Ugh - soap in my ammonia. How do I fix this?

[src]

I was very careful to make sure that the ammonia I bought for cycling had no soap. Nothing was listed on the ingredients, and I shook the _heck_ out of the bottle in the store (leading to some very strange looks!), and it seemed OK.

But it wasn't. I started "cooking" my tank on Sunday, and today I noticed a soap film and some precipitate when the surface was agitated.

Here's the real problem: I have 100 lbs of EC in the tank as one of my substrates. I can replace the pool filter sand easilly, since I only used one of my 2 bags, but what do I do about the eco-complete?

Right now I'm draining the tank, and I plan on several partial fills (15-20%) to rinse everything off the tank and try to flush the substrate. But am I screwed on the EC, or is this a recoverable error? Thanks!

 

[dont155]

I had that happen to me, had to drain and flush the tank several times. I don't have a planted tank, so I can't comment on the substrate thing. I did end up replacing most of my original substrate though as I didn't want to chance any soap inadvertantly remaining in there.

Sorry to hear it happened to you too. That can be very fustrating and annoying.

Good luck with the cycle.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Are you sure it's soap film on the surface, and not just disolved organics? What does the film look like, and how much is there? When I put my eco in and filled my tank, I did get a film over the water, but that's normal.

Also, how does the water surface smell? If the ammonia does not foam when shook, and the aquarium smells like an aquarium, there's no soap in there, just disolved organics from the substrate.

 

[src]

Well, I spent today doing partial fills. Ran through at least 6 cycles (I lost count) filling between 20 and 50%, and draining everything I could each time. Cleaned the equipment, replaced the ceramic bio-media (including my seeded media - AAAARGH!). Filled it back up, and let it run for about an hour without any prime (wanted the chlorinated tapwater to actually cycle through a bit), then dumped in a bunch of prime. I made sure to stir and turn the substrate several times during all the rinses to try to get as much crud out as I can.

I can see a very slight rainbow effect on the surface now, but not much at all - it could be the natural refractive properties of the water. I've got the XP3's bio-chem bag in the filter now, and will let it scrub out as much as possible tonight. Tomorrow I will do another full drain and refill (and maybe another small fill/drain just to be sure), and try to get my cycle started again using gravel from my other tank.

As for whether or not it was soap - it was. I was getting some bubbles from surface agitation, a very obvious film and rainbow effect, and it was actually clumping and precipitating as solids. The look, feel and smell were all soap. Left a lovely scum on the tank, too.

I took another look at the label of the ammonia, and there is another ingredient - a "chelating agent". I can't believe I missed that before. Must be going blind(er).

 

[dont155]

Actually I've read in various fish forums that "chelating agents" are Ok. Still it does sound like soap somehow got into your system. If you have an ACE Hardware store near you, grab a bottle of their "Janitorial Strength Formula" ammonia. (Contains 10% Ammonium Hydroxide) That's what I'm using now on my second run and its working great. No hint of any film and the water is sparkling clear. I just started to get a Nitrite reading today.

What brand of Ammonia did you try, BTW?

 

[src]

I used the WalMart "house" brand, I think - Great Value or something. It certainly wasn't a name brand I recognized. Yes, there is an Ace just up the street, and I will be visiting there tomorrow (closed for the 4th, strangely enough!).

I'm thinking that "chelating agent" is just an easy way to put a placeholder in for "whatever our supplier decided to put into this batch".

I'm just hoping that my other tank's gravel is well seeded. Should be, since I have a UGF in there, but only time will tell. I'll probably give it a week to start cooking, then add some Bio-Spira to speed up the process. It worked pretty well on my 29G tank. Plus, I have a bunch of plants in the 29 that are going to be transplanted as soon as my last batch of EC comes in on Friday. This tank should be up and running in short order. Now I just have to figure out how to stock it, but that's another thread entirely.