DBArndt

Thanks. This makes sense. As expected, it seems no one is advocating simply swapping out the floss/carbon insert. Is consensus that the bio-filter is largely contained in the floss rather than the plastic inserts that are clearly designed to increase surface area? It will certainly need to be changed or removed eventually to make this work as it is very clogged up. creekbottom. I like your idea. I think I will need a floss filter of some sort to act as the mechanical filter. Perhaps adding some additional bio media to the reservoir in the back, waiting a few weeks and then swapping the floss cartridge?? As a newbie, the subtleties of the actual steps to go through the process without starting a new cycle in the tank is causing some concern. Your help and advice is appreciated. Thanks! DA

I am using the supplied cartridge (floss with carbon). I have rinsed it by shaking it in the bucket of tank water I siphoned off. Perhaps a more aggressive rinse? I am nervous about upsetting my bio filter. Thoughts?

I have a 6 month old aqueon 10 HOB filter and it seems the water is flowing over the edge near the intake and right past the media. My water has been slightly cloudy lately with a bit of white scum floating on the top. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Thanks cully! This makes sense. What is the general consensus for those using Edmonton city water?

Thanks for all the great advice. I picked up some prime today. Nitrites level were below 2.0 ppm today and then did a 70% water change with water treated with prime. Hope to see some positive results in the coming days. A question: is there a need and/or benefit to letting the water sit for a length of time (24 h +?) or can you fill the bucket, add prime and put it right in the tank? Thanks again!!

Thanks Jason. This makes sense as I have been upping the dose slightly as I thought it might have been a chloramine problem. I had read elsewhere something along the lines of "you need to make sure you add enough to remove the chloramine and you really can't overdose". Seems I may have been counter productive. Will pick some up tomorrow. As an follow up if was to add another couple platies I would expect another small cycle right? Do you recommend using something like the tetra safe start to try and avoid this cycle? Thanks for the help. Glad to have finally found this site.

I bought my first tank this spring. I have a 16g tank I started in early April. I cycled it with two platies for about a month and watched the tank go through the nitrogen cycle while I did daily water changes to keep the numbers down. Things stabilized with 0 readings for ammonia and nitrite with weekly changes for 3 weeks. I added 3 sterabi corycats and a bottle of tetra safe start as I was trying to avoid another full cycle. Tank parameters stayed constant with nitrite and ammonia at 0 for 3 weeks with weekly water changes of ~30%. Then last week of June my nitrite spiked. I have been doing daily 25% to 50% water changes to get the numbers down. I am waiting to see the nitrite tail off but it is still at least 2.0 and maybe as high as 5ppm. This will 2 1/2 weeks of this as of today. I use big Al's brand water conditioner and let my water sit for at least 24 hours before use to make sure chloramine is gone. I am careful to not over feed and don't vacuum the gravel during water changes. Am I downing something wrong or is this just the cycle. Should I add something to keep my fish safe. I realize that is a bit late. THANKS for your help.