteria growth. The aqueons claim to have a wet/dry area that emulates the wet dry action of a sump with bio balls, but that didn't work out very well in my case. All that does is create a horrible trickle effect and water pees into the tank... Your quiet filter will get a lot more quiet if you pull that stupid blue thing out in the waterway.

Things carbon is good for:

Water polishing
Toxin Removal
Medication Removal

It does absolutely nothing to reduce Ammonia, Nitrite, or Nitrate levels... 

Something you may want to consider is running a sponge filter alongside the Aqueon... It's a low cost option that runs on an air pump that will offer far superior biological filtration, while allowing you to continue to change your Aqueon filter media at their suggested intervals with little impact on your cycle. Your bacteria will live in the sponge, and the Aqueon is only performing mechanical / chemical filtration...

One last thing... Any time you rinse anything in your aquarium, you want to use dechlorinated tank water... So suck some tank water into a bucket with a siphon and use that water. Chlorine and Chloramine in your tap water WILL kill your beneficial bacteria, so rinsing a filter in your sink can lead to you restarting the cycle in your tank! I'm sure by the end of the cycle, you'll appreciate the idea of only needing to do that once! LoL... Avoid making silly mistakes that will cause you to have to do it all over again.


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I would leave your ph for now. Possible ways to adjust later if you like via the more natural methods you mention without chemicals. The important thing is it is stable which means you have good buffers in your water.

Tough to set a schedule for water changes during a cycle. General practice beyond the cycle is a weekly change minimum. During the cycle you can go beyond that if the levels (ammonia/nitrite) stay below 1ppm. My guess is you will be doing quite a bit of water changing. That is a lot of fish for a small tank and going through the nitrogen cycle.

Ditch the carbon until maybe you need it for something. It does nothing to aide in your cycle, only to remove smells, meds, etc. Not needed daily. Buy some filter material from the pet store and cut your own. It is much easier and less costly.

Lasty, when in doubt do a water change if you see your fish struggling. Make sure you are treating your water properly.


----------



## Tolak (Mar 10, 2013)

You'll tend to see pH fluctuations in a cycling tank, ignore it for now. As mentioned, let the test results guide your water change amount & frequency. Invest in a bottle of Prime for treating water, double dose to help with the ammonia/nitrite during the cycling process.


----------



## TheWaterChanger (Jan 4, 2014)

Hey, thanks for the helpful response. I've got a quick follow-up question, if you don't mind...

dam718 mentioned that it might be beneficial to add a sponge filter powered by an air pump into the tank beside the Aqueon filter I already have present. You brought up that it might be wise to ditch the carbon all-together and replace the carbon filter in the filter with a filter material.

Which would you recommend more? In a case where I would need to use carbon, I.E. water polishing or medication removal, I would like to have an easy carbon option available like the cartridges from Aqueon, however in order to add carbon to the filter I would have to sacrifice the biological filtration that the self-cut filter medium would provide. 

A possible alternative I thought about would be to both replace the carbon filter in the Aqueon filter with self-cut filter medium AND add an air pump connected to a sponge filter. This way I could replace (although keep soaked in tank water) the self-cut filter medium, maintain biological filtration, and have a source of carbon filtration when needed. So what do you think, should I replace the carbon filter with filter medium, add a sponge filter connected to an air-pump, or both? Perhaps there is another way of installing carbon into the tank I haven't thought about yet if you'd suggest simply replacing the carbon in the filter with a filter medium.



jrman83 said:


> I would leave your ph for now. Possible ways to adjust later if you like via the more natural methods you mention without chemicals. The important thing is it is stable which means you have good buffers in your water.
> 
> Tough to set a schedule for water changes during a cycle. General practice beyond the cycle is a weekly change minimum. During the cycle you can go beyond that if the levels (ammonia/nitrite) stay below 1ppm. My guess is you will be doing quite a bit of water changing. That is a lot of fish for a small tank and going through the nitrogen cycle.
> 
> ...


----------



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

They carbon they supply in those filter packs is low quality and no where near enough in volume to treat your 25g for more than 1 week.Not kidding!Cut the top off the pouch and ditch it before it even touches the water.Then you would never need to replace the filter pad until it physically falls apart.Just rinse it off(swish it around{ruff it up}) in a bucket of old tank water when you do waterchanges.If there is room" cut to fit"pads work well,or maybe you could even fit 2 pads?
If you can tolerate the noise of an air pump,then sponge filters are great,and would add an extra layer of bio bacteria.They are super easy to clean(same as said for your pad) and all good.
kensfish has air pumps and sponge filters cheap.Most LFS just don't carry good sponge filters anymore.


----------



## TheWaterChanger (Jan 4, 2014)

Right on, good advice. The filter pad without the carbon seems a bit frail, and I don't think it would last more than a few 'swishing arounds' in tank water so I think I'm gonna try to cut some filter pads to fit it. If there comes a time in the future, likely some time after my tank is done cycling, that I would need to install carbon in my tank, how would you suggest I do it? If not through the Aqueon cartridges?


coralbandit said:


> They carbon they supply in those filter packs is low quality and no where near enough in volume to treat your 25g for more than 1 week.Not kidding!Cut the top off the pouch and ditch it before it even touches the water.Then you would never need to replace the filter pad until it physically falls apart.Just rinse it off(swish it around{ruff it up}) in a bucket of old tank water when you do waterchanges.If there is room" cut to fit"pads work well,or maybe you could even fit 2 pads?
> If you can tolerate the noise of an air pump,then sponge filters are great,and would add an extra layer of bio bacteria.They are super easy to clean(same as said for your pad) and all good.
> kensfish has air pumps and sponge filters cheap.Most LFS just don't carry good sponge filters anymore.


----------



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

If you absolutely needed it I recommend a canister filter.Doesn't need to huge.Then you could get a good volume of carbon(to be effective) and the option to purchase whatever quality carbon you wanted($$).
All of the benefits with the exception of removing a toxin in your water supply,can be and will be better done with regular weekly waterchanges(after cycling of course,and in the area of 50%).
With the name you picked I expect no complaining!
READ MY SIG!


----------



## TheWaterChanger (Jan 4, 2014)

Ahaha, got it. Yeah, regular water changes are no biggie. I just didn't know what the benefits of water changes were vs. the benefits of installing carbon into a tank. I just stripped the carbon from my filter as recommended.

From what I understand I'll be doing water changes as the ammonia level requires it (when it nears the 1ppm mark) and then once the tank is finished cycling I'll just make it a weekly habit. Thanks for all the help, I feel like I understand the chemistry of my tank quite a bit better after this thread.


coralbandit said:


> If you absolutely needed it I recommend a canister filter.Doesn't need to huge.Then you could get a good volume of carbon(to be effective) and the option to purchase whatever quality carbon you wanted($$).
> All of the benefits with the exception of removing a toxin in your water supply,can be and will be better done with regular weekly waterchanges(after cycling of course,and in the area of 50%).
> With the name you picked I expect no complaining!
> READ MY SIG!


----------

