# Friendly LFS advice



## MiasMermaids (Feb 26, 2011)

A guy at the LFS the other day said I should consider alternating cleaning or changing filter with changing the water. Like change the water one week, then change the filter the next to keep from sending tank into mini-cycles. Just wondering if this was a good idea. I mean, he was a nice guy and seemed to be knowledgeable. I have no reason not to trust his advice. What say ye?

Another question I have is it possible to always have a trace amount of ammonia showing in water tests. Every time I test, it seems it's .25 no matter how recent the water change....


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## mec102778 (Feb 17, 2011)

Ammonia could be from feeding, try feeding them less and see if that corrects the amonia.

As for water changes, most of the beneficial bacteria is in the substrate, the filter shouldn't be changed unless it's backing up. Gravel shouldn't be siphoned unless there's a lot of extra debree floating around on it.

A normal water change for me is cleaning the inside of the glass and then removing 10% of the water in the tank.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Surprised somebody in one of the local stores knew that much. A water change doesn't affect your beneficial bacteria so much that it could cause a mini-cycle....even if you mess with the filter. Most of the bb is located in your filter and gravel. You can do both at the same time. Just don't try changing all the media on the same day...that is what you alternate.

Try not feeding for a couple of days and see if the ammonia goes away. Skip a day of feeding once a week.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

What kind of filter are you using? You are likely changing media more often than you need to be. Usually I just rinse the media in the old tank water and put it back, unless as mentioned it's too clogged up for the water to pass through. Activated carbon is only useful for a short amount of time but most people don't use it in their tanks all the time, just when they have meds or tannins to remove from the water.

You could try testing distilled water to check that your kit is reading well. Some people report that they always give a low reading even when there isn't one. Strips are known for not being very accurate. If using liquid make sure the test tube is cleaned out well.


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## verdifer (Sep 8, 2010)

For the bacteria to work properly it has to be more or less sitting on something i.e. the filter media, substrate or anything else you have in the tank, there is bacteria floating about in the water but since it is free floating it will not proccess that good.

Water change every week and rinse the filter media out in the water you have taken from the tank, when you buy a filter it will tell you to change it every amount of weeks, I don't do this I wait till the filter media looks as if it is coming to a point where it has seen better days then put some new in along with the old.


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

Exactly as above. Wait until it is falling apart...that's when to change it.

I'm at a little bit of an advantage since I have well water and no nasty chems to worry about. I take the sprayer from my kitchen sink and give the pads a good spray down once a week. They hold up better this way rather than squeezing them out in the bucket.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Have to say I have never heard of alternating like that,but its better advice than most will give at a LFS.I have live plants,so I dont touch my gravel at all.I do pull out 50% of the water,and the filter maintenance I do,is pull the prefilter off and rinse it,and I will swish the filter pads in old tank water.The maintenance you do all depends on the filter,media type and bioload of the tank.


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## glassbird (Feb 2, 2011)

James0816 said:


> I'm at a little bit of an advantage since I have well water and no nasty chems to worry about. I take the sprayer from my kitchen sink and give the pads a good spray down once a week. They hold up better this way rather than squeezing them out in the bucket.


Cleaning filter pads in water from a well (no chlorine) is ok, but rinsing with water that DOES contain chlorine may kill enough good bacteria to cause a mini-cycle. Just something to keep in mind...


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