Advice needed on new tank

[Toxicfish]

G'day all,

I've got myself back into keeping a tropical tank after a 15 year break and the new tank is a 4 footer, 100 gallon tank.

Now I asked and asked the LFS as much as I could, but it has now been 6 days and i need some advice..

My new tank has not yet competed the initial cycle, however the ammonia level is just starting to read above 0 but less than 0.25 on the API master test kit i have, but the water is still a little cloudy, despite rinsing the gravel VERY VERY well.

I have a Fluval 405 running stock media it came with, including the carbon bags, and I added a little polishing pad I trimmed to size to fit the media trays and this is living below the carbon bags ( same tray, carbon bags holding it in place).

I treated the tank with stress coat and stress zyme per the instructions, I have two aqua-glow 3ft T8 tubes and one blue 3ft T8 tube as a light source that came with my tank. It is an aqua-nova 1208H tank (H = High or Tall) tank.

The advice I need is that after nearly a week, why should the tank remain a little cloudy?
If I turn the flow rate of the Fluval down a little with the adjustable flow rate handle, the tank clears up a bit overnight, but if i run it flat out it becomes a little cloudy again. I can see from end to end on the long end of the tank but it I'd not yet crystal clear, could I be under filtered?

I have 4 plants and two pieces of drift wood (have to post pics from PC, I cannot upload with iPad right now). The driftwood was prepared and tannins removed, and only added in the last two days, the cloudy water existed before their addition to the tank, so that is not the cause...

Ph is 6.8, nitrite and nitrate are both 0 and as stated ammonia is just above 0 but less than 0.25ppm API kit.

The tank was not seeded with existing media because I did not trust my mates tank to be disease free, so I started from scratch.

Any advice would be appreciated, I am looking for advice on how to clear up the cloudiness and if my 405 is up to the task of the tank, and finally what media should I run in the Fluval?

Many thanks in advance,

Scott.

 

[tyspot1000]

I am assuming it is a Bacteria bloom, which means your cycle is on the way. If you do Partial water changes everyday, the cloudy water should go away. Are you feeding your tank an ammonia source?

 

[Toxicfish]

I was wondering if it might be a bloom.. Thanks.

Sad to say, there are 6 small skirted tetras in the tank during for the last 3 days and their accompanying food source as the ammonia source.

Next tank will be cycled fishless, now that the family understands the process and won't pressure the tank cycling process with fish in the tank.

Is it wise to PWC at this stage? Obviously if the ammonia or nitrites raise I will do the necessary PWC's ,but i am measuring the tank every morning and night, along with a midday measurement if I am at home during the day (2-3 measurements every day since it had water in the tank).

I am also keeping a log of temp,ph,ammonia, nitrite and nitrate..

 

[hdultra]

i HAVE THE 405 IN MY 55. I HAVE HAD IT ON FULL POWER WITH NO PROBLEMS.
I USE EVERYTHING THAT CAME WITH IT. ADDED POLISHING PADS, AND THE ONE THAT ABSORBS NITRATES. EVERY THING IS CRYSTAL CLEAR FROM END TO END.

i THINK TYSPOT HIT IT RIGHT ON THE HEAD.

 

[tyspot1000]

I was wondering if it might be a bloom.. Thanks.

Sad to say, there are 6 small skirted tetras in the tank during for the last 3 days and their accompanying food source as the ammonia source.

Next tank will be cycled fishless, now that the family understands the process and won't pressure the tank cycling process with fish in the tank.

Is it wise to PWC at this stage? Obviously if the ammonia or nitrites raise I will do the necessary PWC's ,but i am measuring the tank every morning and night, along with a midday measurement if I am at home during the day (2-3 measurements every day since it had water in the tank).

I am also keeping a log of temp,ph,ammonia, nitrite and nitrate..

Yes the PWC is one of the ways to get rid of cloudy water (Just make sure not to vacuum the substrate (which carries some of the beneficial bacteria), and Like you said, they will need to be done everyday with additional prime (detoxifies ammonia and nitrite for 24 hours) when the presence of ammonia and nitrite show up.

 

[Toxicfish]

Thank you very much for the added advice, I'll do a PWC this afternoon and measure again this evening, and post the results..

Cheers.

 

[tyspot1000]

k, Keep us updated!

