3 Beneficial Bacteria Disasters! [Tips that can Save Your Tank!]

In my last video, "Beneficial Bacteria - Where is it Really?" (see it here: • Beneficial Bacteria...... ) I talked about where beneficial bacteria really exists in fish tanks.
Now let's take a look at three common mistakes involving beneficial bacteria that can lead to disaster, tank crash and fish death, and tips that can save your tank!
Have these happened to you? Do you have one that you would like to add to the list? Please share any thoughts you have on this subject in the comments below. Be a part of "The Convo Gang" because on this channel, "We all learn from each other!"
If you're like me and like to always be learning about how to take better care of our fish, how about hitting that sub button and bell? Thanks!
**Here are some links to products that I've used and recommend**
(You get a great deal by using these links and help to support the channel because Amazon gives me a small percentage without it impacting your cost one cent, thanks!)
Filters:
SunSun 302-B (265 gph): amzn.to/2Y6Ylhy
SunSun 704-B (525 gph with UV): amzn.to/2YFbHjV
SunSun HW 3000 (793 with UV): amzn.to/3hCm54W
Filter pads for all SunSun filters: amzn.to/30Ieg7E
Cut your own filter pads: amzn.to/2zD6SiP
Pinky filter floss: amzn.to/30QLNMS
SunSun Pre-Filter (goes over intake): amzn.to/3fv6aU1
Flexible hose cleaning brush: amzn.to/2N5x8p7
SunSun Pre-Filter (In-Line Canister): amzn.to/2UQ79WX
SunSun Canister O-Ring replacement: amzn.to/2BhU7uf
SunSun UV 9W replacement bulb: amzn.to/2N0eoHB
Suggested Bio Media that I use in my canisters:
Biohome Ultimate: amzn.to/3e8Cs70
MarinePure: amzn.to/37z9UB7
CNZ sponge filled bio-balls: amzn.to/3e7aitd
Pumice stone: amzn.to/2Y6vk5t
Crushed coral/aragonite: amzn.to/2N6DYKM
Chemical Filtration I've Used with Good Results:
Seachem Purigen: amzn.to/3hCygyG
Seachem Matrix Carbon: amzn.to/2Y6sOft
Mesh bags: amzn.to/2AJb4hj
Other items:
Suggested substrate (aragonite): amzn.to/2N6DYKM
My favorite LED lights: amzn.to/2N0YrRd
Inexpensive Powerheads: amzn.to/2N5dTMu
Better quality Powerhead (Hydor): amzn.to/37y8pTT
Heaters I use:
Eheim: amzn.to/3e2PByp
Cobalt Neo Therm: amzn.to/2N5eFZU
API (Black Plastic Shielded): amzn.to/3e8HujY
Recommended Meds to have on hand:
Fritz Maracyn 2: amzn.to/2UJRqJ1
API Furan 2: amzn.to/2N10iWb
API General Cure: amzn.to/3ejsFLe
Kordon Ick Attack: amzn.to/37A2iOF
Seachem Metroplex: amzn.to/2N5g9TY
Seachem Garlic Guard: amzn.to/2N3W549
Seachem Focus: amzn.to/2Ax8yef
Water Treatment Products I Use & Recommend:
Seachem Prime: amzn.to/37xa1gD
Seachem Safe: amzn.to/3d7Tscn
Seachem Lake Salt: amzn.to/30PeQ3A
Seachem Pristine: amzn.to/3ejvEDq
Seachem Clarity: amzn.to/2CdDCA4
Aquarium Quick Start Products I Recommend:
Seachem Stability: amzn.to/3e2SgYS
Fritz Turbo Start: amzn.to/3d7UXr1
Dr. Tim's One and Only: amzn.to/2CdEFju
**For more fish keeping videos with tricks, tips and hacks, check out these playlists**
For "My Best Fish Keeping Tips" click here:
www.youtube.co....
For tips and tricks with Fluval FX canister filters go here:
www.youtube.co....
For tips and tricks with SunSun canister filters go here:
www.youtube.co....
For videos on water changes and controlling nitrates, click here:
www.youtube.co....
For videos on general canister filter maintenance, click here:
www.youtube.co....
My Top 10 most popular videos of all time:
www.youtube.co....
Did you know that there's a friendly and very helpful group of fish keepers on Facebook? It's called "Ben O'Cichlid" Stop by and ask to join. Be sure to answer all the join-in questions so that the admin approve and let you in (it's how we keep the trolls and bots out!). Also, for behind the scenes pictures and videos follow me on Instagram at: "ben.o.cichlid"
Stop by on most Saturdays at 10am (Pacific) for the Cichlids & Coffee live stream. Great people, great topics and I get to answer your questions LIVE! Why not watch the stream while drinking out of a Ben O'Cichlid coffee mug or wearing a channel hoodie or tee. Visit my store here: teespring.com/... and be sure to use the code "LIVESTREAM" for a 10% discount at check-out.
Shout-out to Christopher Martin for the Cichlids & Coffee logo and to Sam Penny for the KZbin channel banner art. And a big thank you to Phil Griffiths for the dropping fish video and channel icon!
**Never forget - you reading this right now - YOU ROCK!**

[@Brensters63]

Fantastic video. Wonderful to-the-point explanations without a lot of unnecessary chitchat. Thank you!

