Back To Gravel?

[dogsbykat]

As always, over the summer, I learned something new at Koko's I started using water conditioner in the city for the chlorine, but hadn't used it in the country because we have sand-point water. It came up in a post a while ago that it should always be used, so now that I'm back in the country, I'm still using it. It's definitely changed my hard water battle; instead of sporadic deposits, very visible, all over the tank, it is leaving a fine mist of residue, not visible, which is much easier to clean. When I turn my filter back on, however, there is a fine mist of residue that the siphon didn't get and it resettles on the bottom, leaving it white. Is there anything I can do differently when cleaning, or change with my filters? It seems too fine for them to suck off the bottom before it resettles, but they are strong enough to suck up all poop. Otherwise, I think I may have to go back to a thin layer of gravel, purely for aesthetics, as the white bottom makes me feel like the tanks are always due for a cleaning

[Captain Findus Goldfish]

do you have floss in your filters?

[dogsbykat]

Yup, I have floss, rings and sponges in each filter. Don't get me wrong, they are pulling a lot of it out of the water, but once it makes it to the bottom, sucks to be me, haha!

[Captain Findus Goldfish]

I had a time that I always had it - stressed me out of my mind! But now it is miraculously gone (???)

Do you just add Prime? It happened to me when I added liquids with 'good bacteria' in them.

[dogsbykat]

I use Tetra Aquasafe, which now has a "Bio-Extract" added. Should I try a different conditioner?

[Captain Findus Goldfish]

I am pretty sure that is what is causing it! I had one that was TERRIBLE! It left dust EVERYWHERE! Do you not find Prime there? I love Prime mostly for this reason - everything is sparkly clean. Did you just set up a new filter? For BioBugs I highly recommend Nutrafin CYCLE - that one leaves no trace

[dogsbykat]

Thanks for the advice, Federica I think one store in the city carries Prime; I'll check on Saturday, if not I can order it. I actually managed to move again without any sign of cycle bump, my water and sides of tank are crystal clear, just the new white "flooring" to deal with Not a big deal since it could easily be covered with light gravel, but if Prime takes care of it, then my tanks will be as clear as they were in the city water

[Cynders]

I definitely agree with Federica. I was using what you had and got that stuff and I switched to prime Much better. It also neutralizes any ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate in the water and a whole capful treats 50 gallon a little 3 dollar bottle has lasted me a long time. It's very very efficient and money saving

[dogsbykat]

Good to know! It'll be really nice if it helps with the hard water; that used to be a to deal with, lol! Even now, the white bottom is nothing compared to what I used to deal with; how did I not know to use conditioner in well water?!