 

[Toxicfish]

Well, the ammonia is 0.0 the nitrite is 0.0 and nitrate is 0.0 the ph is still between 6.4 and 6.8.

I did not perform a PWC as planned due to a family dilemma developing not long after I started messing with the tank today, but did make the time to take two measurements to be sure.. Second one was the same as the first today, all 0.0 spaced about 6 hours apart.

Will keep you posted.

I did buy some seachem matrix today, I plan on removing the 4 carbon bags that came with the fluval with the matrix, I would prefer more bio-capacity then carbon bags doing nothing personally, what are your thoughts? I will leave the stock two baskets or fluval biomedia in place, and just remove the carbon bags in favor of more biomedia (matrix).

 

[Toxicfish]

Measurements again this morning are 0.0 and ph is stable, temperature still 25oC

Any opinions on the removal of 4 carbon bags in favor of more bio media capacity?

Thanks for the advice thus far, looks to be relatively on track..

 

[Toxicfish]

Well I have removed the 4 carbon bags that came with the fluval and filled up the two baskets with Seachem matrix instead, so now I have 2 liters of matrix in two baskets and two baskets with the fluval biomedia that came with the 405 filter.

I had a choice of matrix or a japanese ceramic noodle, I went with the matrix because it is well known, it may be better or worse than the Japanese ceramic, but at least it is time proven.. Time will tell how it does in the tank I suppose.


This afternoons readings are again all 0.0

 

[Toxicfish]

The matrix has been in a while and this late evenings readings are

0.0 ammonia
0.0 Nitrite
0.2 Nitrate

Nitrate did not quite have the .5ppm colour but it was not the normal yellow either, so I am guessing around 0.2

This is my first reading of nitrates, guess that's a good thing... My ph has dropped tho, 6.4 now, probably due to the driftwood, tetras were very active late this afternoon doing "bomber runs" in the outflow of the filter stream (swimming up to the outflow nozzle then gliding down to the bottom, rinse and repeat).


Any thoughts or comments appreciated..

 

[Toxicfish]

Water is slowly clearing up from it's once cloudy state, still a bit to go however.

This mornings readings were

Ammonia 0.25
Nitrite 0.0
Nitrate 0.3 or 0.4


PWC this afternoon and this evenings readings are

Ammonia 0.0
Nitrite 0.0
Nitrate 0.0
ph 6.4

 

[Toxicfish]

Well, a quick update..

Ammonia is 0
Nitrite is 0
Nitrate is <0.25

Have noticed a bit of white jelly looking algae on the driftwoods and the glass, went to the LFS for a water test by the experts and they confirmed my readings and when I mentioned the algae after such a short time he took a phosphate test, and just as expected it was high (off the chart high) thanks to the ph down I used when I initially started the tank ( ph down full of phosphates = food for algae )

No have seachem phosphate remover beads running in the fluval to lower the phosphate level to something that at least registers on the chart from API..

Will be lowering lights on time and waiting for phosphates to come down, this could be partly the cause of my cloudy tank..

Have PWC and it seems a little less cloudy,, but not perfect yet..

 

[Toxicfish]

Does anyone have experience using seachem phosguard by any chance?

I would like to know just how effective this product may be at helping to reduce my phosphate levels.

 

[Toxicfish]

Ok, I can't take a decent photo of the white slime/algae/fungus that I am experiencing, so i nabbed this photo from the web that is the same. A lot of Internet searching reveals it is quite common, but does anyone have a definitive treatment?

This grows on driftwood, silicon air tubing for the airstone, the glass, and heater.

I am trying to reduce my phosphates by PWC each day and the seachem phosguard...

The stuff in question is the slime like halo around this rock...

Any help appreciated..

Sent from my iPad using Aquarium

 

[Toxicfish]

Well it has been a week and half and my water is still a little on the cloudy side when looking through the 4ft tank long end to long end, and I have been performing PWC every other day.

I have 0.0 on all my readings currently, I only once saw a rise in ammonia and nitrates, but the nitrites have never moved. Should I cut back on the water changes a bit?

The LFS advice is to add another 6 small fish at the two week point and to not be too concerned if the nitrites don't spike yet, cause apparently that is not uncommon..

Thoughts? I would hate to make more mistakes at this point, but I do still have that slime algae I would like to know more about..

Sent from my iPad using Aquarium