[@BenOchart]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@odgers69]

...I literally just over cleaned my tank. ... lessons learnt... luckily only lost 1 fish!

[@lynrydskynyrdfan]

Yeah, i did a 50% water change on a 55 gallon so i now have one fish who is sick and we are going to test our water because it is only one fish when we have like 5

[@moshake8221]

In NEW tanks there IS beneficial bacteria in the water column only because it has not yet had a chance to settle into the substrate/decor or rocks etc this sometimes can be seen as a bacterial bloom (which is actually just an increase in beneficial bacteria duplicating to consume the rising ammonia) and can be seen as cloudy water

[@kerrypitt9789]

Back in the 60's we never had the "Nitrogen" talk. We were told to leave our tanks run empty for two or three weeks before adding fish. That all sounds pretty dumb, but no internet, few books, you depended on an aquarium shop owner who wasn't exactly forthcoming. Nonetheless you get through it and figure it out yourself. Good video, reception on that mountain top must be good!!

[@Slayer-xc1ug]

Great comment. Got my first tank in the 70s. I was 7. No one in my family new anything. Like you say... Live and learn. I'm 57 now and have 4 tanks but thanks to you tube and forums and better equipment life is a lot easier. Still learning things though just as you are I imagine. But the 1970s. I so apologise to my fish back then if you're looking down from fish heaven. SORRY SORRY SORRY. 😭. Take care my friend 🐠🐠🐠🇬🇧

[@gregorypeck2763]

My first tank was in the '60s, had the same issues. I didn't know anything about the nitrogen cycle. Getting back into the hobby now, and am learning a lot

[@staceyknight9322]

In the 80s we used under gravel plate filters with the plastic tubes the came up out of them attached air stones and never ever had any issue with cycling or crashing

[@adrianscott8287]

I got my first 10 gallon in 1990 It had an under-gravel filter plate set up and a heater, an air pump, and a shifty looking incandescent bulb. Got it all set up and running a month before I put any fish in it and I'll tell ya, I loved those fishes, but the tank kept crashing. I had problems from tiny bubbles so thick you couldn't see anything, while the fish were in there and as well i had cloudy water all of the time too. Fast forward to now and I use an under-gravel filter and just a 4" up tube with an air stone. with a layer of kitty litter that in unscented, dye free, and non-clumping with some red iron clay scattered in it then topped it off 3" deep of aquarium gravel. I don't have those problems no more in my 55, 29, 10, and 3.5 the water is always crystal clear using anoxic filtration. See Kevin Novak Ph.D. YT channel for his tutorials on this cheap and effective method. I just use an Over the tank filter to clean up the messes but the water quality is always pristine.

[@alexanderjohnson2309]

Thank you! I definitely had the 3rd one happen to me... I honestly thought the bacteria lived EVERYWHERE, including the water. Now I know why the ammonia spiked. Thank you man, great information!

[@GSP-76]

I remember way back when I was a beginner, I would make the classic mistakes of over cleaning and wound up crashing a tank and not understanding why...great video Ben 👍

[@rbenfield3]

(I know this reply is over 4 years old but) I just had the same thing happen to me. Everything was cycled, decided to do a DEEP clean and scrub everything before putting it back in the tanks, and now I'm juggling fish-in cycles on all of them because my system tanked. Newbie mistake, and I will NEVER do that again.

[@GSP-76]

@@rbenfield3 If you lost your cycle, be very careful of ammonia spikes. To prevent loss of any fish use Prime or Safe. Just keep dosing your tank every other day until your bacteria regrows it's colonies. That should prevent any fish loss. Ben does a Livestream every Saturday at 12 noon EST. Feel free to stop by to talk to us :)

[@rbenfield3]

@@GSP-76 thank you for the heads up! I've been doing Prime and Stabilize every day (which might be too much but I'm not taking chances), and it's finally almost there! If you have any advice on if I need to dial it back or not, though, I am all ears! I would also be doing water changes, but my water company just started using chloramines, so now I have more ammonia in my tap than my tanks, so I'm just....so happy lol

[@catfishcave379]

I always start my new tanks with water change water from another tank - and treat it as a new tank, not a fully cycled tank. It saves a few weeks off the fully cycled state. There is always both bacteria in the water column - just not very many. How else would it travel all over the tank, filter, substrate, etc. Now I prefer to use a cycled sponge, or some gravel, but sometimes I'm just not in a rush.

