Filter/Bio ??????????

[BoxerDad]

Need some help here, my tanks have been empty for approximately 18 months.

Heaters have been off and water temp has been as low as 65f in the winter months. My canister filters have been running continuosly just to circulate the water. Water is clear, some brown algae present along with what looks like Blackworms that may have been sucked into the filter.

My questions are :


1.) Is my Biological Filter( Good Bacteria) dead or just hibernating?

2.) Once I do a water change and kick on the heaters will the Bio kick in again or do I need to supplement it with some CYCLE etc.?


3.) Should I nuke just the tank with potassium permagnate, rinse the canister filters out and add fishies?


Thanks,
John

[Cosmo]

Just IMO,

Unless you had a bunch of sick fish before you emptied the tank..

Drain the tank, clean it out good - with wipe it down to remove the algea, or, to be on the safe side, wipe down with bleach solution, rince well, then let air dry. After 18 months, the filters are dead for all intents and purposes, but don't waste your time on cycle. Once you get water back into the tank run a fishless cycle using clear amonia.. it'll take 5 to 6 weeks, but you've been down for 18 months, so what's a lousy 6 more weeks ? ;)

Definately rinse the media in the cannisters, replace any fiber (floss etc), clean the sponges, clean the hoses.

Fill everyting back up - add the ammonia - read the fishless cycle articles in the forum library first - monitor your ammonia and nitrite levels, once they drop to zero, do 100% WC and you're ready to go.

Like I said though, Just IMO

Jim

[markwill]

2.) Once I do a water change and kick on the heaters will the Bio kick in again or do I need to supplement it with some CYCLE etc.?

For the record, I had a need to "accelerate" my cycling recently. As some suggested to me on SimplyDiscus, Cycle was completely useless. I saw no noticeable impact when I used it. By comparison, when I used Seachem Stability the effect was very obvious. Not sure if this was just coincidental with other factors but the results I saw were PRECISELY what I was told I'd see - Cycle is useless and Stability works a treat.

Mark

[Cosmo]

I've used stability as well.. During a fishless cycle it took about 1 week off the cycle time (but I did not use per label instructions, just added some "now and then") Have also used when adding fish and must say I am very pleased with the product.

Cycle... does nothing

Jim

[Alight]

Biospira will cycle your tank in 3-7 days.

You can cycle with your fish, but I'd suggest doing a fishless cycle with it to be sure it's working.

You can use it with a fishless cycle with clear ammonia. Use half when you first start, and half once you are starting to see significant nitrites.

This product must be kept refrigerated until use.

http://www.marineland.com/products/mllabs/ML_biospira.asp

To find a store that sells the stuff:

http://www.marineland.com/StoreLocator/StoreLocForm.asp

I have no ties to Marineland, I've just used the product, and it's really the only one that works.

They do not recommend using it with a fishless cycle, but I, and several others at badmans tropical fish site have used it as described above, very effectively.

Others at badmans have had less success in the past (for some it didn't work), but apparently, this may have been because the stuff may have expired or was not refrigerated properly, because all recently have had good luck with it.