New tank cycle question

[Liverpool_pete]

I have just setup my new 10 * 2 * 2 and was wondering if its ok to do water changes during the cycle process. The reason for this is i have a fair amount of timber in the tank and even though it was soaked before it was put in it has leached tanin into the water. The other reason is i have a thick sand bed and even though it was washed before it was put in it has also made the tank cloudy.

Bearing in mind i have only setup the tank last saturday i dont expect it to be crystal clear straight away but i figure a water change might help.

The other question i have is with wather changes. As it is such a big tank water changes will not be a quick exercise and it has a wet/dry filter so i am concerned with the time to filter will be off to do a water change. Is it realy an issue or is it not worth worying about.

Thanks in advance

Peter

[aussieorchid]

How much water are you planning to change. I always leave my cannister filter running unless I am removing enough water that the uptake will be out of the water it does not matter if the return is out. You might also find the filter will get dirty really quickly as it should be removing all the fine silt from the sand.

Tha advantage of having the filter running during the water change is it will filter out all the crap stirred up during the water change also then I normally clean my filter sponges after the water change in a bucket of some of the tank water I save from the water change.

How are you cycling the tank is it a fishless cycle.

[Liverpool_pete]

aussieorchid

Thanks for the info but the problem with leaving the filter running is it is a trickle or overflow style filter. So i can not leave it running during a water change or i will run the sump pump dry.

The cycle is fishless at the moment but after a week i will add 4 small clown loaches. I have also added a product called cycle to the water to help start the system.

As i said above the problem is the amount of tanin in the water is preety bad even though it was soaked for 2 weeks.

[aussieorchid]

Cycle is good stuff I have used it before for cycling tanks. The tannin problem is one that will not go away for a long time.
The water change will only help for a day or so then it will be back to where it was.
I have timber that has been in a tank for two years now and it still colours the water only slightly but it is noticable. Are you planning to keep discus in this as they do not mind it as long as you do not. I have actually just ordered seachem purigen to add to my filter to see if that clears up my water. It just arrived yesterday so have not used it yet but maybe someone else on the forum has and could give us some more info.

If you are interested in the purigen Aquarium Products Warehouse a sponsor here have it on sale until tomorrow I think.

[Liverpool_pete]

This will be a geo tank without discus at this point but you never know if that will change. I realise the tanin will be there for a while but it is looking like strong tea which is too dark at the moment and i suppose i should test the ph if the colour is that bad.

Does the purigen remove the tanin in the water???? would charcoal remove it as well???

[bushie]

the only product that I have found that does remove tannin well is chemizorb.
one pouch in the filter lasts me up to about 3 months before I rinse in really hot water to recharge then back in for another two months.
A bit expensive but does a really good job and lasts ages.

BUSHIE

[aussieorchid]

I am not sure if purigen will remove the tannins but as I have a planted tank I wanted something that would not remove all the goods stuff from the tank like carbon.

[Liverpool_pete]

Can anybody help me out with the problem of turning the filter off when doing a water change???

Is there a certain time frame i need to be aware of???

[bushie]

I run a heavily planted, heavily stocked 4*2*2 on overflow sump.
I often have my filter off for up to an hour whilst doing rearrangements, water changes and the like.
to this point in time I have never had a problem
I think you could quite safely leave it for longer without too much damage to your filters bacteria colony, but I could be wrong.
certainly long enough to do your water changes.

[Liverpool_pete]

Bushie,

I have just added some chemizorb so i will let you know how it goes.

I may also do a water change this weekend and see how long it takes.

[Robdog]

There should be no drama at all with turning the filter off as long as its not for an extended period. The nature of the trickle filter is that it works on being wet and dry so there is a good environment for the production of bacteria.
In regards to the tanins, if it doesn't bother you, then it probably won't bother the Geo's a hell of a lot. They don't have big bags of charcoal and Chemizorb in the Amazon River. "Strong tea" colour might be a bit dark for the aquarium tho

[Robdog]

:shock: I can't even say hell :shock:
What kind of censorship program are we running on!?

[marg]

Robdog,

Our Forum is a Family type Forum - it is open to everyone - I myself wouldn't like my 7 year old Grandaughter to read rude or offensive type words, that's why anything likely to offend is censored. It's for the benefit of all our Members.

My grandaughter attends a Christian College and the word you are trying to use (though not offensive to most of us) would most likely upset her.

Personally I think it is a good idea - keeps our Forum a nice one to Log on to. I can swear as well as the best of you, but I like the way our Forum is run, and think it is a credit to those who set it up and monitor it.

Sorry for the sermon - that's the best way I can answer your question :D .,

Marg.

[Robdog]

At the same time, it's not exactly the 1930's and hell isn't even close to a rude word. I think people are a little too sensitive for their own good.
If your daughter goes to a Christian school then she'd already know about hell because Christians invented it!

If I'm not mistaken it's where this little guy lives :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
I hope I haven't offended anyone by saying the word hell.

[Bill T.]

Back on topic here....have you tried boiling the intestinal fortitude out of the wood? I find this takes a lot of the tannin out.
With regards to fishless cycling - do you use ammonia for this? If so, do you know where I can get some. My local supermarkets only sell cloudy ammonia, which I think has some detergent in it as well as ammonia.

[bushie]

c`mon pete,

It`s been more than 24 hrs and I know that chemizorb will clean it by now.

post results.

prove me right, or if I`m wrong just just pm me and I`ll delete all my threads :lol:

[Liverpool_pete]

Nah Bushie your right.

This stuff works a treat.

What more can i say but it has removed all the tanin in the water. Doesnt help that i have installed a bigger better pump on the system so i have stirred up all the silt in the sand. But the tanin has gone...

[bushie]

I worked in aquarium shops for years, so had access to any product I wanted.
tried nearly everything for tannin until I came across chemizorb ( be careful, as other products sound very similar but don`t do the same job).
I forgot to warn you though..... make sure you wash it out first.....
bit late now, but I assume you must have other wise you would be abusing me by now :lol:
hope it helped you somewhat.

p.s. don`t be fooled into thinking it has removed all tannins from the wood, cause the moment you take it out of the filter.....back to brown soup again.

[Liverpool_pete]

Bushie,

Thanks for the help. If i can remove the silt and quiten down the wier a bit my whife will be even happier.

I tell you what, women are hard to please some times. lol