[@Barb5001]

Interesting point.... How else would the BB get over everything if not via the water.

[@Pooreboy1978]

Great info... I'm starting up a new aquarium (over this past month). The first I've had in 20+ years. Wish I had known these kinds of things way back when. Thank you sir...😊

[@BenOchart]

You’re welcome 😀👍🏻

[@unrelativistic]

You are so right, you can definitely over-clean. In my case, I have about a 3-month old 40g breeder. I was running 1 HOB and 2 sponge filters. Did a fishless cycle, planted, added fish, cycle was great. Got some livebearers from local big-box store, so I setup a 10g quarantine tank to hold them & used one of the sponge filters from the 40g, replacing with a fresh one. Had a 3 day bacterial bloom in the 40g from removal of 1 sponge filter, but cycle stayed intact and it all recovered. 10g held its cycle well, but despite treatment, I lost the livebearers--they wouldn't eat & that made it hard to get to the internal parasites that I'm pretty sure were the issue. Cleaned / sterilized quarantine setup with pool bleach & lots of dechlorinator afterward. Then a livebearer from 40g was pregnant & close to delivery. Went to setup the 10g again, using the other sponge filter from the 40g original cycle. Around same time, I got the dreaded diatom bloom that is common to new tanks. That's when I made the big mistake of cleaning all my decor, vac'ing substrate, cleaning glass all in one shot. I started getting an ammonia spike, then a nitrite spike. Now I'm into a mini-cycle in that 40g. Even with the undisturbed HOB, too much beneficial bac came out of the tank in a short time--I totally caused this. Should've left well enough alone & left mommy fish in the big tank & let nature take its course. She'll have more fry down the road.

[@HalfManHalfCichlid]

Good video Ben. IMHO, larger aquariums are not more "forgivig" as far as disturbing the BB balance. Larger aquariums usually means more fish, and in particular larger fish and more waste. Fish waste increases nearly exponentially with increase in fish size. So in my observation: larger tank= more/larger fish = more ammonia and waste production. The amount of biomedia is important in larger tanks (e.g. sumps), and a cleaning routine that disturbs no more than 20% of the major BB locations. In my case I have a k1 media bed that is never disturbed and 5 large poret foam sponge walls in my sump. I rotate rinsing the sponges- one sponge per month (takes 5 or 10 minutes

[@BenOchart]

HalfMan HalfCichlid Never take anything as absolute truth. Think dynamically and by that I mean it’s all flexible across a spectrum. Of course, if you have a hundred fish in my hundred gallon with one FX-6 you will be one-missed-water-change away from potential disaster. But 20 fish in a 100 will provide some wiggle room or fudge factor. With a moving bed K1, poret sponges and aquaponics your system will hold up better with a high number of fish than the same size aquarium with just two FX-6s, right? We’ve got to think fluidly (pun intended).

[@skydragon9923]

mate i was trying to listen to your video as im about a bio bloom on my first tank, but all i can think about is how comfortable that chair looks behind you to relax in. I want one!

[@shaun9107]

Water refresh & filter rinse every week always keeps them HAPPY They love the reflection from the glass . The gravel holds loads of it but dead food is a NO NO

[@cichlidguru1163]

Lisa is great person .always order lot of food from her .one time i asksd as a joke if she can throw in the spoon and she replied in seconds that im getting a free spoon

[@modernneanderthal6970]

Have a 75g tank that ran great for 9 months. Had an unnoticed death(got stuck behind heater) and had an ammonia explosion. Literally ammonia tested so high is was off darker than the color chart. My wife did absolutely everything to save our tank, water changes, ammo guard and anything we could think of. Unfortunately we lost all of our friends. Drained the tank, washed everything changed out filter media and started over, used Dr. Tim's one and done. Battled high ammonia for a few days and now my cycle is finally where it needs to be currently sporting a female betta (sole survivor of the ammonia blow out), 2 peacock eels and 3 sterbas Cory's. Can hardly wait to get some blue acaras and some geophagis altifrans back in

[@BenOchart]

Sorry to hear but it sounds like you’re back on track.

[@josemontalvo4532]

I’m #1! Excellent points this tutorial on 3 Beneficial Bacteria Disasters. At one time or another I committed of of these errors. Thank you for sharing. I enjoyed watching!

[@plcc07777]

MEGA THUMBS UP...Great Info for all aquarists.

[@stuartmcdonald5172]

A clear and concise explanation about beneficial bacteria for new fish keepers.

[@AmazonasBiotop]

Great info. So if there is no beneficial bacteria in the water. Why do then some say: "That you should avoid or not clean your filter at the same occasion as you do a water change." If no bacteria in the water then there should be no problem to clean the filter when you also do a water change. Or is there other reasons?

[@oleksiysyrota9374]

Hi from Kiev, Ukraine! Thank you so much for your videos! Enjoy it every time!

