Thinking of adding Seachem Matrix to my 20G HOB filter and 5G tank

[Sandra the fish rookie]

Currently I only have a course filter in my HOB and I am thinking I need something else to get more media than I have to get my Nitrates higher .. I have a lot of plants, with growth, wood, gravel, fish are doing well, fed daily.. No Ammonia.. but I can't seem to get my nitrates higher than 5-10 ppm. Tank has been going since Dec 2020. I also have a sponge filter in the tank as well. 

I am thinking I need to add it to the 5G as well. I need to get more bacteria on my filters. The 5G has this front drawer with the pump, and on the other side is a half wall, that I have a course filter, and some balls (which are not really holding on to any bacteria that I can see) I don't think their porous enough. I have the balls on the side where water just sits in the drawer. 

How much seachem Matrix do I need? Its sold in amounts. my 40G is a tidal, and its a great filter and it just works better than the others biofiltration wise and I have to wonder if its because of the Matrix in it????

Thoughts?

[KBOzzie59]

More food!

[anewbie]

You can but it won't help much. I'm not sure why you think adding matrix will increase your nitrate. If you have 0 ammonia and nitrite then you've used up all the material required to produce nitrate....

[Will Billy]

Whats your bioload look like? How many wet pets do you have in the 20gallon? With a low bioload, and heavy plants that are outstripping the nitrates this scenario is possible. How often do you perform water changes? How much water do you change each time? Typically nitrates, along with detritus or fish waste are the main 2 things removed in a water change. There are other things that get removed too, but your plants prefer ammonia over nitrites, and nitrites over nitrates, and beneficial bacteria will reduce ammonia to nitrates in its final form. Your tank maintenance may be too much for your bioload, thus diluting your end result nitrates. Adding more surface area for bacteria doesn't grow more bacteria. Adding more food for bacteria like ammonia in the form of fish food and fish poo does increase your bacterial colony. A bunch of media in a low bioload tank is sorta like an empty hotel, there are plenty of rooms for them to stay in, but not enough bacteria to fill up the entire hotel. 

[starsman20]

Seems it would be easier to give a few pumps of ez green than to mess with the filter media.

Edited April 10, 2021 by starsman20
wording

[Sandra the fish rookie]

Thank you all for the GREAT advice. Here is what I did. 

I still have my sponge filters (intake, extra in the tank, and inside the HOB). I added the Matrix, and the water is super clear. I am seeing less brown diatom algae as well (maybe I am nuts) I split up the Matrix between my 20G and 5 G. Both have much clearer water. In the HOB all I had was a sponge filter where I would add filter floss as needed to clear the water. Now I have the sponge filter at the very bottom, the Matrix on top and use filter floss as needed. We will see how it goes. 

@Will Billy current gang in the 20G are 5 Corydora, 1 ramshorn snail, 1 mystery snail, 1 guppy, 2 bamboo shrim, 1 cherry shrimp. I have 5 guppies in the QT tank that will join the club the 1st week of May (when the are FULLY de wormed). Then I think that tank will be good to go stocking wise. 

Water Changes 1 a week, 20-25% and this includes cleaning the inside of the glass, dusting plants and sucking up any surface left over food my giant snail has left behind (which is rare). 

So based on the above feedback, I am not feeding my gang enough? So once a day should be more like??? twice a day? three times a day? 

@starsman20 I used Easy Green after every water change so once a week. 

 

[Will Billy]

2 hours ago, Sandra the fish rookie said:

@Will Billy current gang in the 20G are 5 Corydora, 1 ramshorn snail, 1 mystery snail, 1 guppy, 2 bamboo shrim, 1 cherry shrimp. I have 5 guppies in the QT tank that will join the club the 1st week of May (when the are FULLY de wormed). Then I think that tank will be good to go stocking wise

There it is, your current stocking is quite a low bioload. Your 3 shrimp and ramshorn snail have an extremely low bioload that you can virtually dismiss at this point. 1 guppy isnt much either. Your main bioload right now is coming from your 1 mystery snail and 5 cory cats. In a 20 gallon tank thats not much, in a 20 gallon planted tank thats even less. Dont fret though, your bioload is about to change when you add the other guppies. If you have male and female guppies your bioload is about to steadily increase as they do what guppies do best and make baby fry. You might even find yourself in a position of too many nitrates in the near future. Not only that but feeding baby fry from my experience is not necessarily more food, but more feedings. I feed my guppy fry nano pellets twice a day. If however you have all male guppies then your bioload will stay at a constant 6 guppies, 5 cory cats, and 1 mystery snail. In which case you can offset by dialing back on your water changes just a bit or by adding more fertilizer. Otherwise i wouldnt fret too much. Guppies are little piggies and they will definitely help you fertilize your plants. 
p.s. i would love to see your bamboo shrimp, i think they are super cool. Sounds like you have a great tank setup. 

[LaurieinIA]

I’m newish to fishkeeping... but wouldn't Matrix usually be used to LOWER nitrates, not increase them?  Or am I misunderstanding?

[Will Billy]

21 minutes ago, LaurieinIA said:

I’m newish to fishkeeping... but wouldn't Matrix usually be used to LOWER nitrates, not increase them?  Or am I misunderstanding?

Technically yes, in a low flow environment the theory is that anaerobic bacteria will form deep inside the pumice stone that will eat nitrates, thus creating a denitrification cycle. However if a low flow environment cannot be maintained it is still a great environment for aerobic bacteria which is your traditional nitrogen cycle. 

[Sandra the fish rookie]

48 minutes ago, Will Billy said:

. If you have male and female guppies your bioload is about to steadily increase as they do what guppies do best and make baby fry.

@Will Billy funny you mention that.. I "think" that one or both females are pregnant. I did it on purpose, to get males and females this time to have my one hopefully disease free babies. I am giving the guppy thing one last shot. I ordered this online from a breeder in NJ. 

See picture below, its really hard to get a picture of her she moves so much and the males chase her everywhere. There is another female in there I suspect might be pregnant too. I purchased a breeder box to be ready in case. The just finished their first course of the QT combo, and 2nd dose of paracleanse. Just did a water change, and giving them a 2 week rest and plan to do another course to fully de worm them. I am worried about de worming with Fry though. 😞 

My bamboo shrimp are the second picture.. they are the coolest EVER.. 

 

[Patrick_G]

On 4/10/2021 at 6:11 AM, starsman20 said:

Seems it would be easier to give a few pumps of ez green than to mess with the filter media.

I agree! 

I’d add more easy green for a few weeks, as a trial. Also if you’re using the api liquid Nitrate test make sure your shaking the bottle for the required amount of time or you’ll get false readings. 

Edited April 13, 2021 by Patrick_G