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maturing a new pump

magpie

Member
Joined
9 May 2010
Messages
174
Location
Ludlow, Shropshire
Hi all

I'm in the process of dry-starting my tank (see threadhttp://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=11757) and wondered if I could mature my filter in tandem by hooking it up to a barrel of water, tipping in some friendly bacteria on a regular basis, adding some household ammonia to keep them cheerful and waiting until they multiply.

would this work?

is it a complete waste of time... ?

many thanks

m
 
I don't see a reason why not... but you could also simply pick up some mature media from your local Maidenhead Aquatics or Pets@Home who are usually happy to share :)
 
My 'local' is TGM.... who are 90 minutes away - and very happy to share

I just thought this way I could learn how to manage the pump in a place where it won't matter if I get water everywhere...:)

thanks muchly

m
 
magpie said:
My 'local' is TGM.... who are 90 minutes away - and very happy to share
:lol: wish that was my local!

If your doing your dry start I reckon you should be OK for cycling as you'll have a massive amount of bacteria in the substrate already. I'd be tempted just to fill and hook up the filter when your done with your dry start and keep up the water changes and I think you'd be fine. If you wanted to be extra safe though it wouldn't be a bad idea stealing some pre-seeded media, plus if I had any excuse to go up TGM I'd be up there in a flash!
 
Thanks, Neil... it's 90 minutes each way on a good day and I'm trying to finish the book... that said, I might go up tomorrow on the way to agility training...:)

since we're here, how many stem plants did you plant in your dry start? Did they cope?

ta muchly

mx
 
magpie said:
since we're here, how many stem plants did you plant in your dry start? Did they cope?

I havn't got any stems in my nano, only crypts. They're not doing great as I had them growing submerged before so aren't taking too kindly to the transition. If they don't recover I'll buy some more and plant up when I fill it up.

However I do though have Bacopa caroliniana which is a stem plant growing emersed (dry start style) just in a jar on the window sill and its loving it, although you have to be pretty hot on keeping the soil damp. Being a bit thick and slow I manage to forget to water it for a week and the soil dried out last night so it wilted spectacularly but it seems OK again now its got water :thumbup:

I think it all depends on what species your using, wether theyre 100% aquatic and how 'robust' they are, but I'd say most are worth a go.

Hope thats helpful,
Neil
 
NeilW said:
Hope thats helpful,
Neil

Yep - it truly is - off to TGM tomorrow....

a-hunting we will go, ahunting we will gooooo... :D
 
emersed stems;

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Love it. I've got no end of those jars kicking about that I bought especially for this reason then never got round to it!
 
Garuf said:
Love it. I've got no end of those jars kicking about that I bought especially for this reason then never got round to it!

At the moment its been too hot to have the lid on, I measured the temp and it was up to 40 degrees C in there with it sealed! Pretty cool though, its like having some kind of medical specimen jar :thumbup:. I want to try more species. This was a combination of the novelty of seeing an aquatic plant in IKEA combined with their cheap jars and some leftover Florabase.
 
Asda Home is cheapest for them, I paid a £1 for each one. Ikea does have more variety though. I grew Rotalla green outside in a pond and had loads of the stuff, the first frost nuked it though, that should be a good plant for this treatment I'm sure.
 
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