[@christien960]

How have you been?

[@carlom1245]

Hey Ben, just wanted to contribute a quick story relating to the topic of beneficial bacteria, I have a 75 gallon growout tank with two Motoro stingrays, and silver dollars. I will be buying a 300 gallon custom for the wall once they outgrow the tank. Recently about a month ago I added a small arowana and spotted gar, and within a week my ammonia spiked and I was in panic station with the stingrays. I have 2 fluval 306 canisters, but my beneficial bacteria couldn’t cope with new additions. Within another month, there was another slow build up of ammonia, and I come to see one of my stingrays is found dead, and i needed to act on this issue. The fish aren’t that big, but it turned out deadly for one of my stingrays who couldn’t cope. I added a large sponge filter and a beneficial bacteria booster to the tank, the ammonia is at 0 since I did a 60-70% water change, but just wanted to share that story with everyone that your ammonia can spike at any point, however everything is under control now.

[@KentAJDK]

I second that. I always keep a extra spungfilter running in a good running tank, to be apple to quickly start a new tank. And I also squese another spunge out into the new tank, for the muk and bacteria to move around and settle on the surfice and decore inside the tank.

[@friatankar]

I agree, patience is The key. I usually do a dark start. I put in all the hardscape, start the filtration and let it go for a week. Then I put in some fish food and benificial bacteria and let it go for another 3-4 weeks, adding a little fish food now and then to the bacterias to have some food until the water parameters is good. After that I do a 90% waterchange and plant the tank. Then I let it go for another month, so The plants get really rooted, adding nutrients mean while. Then I introducera the cleaning crew to the tank. And last but not least I put in the fish I want little by little.

[@jamiestamand4840]

I reused my decorations from my old tank with one new decoration in my tank and transferred the argonite from my 20 gallon into my 60 gallon when I upgraded a month ago. Everyone is doing just fine in my 60.

[@BenOchart]

Perfect!

[@jamiestamand4840]

@@BenOchart it works.

[@NielsTichelaar]

Also, a lot of people think that if you get an aquarium you let it run for a couple of weeks add bacteria your tank is cycled but that's false. the process cant start without fish or ammonia drops. the bacteria need to feed or they die off. same with a pond.

[@tulioalopez]

Thank you, I’ve learned a lot from you. Keep up the good job.

[@ronrobertson7691]

Very well explained. Thank you

[@evilsaiyancumber654]

I overwhelmed my tank, thanks for the the tips this helps out a lot 👍🙏🏻 I’ll subscribe to your channel.

[@BenOchart]

Thank you.

[@trevohlson9733]

Hi ben yeah your right about the decor and bacteria but sucking water from an established tank does speed up the process in the new set up i normally wait about a week then introduce fish and every 2nd day check ph normally have to keep dropping it for a week or so after 👍

[@keithb1830]

Very nice video, even tho I don,t keep cichlids I still watch your videos because they pertain to all fishkeeping...all of those 3 were right on point..I think one thing that has helped me in fishkeeping is patience, whether it's in quarintine, plants, sickness, raising fry Patience...Ben love your videos great info, and have learned much from them, thank you again....keith

[@BenOchart]

I paid a big price for a lack of patience and shortened a quaranteen period ... it cost me half my stock. Patience can't be over stressed in this hobby. Thank you for watching and for the kind words of encouragement.

[@Free_Free_Palestine0]

Another awesome video, it's good that you've cleared that up because on a lot of groups I always see people asking that question about swapping their tank water into a new tank. People have that misconception that there's beneficial bacteria in there.

[@Nikki_dogmom]

Thank you this answered a lot of my questions

[@mtctookie25]

Great tips for the hobbyist Ben, thanks for sharing!

[@David-yh5po]

Thanks for sharing this video with us.

[@Markiemark-nh5ss]

Extremely helpful

[@BradClarke]

I was definitely guilty of over cleaning my tank when I first started out. Gravel vacuum once a week, 50% water change twice a week (on a 10 gallon tank with 6 guppies). Always seemed to have problems. Got fed up and left it alone and it stabilized. Question: some other KZbinrs I follow leave non-running sponge filters (or just the sponges) in their tanks as a way to seed them for emergencies, new tanks, etc. Will usable BB actually grow on them without airflow? I have a couple Aquatop CAF-10 sponge filters sitting in the back chamber of my Fluval Flex 15. I replaced the weight stones that came in them with Matrix and SubstratPro.

[@BenOchart]

Hello Brad, Yes. BB will grow everywhere. On decor, tank walls, plants, etc. I float sponges in my sump that can be instantly put into use to give me an instantly cycled emergency tank, like a hospital tank.

[@llllllllllilillii]

thank you. helps a lot

[@belindafalgout1675]

Great information! Thank you

[@mau5lover2000]

Thank you ben for another wonderful informative video.

