Oh No! help!

[quitters]

Into week 3 cycling, im using cloudy ammonia, asked dad if it is ok to use he said it wouldnt have surfactants or fradrances in it. only ingredient on the bottle says ammonia so i thought it would be ok

ive just read somewhere that they use soap tro make it cloudy!!!!!! noooo!!!

ive seeded the tank and everything i think im gonna puke lol.

do u guys think some really good water changes could fix this, also would soap kill the bacteria because there doing fine my nitrites are going up! do u guys think maybe if i start to get nitrates and nitrites keep going up and i switch to definately pure ammonia and do a few really good water chances like 2 50% a week for 2 weeks i might be ok?

im saaaad at least i havnt bought plants yet

 

[DepotFish]

Sorry to say, but I would drain it and start over completely. Why do you add ammonia in the first place? I think the cycle will go much easier and possibly even faster if you don't mess with the chemicals. If you want it to go real fast try the biospira stuff. I wouldn't put any chemicals in the tank that aren't actually made for aquariums.

 

[Purrbox]

DepotFish - quitters is doing a fishless cycle. For this method you add pure ammonia instead of fish. This way fish don't have to suffer through the Ammonia and Nitrate spikes and you don't have to worry about what to do with those hardy fish after the cycle if you don't want them long term.

Quitters - Did you give the ammonia the shake test? If you shake the bottle and it foams, it has additives and shouldn't be used. Unfortunately if it does foam, you are probably best off giving everything an extremely thorough cleaning to ensure that no soap or other chemicals remain in the tank to harm your fish.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Another thing, if you go to Safeway at all, get what's called Clear Ammonia. If you read on that bottle, it's made in Canada, and had no detergents or scents. That's what I used on both my 55G and my 75G. As for the soap, it will kill the bacteria off. Best thing to do is fully rinse out the tank, then when empty, wipe it down with white vinegar, then rinse it out again. Then fill and begin the fishless cycle.

Also, if you had the filter running, replace all the media and filter cartrige, and rinse out the filter body well. And will probably need to get new gravel as well, as even with boiling, probably won't get out all the soap.

Did you say it said on the bottle it had detergents and scents? If dosing the tank too much, could cause the water to become cloudy as well. Did you dose a small amount? How much did you put in?

 

[quitters]

Damn.

i read someones advice once saying:


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Make sure it doesn't also have surfactants (soap) in it! If you shake the Ammonia with Surfactants it WILL NOT FIZZ either! This seems to be what is commonly sold in discount stores and in no name brands.

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he must have gotten confused coz of the way he structured the sentance so i thought i might not have to worry about this.

i should really start thinking about stuff thats important.
lonewolfblue - ive put in a total of 70ml over 3 weeks. the bottle doesnt say anything about surfactants or scents. just the ammount of ammonia. i read somewhere that the way ammonia used to be produced naturally came out cloudy and the new way the produce it it comes out clear but the everybody was used to it being cloudy so they now mix soap with it to make it cloudy again.

im gonna call home brand and ask them

u think i need to actually buy new bio balls and sponges and gravel!!! oh no! that sux
thanks guys

 

[Andos99]

God that sucks.....I'm so sorry! How is everything going?

 

[quitters]

Its ok, im just gonna empty it, take it into the back yard then comes the hard part (trying not to take a baseball bat to the glass), if i get over that with everything in tact i might try again.

i guess as long as dad doesnt get some of the bat it will all be ok lol

nah not his fault i shoulda researched more, hes meant to be so smart tho! grrrrr

Do u guys think theres any way of saving my sponges, bio balls, gravel, driftwood and rocks???

i mean were only talking about a 70ml here right?

any suggestions please?

acutually guys have a look at this
http://www.diggersaust.com.au/files/Cloudy%20Ammonia.pdf#search='cloudy%20ammonia%20ingredients'


all that sais is that it contains clouding agent and ammonia, do does anyone have any chemistry background enough to say if it would affect a fish tank?

remember all my bacteria are growing sweet ?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I'd probably say replace the gravel and sponges, and rinse everything else off well. Even the bioballs I think will be fine if rinsed off well, and soaked in a light bleach solution, then rinsed off well in water with extra dechlor. It will be hard getting the soap out of the gravel if any got down into the gravel. And definitely need to get a new sponge. No way to get soap out of a sponge for sure. As for the gravel, you could try soaking in a light bleach solution, then rinse well and put in a bucket of water with extra dechlor. That's only if you are willing to chance it. I probably wouldn't myself.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Kind of sounds like the clouding agent is a detergent, but not sure. Doesn't really say. What does it actually say on the bottle?

