Hello.

Is it true that if I place my Elite Stingray Carbon/Zeolite filter cartridges in an oven, it renews the Carbon and Zeolite.

Apparenty, when the fish tank water passes through the filter cartridges, the ammonia and other organic chemicals bind with the Carbon/Zeolite and just stay there. When there is no more space left on these cartridges, then they have to be replaced. Rinsing them off does not solve the problem.

The bonded organic chemicals like ammonia, need to be released by heating in an oven – apparently. I wondered if this is true.

Please only answer if you have a definite and Valid answer.
Cheers (:

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Ok, so my plan. Here are the Products involved.

• Under Gravel FIlter (4 Foot) – INCLUDES the 300gph Water Pump.

http://temp2.fotop.net/albums2/aas/aas09/ATMAN_Base_Filter1.jpg

• 500Gph Canister (multiple stage)

http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/topdogsellers/CFS500_Basic_FPadOnly_400x1000.jpg

My Plan:
• Attach this Gravel filter, to the hose of the Canister filter to the Gravel filters Water Pump Exit.
• Also to spread out pebble gravel over the gravel filter in a way that Food Particles/Waste could make its way into the gravel filter, up through the water pump, to the 500gph Canister with nothing but Mechanical media.
• The Canister pumping 500gph and the Water pump at 300gph should make it pump a bit faster but i dont think it would add together to 900gph.

All this I think would be great so that I do not have to Siphon the gravel, as i have a large vase as well as bamboo plant, rocks, and other heavy objects that I HATE to move around. Also I want to provide a very clean environment, while giving me less work.

My Tank Info:
• Im at capacity for fish, simply put if not over. I have another Empty 20g Tank as well as in future will buy another 100g. All the fish are still under 3" but will grow to capacity of the tanks 1" = 1g rule, if not over a bit.
• I have a Aqueon 20 that pumps 125Gph with extra Mechanical Filters
• I have a 3 Stage Canister filter that pumps 265gph, in it i have Ammonia stones for bacteria to gather, Carbon in between extra Mechanical material, with Phosphate/nitrate trapping pebbles in between extra mechanical material.
• As well Bamboo plant to help fight Nitrate
• Non of my levels are off, I keep the tank very very clean, and do all my water changes just right, i have no other issues aside from i hate to Siphon Vacuum the Gravel and am looking for a way to get around moving all my Decor, I do not want bacteria to eat away poop particles and food debre in the gravel, i want it in the Canister, that i can clean easier.
• I do not have to much water movement as of now, and would make sure the exit for the canister for this idea has a tube with holes in it to spread out the water movement so its not gushing.

Whats your thoughts on this entire process?

• My tank

Well see I really dont mind changing the Canister filter, if it gets clogged i can easily clean it as well it would really be pumping 500gph as well as the addition 300gph that comes with the Gravel Filter I was looking to get, this would seem to be enough force to break waste apart with the help of the bacteria in 3 different types of Filter Mechanical Media.

But If im to reverse the flow, the water pump thats included would not be able to be used, as well as if its Reversed it seems that it would be to much water comming UP through the pebbles at 500gph and would keep the debre in the middle of tank, I want it to go to the Canster and break apart, I was going to do 3 types of Media, for Large Particles, to medium particles, to smaller particles and clean regularly…I was thinking Weekly or Bi Weekly

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I am starting to look at getting either a diatom filter or a UV sterilizer for my 75 gallon freshwater aquarium. Why? Because i have had water clairity issues from day one (tank is 5 months old). Please dont respond and tell me what i could be doing wrong to correct my water. I have posted here for help previously and got some great advice, but still have cloudy water. I have exhausted every possiblility (keeping tank darkened, innumerable polishing pads, water clairifier, reduced food fed, water changes, increased tank temp, resident pleco, etc..) All water parameters (pH, ammonia, nitrates/rites,alkalinity) are within normal limits. The tank is specically set up for discus fish (soft water at about 84 degrees F). So adding a bunch of chemicals is not an option. I am at my wits end here so all of you fish experts out there please tell me why you would recommend either a diatom filter or a UV sterilizer. I would love to get a diatom but its so expensive that i just i was wondering if a UV can provide me with the same results? I know very little about both options. If I can provide any more infor i’ll check back and add anything i may have forgotten.

Thank you all in advance for your help! )
Kelly
Okay, so its not a tap water problem because i dont use tap water. I use strictly RO water. This also rules out any chlorine issue.

And to answer the other question brought up, as i described in my question i have used a water clairifier. A few different kinds actually. Nothing changed. I am currently using a Fluval 405 filter. I am not one bit impressed with… obviously.
Also, again ammonia isnt a problem. I test my water regularly and none of my parameters are abnormal.

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I just bought a test kit, even so I owned fish for a year ( even though I just found out about the nitrogen cycle..). Anyways, I found that I have no ammonia problems, but that I have a high pH, and High water hardness (380-420). And my fish are taking an abnormally large amount of craps. I’m not sure what my fish species are, but I also found that there are now baby minnows in the tank, so some of the fish must of mated =). Any advice on how to lower the water hardness and possibly any side comments on what to do with the baby minnows? Oh, and none of the fish are big enough to eat them (hopefully). I keep fresh water fish.