[@aaronlorinchack1942]

Lots of good information and thank you.

[@raymondricketts170]

Nice 👌 video Ben

[@sunittiwari6047]

There is a fourth case too you add some antibiotic or dewormer to get rid of internal parasites that can also kill all your nitrifying bacteria in tank overnight.

[@itsducttapeboy]

Thank you for your help today. I have been dealing with nitrogen problems. Your video really helped.

[@treeehrhardt4509]

Thanks! Always learn something from your videos!

[@vblackwell3347]

Upvoted & subscribed because I like your style as well as your advise. You take the time to respond to more commenters than most of the others seem to. That's appreciated. Thx.

[@guillermoiiialtaaduana3767]

Gracias

[@RaulsAquaticsandReptiles]

A common mistake done by fish keepers new to the hobby including myself. Thanks for sharing Ben 💪🏼

[@BenOchart]

Thanks for watching!

[@zachofalltrades6116]

watching this made me think about setting up my two new nano tanks, Im put some lava rock in a media bag and put in the hang on the back filter of my 20 long and let the beneficial bacteria build up and the filter floss as well and put in my new nanos to speed up the cycle. also I do use the water from water changes for extra bacteria and the tanines from drift wood and almond leaves.

[@BenOchart]

Not a bad idea. Some do that with sponge filters since they are so easy to move around. The water does not have much beneficial bacteria but I will use some of it when moving fish from one tank to another just so things don’t feel too different (pH, KH, GH).

[@trevohlson9733]

Oh and sorry i normally swap out the filter from old tank to new one that helps bigtime as well good vids ben !

[@BenOchart]

Yes, that would provide an instant cycle ... but what happens to the the tank you took the filter off of?

[@BenOchart]

Yes, that would give you an instant cycle, but what about the tank that you take the filter off of?

[@johncameron4194]

Yup my 10 gallon took 5 weeks to cycle

[@darthbader6506]

Really good information and very nicely delivered. Thank you

[@neilsharpton2037]

Another great video on a subject that not everyone understands. Thanks as always

[@woodensurfer]

Actually after you have cycled the filtration medium thoroughly you should stock all or nearly all fish at once. Once the medium has faced several PPMs of ammonia and turn all to nitrate, it will be ready if you don't wait too long. a couple of weeks at least is fine. Stocking fish slowly is mini-cycling. Inexperienced people have a hard time overcoming this mental hurdle. If the setup is correct and you have introduced enough ammonia during the cycle (without fish), your ammonia and nitrite will always be zero no matter how many fish you put in at once. For freshwater I just add bacteria seed from an old tank (or suitable moist garden soil), keep adding fish food in amount many times you will feed your fish in fully stocked tank, run the tank as if there is fish, and wait five-six weeks depending on temp and the then do a 100% water change (cheap). A few days later there will be zero ammonia even if the cycle had not rigorously speaking complete.

[@sharpiesfishandphantoms]

Contrary to popular belief old aquarium water is good for one thing, watering plants. It offers no benefit to an aquarium unless you're starting a new planted tank and then its minimal at best. Start with clean water and add dirty filter sponges is the way that works for me.

[@BenOchart]

Yes! Nitrates are very good in that case.

[@Willy101975]

Awesome content! 👍

[@peapodamoose]

Great video once agin Ben.

[@bmzaron713]

Awesome!

[@abby3373]

Imma leave a few comments here. As to what you say about cleaning decor and sand my routine for my very low stocked tank my first tank has one single betta no mystery snails just one betta. It produces the least amount of what other call gunk in my filter. Then Iv got a 29 (I like smaller tanks) that’s got an open back 40gallon rated aqueon quiet flow that makes buckets of beneficial bacteria in direct sunlight for about the whole day or at least most. I do weekly gravel vacuuming and never wipe the decor because it’s all live in my 10 with the 29 I like the look of the plastic ones mixed with the live plants. I don’t wash those because they are coated with green algae. This is a trade off me and the fish inside that tank have if I scrape it off they will eat my aquarium plants.

[@51inches]

HI BEN; GREAT TIPS AS USUAL

[@tommyo321]

Very helpful. Makes a lot of sense

[@sharronmiller451]

Love the information!

[@laceytopmiller794]

Very good video...I actually played around with this when setting up my 10 gals....I set one up with an established sponge filter and reused gravel...water never got cloudy...another was a new sponge and previously established gravel..water was cloudy but cleared up over night...now the one I used an old sponge with new gravel took 2 days to clear up..I've always been told to use the media from the filter but I'm thinking the gravel worked the best bc there was more surface area for more bacteria

[@fr33dumb55]

I found that my 150gallon cycled fairly fast, I put an established large sponge filter in it. But I’m surprised how much a large volume of water makes a difference. I feel that a sump system would be very beneficial to maintaining the nitrogen cycle better than canisters and sponges

[@BenOchart]

I agree with you, simply because with greater total water vol you're going to dilute the nitrates (lower ppm).

