The Great Stabilisation

The Great Stabilisation was an important event in Tank history. It involved the final solution to the Nitrite Struggles and the Parasitic Plagues and the installation of a new filter.

Situation
Since the Tank's creation there had been many problems with water quality and diseases. The first problem to hit was the Nitrite Struggles, in which there were constant elevated nitrite levels. This was obviously not good for the inhabitants of the tank, and worse followed. Soon after that, the first Parasitic Plague hit. It ended with half of the Tank's stock dying. Notable deaths include Lemon Curd and Orange Juice. Luckily the euthanasia outpaced the parasite and no more fish became infected, marking the end of the first Parasitic Plague. The Nitrite Struggles continued however. It was eventually solved however with the installation of the carbon pads into the filter. Nitrite levels soon dropped to zero. The Nitrite Struggles in total claimed 6 lives if you don't count the fry it inevitably claimed, and to this day the aftereffects can be seen with the slowed growth of fry that lived during the period.

The filter worked with no problems for some time, but eventually problems ensued again. The filter did not work as efficiently as it once did and it was realistically not powerful enough to support the Tank. Nitrite levels had returned as a consequence of the Irritating Ich treatment and the removal of the carbon pads and a new filter was needed. One day when the nitrite level was checked, the nitrite presented at an insane 1.25ppm! There was clearly something wrong with the filter. When it was checked, it appeared to have stopped working entirely. This was not good.

Solution
The obvious solution was to get a new filter for the tank. The original filter was a Fluval U2 and an upgrade was coming up anyway so the obvious solution was to install the Fluval U3, which is the next level up. Despite being advertised as suitable for a 40 gallon tank, it is not even fully sufficient to support a 30 gallon tank, let alone a 40. The Fluval U4 is more sufficient for a 30 gallon but unfortunately money doesn't grow on trees so a U3 had to do.

The next day the Fluval U3 was installed and the Great Stabilisation commenced. Within 3 days the water parameters were perfect. The tank had fully stabilised and this would mark the end of the Nitrite Struggles. This was not the end of all problems though, although things have been much better since.