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I need serious help. I set up a 46 gallon aquarium at the beginning of June and can’t get it to cycle. Unfortunately, I have listened to advice from 3 different pet shops, and all 3 had different answers. I initially ran the aquarium for a week, then my local pet shop told me to add bacteria and 2 goldfish, which I did. Of course the ammonia climbed, as it should have, so next, 2 pet stores told me I had to perform frequent water changes, preferably some every day, which I did-about 2 gallons every morning, which kept the ammonia at about .5 ppm. Fish stressing from ammonia. I kept this up until a couple weeks ago. I had a Tetra Whisper filter and could not figure out how the bacteria filter would grow in that setup. The NEXT pet store told me the filter was no good, so I switched to an Aqua Pure three-stage filter which includes sponge material for the bacterial colony. They said my frequent water changes were keeping the aquarium from cycling and that I should stop it until cycling had occured. They also suggested I add Bio-zyme every day for a week, which I did per the instructions. They told me it would cycle the aquarium in a week. Nope, still no cycling occuring. Ammonia has been at 1.0 ppm for a week now and I am afraid I am going to lose both my fish. What the heck am I doing wrong?? Where should I go from here?
In response to the first answer-has the bacteria had long enough to grow, since I switched filters a week ago? Or does it exist on all surfaces, not just the filter?

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Well I have a 10 gallon aquarium with everything you need, filter, heater, gravel, plants, ect.
And I plan on getting cardinal tetras and shrimp.

Anyways what i did to cycle it was fill it up with tap water an inch from the top, add water conditioner/dechlor stuff, added 5 drops of pure ammonia, waited a week, and 3 days into cycling it i put a Zebra Danio in there to get the cycling process speeded up and to make sure the water is ok for my future fish. Also the temp is 77F.

Well I bought a pH water testing kit from petco for nd i test the water daily. first i tested pure tap water and it said 7.6. then every day i tsted my aquarium water and it comes up 7.6 every time. one time to test if it worked i filled it up with nothing but ammonia (not even water) and it came up 7.6. I don’t think this works and my mom won’t get me another kit.

But my danio (Danny) is fine and how will i know if my tank is cycled?
Its already been a week and i think the water is ok, can i start slowly adding fish yet?
my water isnt cloudy its very clear and i never saw it cloudy.

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Well.. I’m cycling a 5 Gallon Tank for a Betta and an African Dwarf Frog. And.. Today I tested both Nitrite and Ammonia both reading Zero. And I decided to do some research on what exactly did I do during my Fishless Cycling. Turns out.. I don’t think I did any cycling. I did NOT add any Ammonia. So It just started out as Tap Water. I just put Tap Water with some Stress Coat. I let it run with a filter, Air stone, and a Heater. It has Pool Sand.

Did I actually cycle? Or is it just.. Pure water?

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Hello all, I received a 46 gallon tank for Christmas (I have always wanted one). I have gotten off to a horrible start, here is my story.

I set everything up, and let it all circulate for about a day. I had planned on doing a fishless cycle. So, I read up on using ammonia and made sure that I did not buy any ammonia containing detergents. I went to Stop&Shop to purchase ammonia. I picked up "Pure Power Clear Ammonia". I was sure it was 100% pure ammonia, but boy was I wrong. I put a small dosage into my tank (this is before I knew the ammonia was bad). The next morning, I realized that my water surface was very soapy looking. I read the ingredients of the ammonia, and it listed SURFACTANT. Oh no. I looked it up. Turns out you are not supposed to use ammonia with surfactant in it!!! I wish I had known!.

I emptied my entire tank. I trashed the gravel and plants, as well as filter media and bio-wheel because it’d only cost me around 70 bucks to replace. I rinsed out the tank several times, and I also sprayed and wiped each side of the glass with water many times. I rinsed the rock with a hose over and over. After that, I cleaned out the entire filter, thermometer and heater. I filled my tank back up with water and water only. I ran the filter, but with no media or bio-wheel for fear of contamination. I began to test the rock in heated water. I left i over night, plus three more hours upon waking. There was no sign of soap. So, I emptied the tank and added allll my new stuff. This morning, I see….soap. Oh no.

My tank seems to be contaminated yet again, most likely from the large fake rock. I am very upset and am only 15 years old so my budget is pretty slim, and I already spent a lot of money on gravel and plants and stuff. Is there anything I can do to rid my tank of this surfactant, without having to empty it out again, rinse or buy new things? Sorry for the length, but I really am stumped on what to do.

Thank you
I didn’t use ammonia to clean the tank…I used it to start the cycle

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they say to do a 90% water change the day before you get your fish, how do you keep the beneficial bacteria alive between the water change and the new fish?

If you change 90% of the water won’t it destroy the beneficial bacteria? because all of the stuff that feeds it ( ammonia, nitrite etc ) are gone and it has nothing to eat there fore the beneficial bacteria will die.

If you add something like eco-start or sera nitrivec ( benefical bacteria kick starters ) while doing fishless cycling ( i will be using pure ammonia ) won’t the eco-start or whatever kill the ammonia and nitrite therefore taking away the bacteria’s food?

I restarting my tank because it got ich and stuff, i am going to completly tear it down, boil the gravel, filter media, decorations, fake plants, and start all over again by adding completley dirt-free dechlorinated water and pure ammonia 1-2 days after resetting up my tank, any tips on this, destroying the good bacteria i have is not a concern.

Thanks!!!
You are not supposed to do water cfhanges during the fishless cycling, right?

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I`m going to petsmart in a little bit to take care of some fish needs and need some more of that kind of stuff.

Also, what on earth is HBH Aqua-Pure ammonia reducer? A friend of my dads gave us a 40 or 50 gal tank along with the setup, all the fish products, basically 00 worth of stuff. This product was included and I have no idea how to use it. I dont need to use it yet, but it would be a good idea to know how to.

It says to place rinsed zeolite granules in aqua-pure filter media bad of other filtration equipment. What does that mean?
No it isnt new. The previous owner had the tank for several years. She got rid of it because she was moving and didnt have enough room for it. There was only one fish left but it died.

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For homebrew, I need a water source free of chlorine (or chloramine, which is chlorine+ammonia).

Will a charcoal filter out chloramine? Standard pitcher filters like Brita? What else?

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