[@rogerball6265]

+Ben Ochart, another very thoughtful video from the Tao of Ben O. But master, grasshopper* asks with regard to the graph (which I refer to as an O chart) a question. If I read this graph correctly it telling me that while testing the nitrogen compounds in the water of a newly cycling tank, should observe. 1) look for ammonia to peak as nitrite starts to rise. Peak at about 10 ppm or so 2) look for ammonia to drop to zero or near zero as nitrite peaks. Peak at around 22 to 27 ppm 3) as nitrite peaks , nitrate begins to rise. 4) as nitrate rises to about 40 ppm, ammonia and nitrate should be near zero. And that is when you should do your water change. 5) The number of days and the peak concentrations may vary. Does this sound about right? (By the way I have a hard time distinguishing between 40 ppm and 80 ppm on API nitrate liquid test kit. Any ideas?) (* kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZOxdHWMr7WMl80)

[@ilfishing3208]

hey i wanted to say beneficial bacteria can be unpredictible and it can grow when you least expect it and like i remember my first tank it was a 10 gall and i was cleaning it like crazy and if i did not keep cleaning it every week it would get dirty soo i was getting tired of cleaning and cleaning and cleaning so i looked it up and i was hearing left and right about this thing called beneficial bacteria. so and i thought these people were crazy why put rocks in a aquarium. soo i did not do it. and i got tired of cleaning soo i stoped cleaning for about 5 months and my tank went soo down hill. soo i tryed some bio media and for about 3 weeks it did nothing. and i was like so they were crazy. but after a little bit my tank looked soo much better and my bio media was yellow and it was white before so i knew it was the bio media. and now i dont even use any poly fill or any thing just bio media and my tank look awesome.soo theirs the story of my life lol.

[@City_Cichlids]

@Ben I enjoy your videos brother thank you for all you do. Question 🙋🏾‍♂️ how many fish would you recommend in a 125g? African Cichlids.

[@BenOchart]

With ample filtration and weekly water changes, 30 wouldn’t be out of the question.

[@dannywarner4128]

How do you keep your substrate and tanks so clean. Is it with general hard work I know mine is. Thanks

[@johncameron4194]

Great video thank you

[@elgezouliabdul4973]

Hi Ben as always the instructions are clear and simple and great vedio . Just I want a quick tip how to do very fast quarantine tank am going to recive new after 8 hours and I have a running tank and I have setup a tank 5 days ago assuming that the fish will come late but of sudden fish are coming in matter of hours pls help. It is discus fish by the way Thanks

[@BenOchart]

Wish I had seen this sooner. Take handfuls of substrate out of your established tank and a sponge out of your filter and put it in your new system. Be sure to treat the water before adding and you should be good to go instantly.

[@elgezouliabdul4973]

@@BenOchart Thank you Ben , I recived them and I got your replay now ,but no problems they are ok and I did as you told me . Thank you very much .

[@abby3373]

When you address the water thing luckily I was told to star a sponge or pads bio bags ect put it inside a pre running tank if you have one or if you know someone who has a tank. What I have done to help kick start a 3rd tank with only snails so far is when I clean my sponge in my 29 it gets cleaned inside of that tank. It makes it look nasty for a little the snails snack on some of it but I don’t think iv ever seen a tank cycle faster. It’s been 4 weeks I did it started with only a sponge filter since washing my filter sponges inside of that tank Iv seen wonders. I don’t understand a whole lot about beneficial bacteria or if you can ever have to much of it? That’s what I looked up was can I ever have to much BB.

[@Sam-wj2gu]

Hi Ben, whats ur take on buying beneficial bacteria additives? I even seen where u can buy bags of water with beneficial bacteria. Sounds like the spike prblm ur talking about waiting to happen, but its a reputable fish seller. What about something like Quick Start?

[@crazyaboutafricancichlids1612]

Great info Ben! Cool video.

[@KudaTimberlineAIE]

Great Info! Thanks Ben!

[@adamc7918]

Cool video as always

[@MrsShocoTaco]

Beneficial bacteria exists in the water column, just not really enough to cycle a tank on

[@nolansaquarium7466]

Great information! Great video 🙌🏼

[@mightymicroworlds4566]

Thanks man haha I’m trying to force production of organic ammonia in a small ecosphere to see what microbes and bacteria survive after haha I get bored 😂 I even have my microscope and ammonia strips lmao

[@thatnthis1042]

Loving your tank, and very useful info :), I'm due to move house soon and was wondering how long the beneficial bacteria will survive with no flow in an external filter? ( with tank water and sealed) the filter holds about 10 litres of water plus media.

[@BenOchart]

I've heard around 6 hours ... but why not crack them a little and get some battery powered air pumps and stick airlines into those canisters. Then, no worries.