 

[quitters]

the guys who make it are calling me on monday to tell me whats in it im gonna leave it going for now cant do any more harm than is has already kinda.

thanks for all your help guys!

 

[quitters]

ok they called me and it has detergent in it

so im emptying the tank, all water is out i figure i can lift it with gravel still in it, i grab the two glass lid holders to lift it and they snap cutting my hands as well

at least it didnt have water in it!

can i get some other opinions on saving the gravel, driftwood, rocks and filter media?

 

[Zagz]

So sorry to hear about all of this. The rocks, driftwood and gravel should able to be boiled clean and the rocks and gravel can be rinsed in a mild bleach solution and rinsed very well and when readded to the tank make sure to dechlorinate! The filter media is a total loss IMO. As for new media, a cheap but very effective media IMHO, is plastic pot scrubbers. As long as they have no anti-bacterial agents added to them. I use them in several of my cannister filters with great success for several months now.

 

[Rondory]

Does anyone know if this causes a long term problem or will you see a problem right away? I made the same mistake of using the wrong ammonia and just rinsed my tank, plants and substrate and then put the carbon in for a couple days. I read that carbon will remove soap, but I don't know for sure if it removes this kind. I put fish in before I read more on the subject on how you must clean everything aggressively. My tank is cycled with Biospira and my fish are doing fine and so is my Nitrate level.

I'm waiting for the big tank crash, but quietly hoping it wont occur. I have not added anymore fish at this time.

I'M IN NO WAY ADVISING YOU TO GO AGAINST WHAT OTHERS HAVE SUGGESTED.
I probably will tear my tank apart next weekend and start all over.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Also, when the tank is empty, wipe it down with vinegar. This will help get rid of the detergent, and any other build-up. As for the gravel, soak in mild bleach, and rinse out very well. After rinsing out well, use dechlorinator and dechlorinate to get rid of any residual chlorine, and rinse again.

As for the floss and sponges, they are a loss. Can't get the detergent out of them.

Let us know how things go.

 

[quitters]

ok thanks guys ill give it a go!

 

[fishylittlenemo]

If this was me i would def do as fresh start again. Don't use any chemicals. No chemicals are gonna make the tank alot better for the fish and the tank in general. Just be patient with it lol. Oh yeah also clean your decorations and stuff reall good with like hot water. Tried get all the stuff off of it as much as u can. Just do a natural cycle and you'll be fine. Good luck fellow fish keeper lol

 

[fishylittlenemo]

If this was me i would def do as fresh start again. Don't use any chemicals. No chemicals are gonna make the tank alot better for the fish and the tank in general. Just be patient with it lol. Oh yeah also clean your decorations and stuff reall good with like hot water. Tried get all the stuff off of it as much as u can. Just do a natural cycle and you'll be fine. Good luck fellow fish keeper lol

 

[severum mama]

Don't use any chemicals. No chemicals are gonna make the tank alot better for the fish and the tank in general.

quitters isn't adding chemicals to the tank that wouldn't be present anyway during a fishy cycle (provided, of course, that there are no surfactants in the ammonia). Pure ammonia added to the tank will cycle it just as well as cycling with fish, the only difference being that quitters won't have to subject fish to the cycle, which is an extremely stressful process for fish.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Don't use any chemicals. No chemicals are gonna make the tank alot better for the fish and the tank in general.

quitters isn't adding chemicals to the tank that wouldn't be present anyway during a fishy cycle (provided, of course, that there are no surfactants in the ammonia). Pure ammonia added to the tank will cycle it just as well as cycling with fish, the only difference being that quitters won't have to subject fish to the cycle, which is an extremely stressful process for fish.

I absolutely agree. quitters isn't adding anything other than ammonia, which is used to do a fishless cycle. I fishless cycled my 55G, and glad I did. I didn't subject any fish to the cycle. As for myself, I would personally never cycle a tank with fish, now that I've done fishless and see how much better off I am in the long run. And then you add your fish, you are placing them into a perfectly safe environment, which they will thank you for.

 

[tracygh]

When combined, bleach and ammonia create lethal fumes

If you choose to rinse your gravel and tank with bleach as a few here have recommended, make sure you rinse them WELL with clear water first. Doing it in a well ventilated area is also a good idea. I think you mentioned outside? Definitely the best place to do it if you can.

Sorry for all your troubles, I hope you get everything sorted out quickly, and keep the bat away from the tank