3 gallon

[AyalaCookiejar]

The lighting on the hood of the three gallon is good, IMO. The 10, not so much. I am actually unsure if the three gallon is what he used when he had a puffer fish a while back.. I remember him having one that didn't survive very long.
He told me that both of the tanks were given to him by a friend so I doubt he cleaned them or inquired about previous usage, lol. It's also hard to let the tank dry in the sunlight right now as there really isn't much of it here this time of year...

[Syriiven]

I know that feel. had myself a small freak-out when I thought Phy was sick and the 10g was contaminated. Wasn't looking forward to tearing it down and cloroxing everything. I'd look into the vinegar method. Not sure what it entails other than hot water and vinegar and looots of rinsing.

[AyalaCookiejar]

I think its like a 10:1 ratio or something and plenty of rinsing and rinsing, and then some more rinsing or something close to that, with a lot of rinsing.

[Hallyx]

I highly recommend cycling the 3g, it's better for the stock. Small tanks will take a stable cycle, especially if you plant it heavily as a backup. A sponge filter will take care of your bacteria colony housing and is gentle on the fish.

How much ammonia is in your sourcewater? A cycled tank will remove that, giving your fish less toxic water than what you drink. Use Prime during water changes, or whenever inn doubt, to convert the ammonia to harmless ammonium, which is good for nitrifying bacteria and plants.

Performing a fishless cycle in your 3g will free up the 10g should you decide to stock it. Run both filters in the 3g. This will develop bacteria colonies in both filters. You can then install one of them in the 10g for an instant cycle. If your 5g's are not yet cycled, you can put a couple more filters into the fishless cycle. When a filter is cycled, the tank is cycled.

Bleach is best for serious tank cleaning. Just make sure you rinse thoroughly and air-dry completely.

[AyalaCookiejar]

It's only .25 ppm. My current two tanks are already starting to cycle it out and I will hopefully have prime by tomorrow.

[Syriiven]

By the way, the higher your pH, the more tocix ammonia is to yur fish >.> So the hgiher it is from 7.0 the worse ammonia (even small amounts) can hurt your fishies.

[AyalaCookiejar]

My pH in the tap is 7.4 but the additives in my water raise it to about 7.8 or 8...

[Syriiven]

Then that little .25 is worse for them than usual. =( Your tap water....so much trouble.

[AyalaCookiejar]

I know. Hopefully prime wont raise the pH as much as my current conditioner.

[Syriiven]

I wasn't aware conditinoers could raise the pH. Mine's eems to have dropped .2-.4 in the 10g tho. Though it may have to do with the different testing kits I used before and today.