[@thatnthis1042]

@@BenOchart nice one, thx for the reply

[@anthonybarstow5514]

Hi there, I currently have white spot in my tank, I’ve treating with meds as my fish won’t stand the heat treatment, my question is will the beneficial bacteria in my tank be destroyed after treatment? Internet says yes and no which is annoying so I wanted to ask the professor in fish! I do have turbo start 700 ready to add once the treatment is completed just to be on the safe side and also active carbon from fritz.

[@BenOchart]

If you treat per the product instructions you should be fine. Some Fritz Complete or any water conditioner during treatment wouldn’t hurt and using Turbo when done treating wouldn’t hurt. But I’ve treated without doing that and had no issues. When I did have issues is when I did other things during treatment that disrupted beneficial bacteria, like filter cleaning. Don’t do anything else during treatment and you should be fine.

[@anthonybarstow5514]

@@BenOchart thank you for your reply, no I’m not going to do anything while treating, all I have done is remove the carbon and kept lights to a low level. A video on meds would be good as I’ve spent so much time researching for an answer and so many people think it destroys BB so they don’t use it and use heat instead, I would prefer to use heat and salt but I can’t as my neons won’t stand that higher temperature and the salt would harm my plants so meds is the only option for me. Keep up the good videos 👍👌

[@lewisspeed3041]

Good video

[@dominic9279]

Great video but just wondering why crushed coral?

[@kalebweese3906]

Just a extra step I do is add w water treatment before I add fresh water. Hoping that the chlorine won't kill any BB on my decor.

[@Rachel-ft2bi]

1) Do you add the water treatment to the freshwater BEFORE you add the water to the tank? 2) Or do you add the treatment to the tank and then add the fresh water straight to the tank? You should be doing it like number 1). For extra safe measure, add the water treatment to the freshwater (in a clean bucket) vigorously agitate the water and allow it to sit for about half an hour before adding it to your tank. If you can, heat the bucket water to the same temp as the tank before adding. This way you have no chance of killing any bacteria.

[@Rachel-ft2bi]

Didnt notice your comment was from two years ago!

[@moderngunguy3666]

I always just add fish right away no problems just you some kind of good beneficial bacteria like the starting type....it all says you can add fish right away and it seems to work for me

[@SillySquid03]

Thank you! This helped SOOOOO MUUUCCHHHH! SUBSCRIBED FOR MORE! 🥰

[@johnstrassner8061]

Request where you acquire your decor from.

[@BenOchart]

A variety of sources from on-line providers to local fish stores.

[@johnstrassner8061]

@@BenOchart I’m new to the hobby and was curious where the best looking artificial plants a seasoned veteran as yourself might begin looking. I’m finding every where I turn someone wants my money and not all investments are good ones. Thanks!

[@MrCoolvash]

Hi, i have a 15x15 inch tank and i cleaned the filter and changed 50% water & soon fishes stopped being normal, stopped eating and started dying, especially all guppies. Fortunately neon tetras didn’t die even if they are said to be sensitive to sudden water changes

[@450mark8]

Ben I have a 125 gallon tank with a largemouth bass in it the bass prolly weighs 2 half lbs and he’s getting way to big for it and I also have a empty 150 gallon tank I’m just scared to move him cause I don’t wana lose my fish ....I have a fluval Fx 6 on the 125 gallon ...When and if I do move him should I transfer the fx6 and the fake plants and the gravel with the same water that’s in the 125 gallon ? I need help and confidence on what to do thanks love your channel 👍🏼

[@BigDsmoke]

I know your waiting for Ben to comment but you are right. Transfer the Fx6 & any fake plants, decorations or rocks, you can move the water but not necessary SO LONG as you have treated the water with a dechloronater BEFORE you add the Fx6. I just moved two 9" Oscars, two 5" Firemouths, two 6" Jaguars & a 7" Lima Shovelnose catfish to a 135g with a sump. The tank I brought them from had 2 canister filters, I took all the biomedia & coarse sponge & from 1 of the filters put it in my sump along with some new bags of biorings & a new bag of crushed coral. I let it run for 24hrs then added all my fish & have had no issues. Make sure you do test ammonia level daily & I also lightened up on the feeding a little bit for the first couple days to give the bacteria some time to multiply.

[@450mark8]

BigDSmoke man thanks for your comment I’ve been so stressed and feeling bad for my bass he’s to small and I just get scared to move him

[@BigDsmoke]

@@450mark8 I get it bro I was so worried of moving my fish too! That's why I responded because that's how I was & it was guys like Ben, Cory etc & others who responded that made me feel a bit more relaxed lol

[@450mark8]

BigDSmoke Yea man it’s can be very stressful ...I ment to say he’s to big for that tank lol ...He’s Rate about 3lbs in a 125 gallon and man I’m gona move him this weekend !!!

