Advice

[urville]

Well, i just added a filter not long ago, a canister, and soon after i experienced a brown algae bloom which has died off now, and i'm having an ammonia spike of about .3 and a nitrite spike of about .1 or .2
also i noticed when moving some plants arund that deeper areas in the sand have turned a light gray/grey color.

anyone have any suggestions. oh i also added some malaysian drift wood.

on another note, bits of my glossostigma fell off the plant floated to the surface began growing single little roots and then multiplying it's like duckweed but slower growing and less annoying.

 

[BASSNMAN]

What filter did you have before? Did you remove it? That could have caused a mini-cycle. I have no experience with glosso, but the baby plants from my crispis float around and root, then I plant them. Maybe the glosso will do the same.

 

[urville]

yeqah i took the power filter off it was hob and put the canister on.. but when i moved my plants the water got cloudy and is taking some time to clear, i think the cloud is the ammonia. i'm beginning to wonder if i didnt kill the bacteria i had on the substrate and thats causing the spikes, because previous to that event i had no problems even without the hob pf.

 

[Menagerie]

i think the cloud is the ammonia

Ammonia is not cloudy. This is a classic symptom of a new tank (or in your case, a new filter). Do PWC to help the fish cope. Do you agitate the sand, or have snails to do it for you? You must move the sand around to prevent anaerobic pockets.

 

[urville]

i move it but not that far down. lots of planted life.
i think this cloud is a green cloud of algae.... i bet i need a diatom filter. man...
i swear it looks too green. the light was being turned on by a family memeber much earlier than it was supposed t making it a 16 hour day at 80 watts of 5000k in a 29. so.... i bought timer anyone know how long it takes to clear up?

 

[Mofo2713]

u don't need a diatom filter. just get some filter floss or filter pads...

 

[Fishalicious]

Well you caused the spike by taking off the HOB too soon. Had you left it on for a few weeks, your canister would've had the time to mature and this would've been prevented. Unless the HOB is on another tank your colony is dead on that filter.

Like they said. Best thing you can do it PWC's.

-Dan

 

[Shiloh]

New Here

I'm a newbie on this board and I sought you all out from frustration!

We have tanks that never seem to cycle! They are always cloudy- milky. We've tried regular filters, bio-filters, with & w/out undergravel, stones, no stones. This has been going on for over a year!

We finally got a new 55 gallon fresh water tank to switch the fish to this summer & kept the old one to winter the pond fish. We let both "age" for 2 weeks, during which time they were crystal clear. As soon as we added the fish, they started clouding - which I know is normal. But they NEVER go back to crystal clear!!! We've tried treated tap water, distilled water, spring water, drinking water - none of it seems to help!

Nitrate and Nitrite levels remain high - very high. Amonia hovers just at minimum safe levels to safe. Ph is fine. We only feed twice a day (although they beg ), and never feed if old food isn't cleared up. Today it has a light reddish/brown tint to the 55 gallon, and the items in the tank are taking on a rusty colored yuck stuff, too.

We cannot for the life of us figure out what to do! The fish are alive and well, but not pretty to look at like they should be. Any suggestions???

 

[Canuckfan]

Adding a cannister or HOB filter will not kill the bacteria in your substrate . When you went from your natural no filtration method to a HOB filter , did you add any more fish ? Any kind of power filter would have dramatically increased the fish carrying capacity compared to your natural system . When you changed to a cannister filter , if you didn't run it for a few weeks in your tank in conjunction with your HOB , or if you didn't seed it with old material , you would experience a mini cycle . This is under the assumption that you added more fish after you added the HOB .

Why the change of heart ? I thought you said cannisters & HOB's are inferior , unnatural systems . What happened to the natural system ?