[@Sam-wj2gu]

Hi Ben! I love the way u xplain everything in detail and in laymen terms. Thnx. I noticed u have what looks likr a purple artificial plant in w a real plant in 1 of ur tanks. Is this the case? The tank is gorgeous. Also what live plants would u recommend for a sand substrate w fancy goldfish? I.e. Orandas, tosakins, etc.

[@BenOchart]

Hello Sam. I'm glad that you enjoy the channel. I guess I consider myself a "layman", so those are the terms I use 😉 I'm not really a plant expert and don't know what the water parameters are for fancy goldfish. Soft water, hard water, low pH, high pH, all those factors would have to be considered. Cory at the Aquarium Co-op would be my first pick for that kind of advice. Good luck.

[@Sam-wj2gu]

@@BenOchart It doesnt matter. You' ve converted me to Cichlids!😜

[@StillBigWill44]

Cleaning filter media or decor with straight municipal tap water?

[@Kt-cn2rq]

No use your water from your aquarium to clean filter. Or kill the good bacteria.

[@alexanderhalliwell2109]

I have 90 litre tank and fluval u2 filter. So when cleaning tank if you siphon some of the dirt from the gravel is it best just to leave the filter? Then next time I clean just take water out without going through the gravel and rinse the inside of filter in that water so that not getting rid of too much bacteria?

[@Puma1Sunfire1]

Bags of Lava rocks, sponges, gravel of established tanks, and live bacteria for when it above aren't suitable for the look or tank I am working on

[@Sam-wj2gu]

Hi Ben, I plan on buying a Current USA satellite light for my 55 gal. My tank is old and the cover is real outdated. What kind of cover can u recommend so the water doesnt evaporate too quickly, but still get the benefits of the expensive light?

[@mariopario8637]

How long does beneficial bacteria survive on decorum once its been taken out of the water?

[@staceyknight9322]

Hi Ben..can you give me a link or purchase info to the black substrate you have in the tank behind you? Thanks

[@BRAWLER_BUSTER]

Hey so I have a tank that is pretty old and it isn’t the best taken care of and I got a new tank yesterday for a betta and was wondering if I could take a piece of decor out of it and put it in the new tank to get good bacteria started?

[@BenOchart]

Decor and a couple cups of substrate. If you’re not going to be leaving the substrate in there, put it in a mesh bag and remove it after a month or two. You should be good to go, but test the water to be totally certain.

[@BRAWLER_BUSTER]

@@BenOchart so you want me to put a cup of the old gravel from the other tank and put it in my new tank for a month or two and test the water?

[@BRAWLER_BUSTER]

in a mesh bag so I can take it out. and what are the levels supposed to be and when should i test the water?

[@leesutton1845]

What about adding bacteria in a bottle like seachem stability I've been told it doesn't work and it's not bacteria in the bottle is this true

[@keretasambung_bayar_ksb2u781]

What about activated carbon..it can make crystal clear water?

[@BenOchart]

It helps but be sure to replace every few months because it gets exhausted.

[@burlisaquarien7568]

I don't think you can "overclean" your tank if you have enough Biomedia and if you have "trained" your BBs to grow in the Biomedia. I have started a Juwel Rio125 a few weeks ago from scratch and I was able to put in over 30 Guppies and 12 Amano Shrimps after 12 days without any nitrite peak, because I have a lot of Biomedia in the filter and I have "trained" the BBs with urea and some starter bacteria.

[@burlisaquarien7568]

@WeeStrom CO Guy with urea I mean pure ammonia as white powder. In Germany I can buy this in any drug store. But I don't recommend this in running tanks because it is highly concentrated and it is easy to overdose it. But you can charge biomedia in an external tank. Get some new media or carefully remove some of the media from your tank. With "train" the bacteria I not only mean to feed them to grow faster. Depending on your setup and maintenance you can tell them where they should grow faster. If you setup a new tank and if you have a lot of porous media in your filter, more BBs grow on the media. You can increase that if you clean the glass and vac the gravel. If you want to have more bacteria in the tank itself just load your filter with sponges and clean them frequently. I prefer the first way because I can be sure that I always have enough BBs even if I "overclean" the tank and it is safe to clean or even replace the mechanical filter media. All you have to care about is the Biomedia

[@vistarsecurity9569]

I have added a second sponge filter to my first tank so that I can build up beneficial bacteria on it to then add it to my second tank. How long does it need to be in my first tank to build up beneficial bacteria on it?

[@BenOchart]

That type of situation depends on stocking and feeding levels, but in around 6 to 8 weeks I’m pretty sure you could start up a second tank with it (using half established tank water and half treated water).

[@AquariumArmy]

Sponges in everything seems to work wonders for me.

[@fisharefriends598]

#3.... bb in water column.. amendment needed. When it’s cloudy, specifically white. That’s the only time bacteria is in water column.... don’t change it if it’s could white. Just wait