I just did the stupidest thing ever... help!

[eco23]

Okay, so I have the perfect fishless cycle going. I've got my pure ammonia solution in an old contact lens bottle. I was in the bathroom doing my ammonia test and when I saw it was low I went to add more.

For some reason instead of grabbing the bottle of ammonia from under the tank, I grabbed my actual contact lens solution that was sitting next to me in the bathroom and proceeded to dose my tank with that instead of ammonia. Same exact bottles (thank God it wasn't the other way around!).

I know it's probably 99% saline, but I'm sure it's also got some sort of solution in there to remove protein from the lenses.

Am I screwed? Is this going to kill all the bacteria I've worked so hard to grow? Do a water change? Start from scratch? Just wait and see what happens?

I'm at the point of the cycle where I have a lot of nitrites and I'm just starting to show nitrates.

In case anyone here knows about chemicals, here's the ingredients in the solution- A sterile, isotonic solution that contains hydranate, boric acid, edetate disodium, poloxamine, sodium borate and sodium chloride.

Help!

 

[eco23]

Anybody? If I need to do a large water change I want to do it quickly before the solution circulates too much. Is a large water change during a fishless cycle a worse scenario than having contact solution in there?

And I think I can be nominated for idiot of the month as far as aquariums go.

 

[Epuerto]

Saline solution is a solution of sodium chloride, or salt, in sterile water. Normal saline solution is 0.9% sodium chloride, though this refers to only one possible concentration. Other concentrations may be used for different purposes. Normal saline is most commonly used as an intravenous (IV) infusion, administered through an IV drip for patients who have become severely dehydrated and to prevent dehydration in patients who cannot consume liquids and nutrients by mouth

thats all i found on it nothing saying its poisonus , best of luck

 

[Epuerto]

what other chemicals are in it?

 

[Epuerto]

and how much you put?

 

[Epuerto]

boric acid could be used as a pesticide ,edetate disodium binds with calcium,

 

[eco23]

I listed the ingredients in my initial post. I put about 40 drops of it into a 48 gallon tank. My ammonia solution is pretty weak so it takes a lot of drops to dose it up to 4ppm.

Luckily it isn't a disinfectant solution, it's just the stuff you stick in there with your contact case to store them.

 

[Epuerto]

if it makes you feel better do a 30% wc but in my opinion its safe enough to put in your eyes...

 

[eco23]

I actually found the site that shows the ingredients and what they do.-

What's Inside: Bausch and Lomb ReNu

If I've gotta find a silver lining, it's got a buffer to keep PH stable.

 

[Homedog98]

Hey, don't beat yourself up about it. We all have those days.

 

[Epuerto]

Hey, don't beat yourself up about it. We all have those days.

lol so true

 

[eco23]

I did a 30% water change and added more start zyme (removes chlorine, chloramines, heavy metals, adds healthy bacteria.) I guess we'll see what happens. I'll recheck in an hour or so and redose up to 4ppm with the actual ammonia.

I knew things were going too perfectly. I just didn't think it'd be something as stupid as this to mess it up.

 

[Epuerto]

I did a 30% water change and added more start zyme (removes chlorine, chloramines, heavy metals, adds healthy bacteria.) I guess we'll see what happens. I'll recheck in an hour or so and redose up to 4ppm with the actual ammonia.

I knew things were going too perfectly. I just didn't think it'd be something as stupid as this to mess it up.

lol what are the parameters? did they change from before? ( i know saltwater parameters not fresh lol)

 

[WendiDell]

40 drops of Normal Saline shouldn't do much of anything in 48 gallons of water. But if it makes you feel better test your water parameters. Then do a 15%-20% PWC and test everything again.
Our eyes are very sensitive, and normal saline is just sterile human tears. Some with a preservative some not.
My question is what the **** are you thinking putting a bottle of ammonia that looks like saline in the same room , let alone near each other. Do you know what ammonia would have done to your contacts and your eyes?
The Mom in me want to kick your butt for doing something that dangerous.
That said, back to your water and your cycle. Both should be fine, all you did is cry in your tank a little. Just keep cycling and get that ammonia into a different room and save your eyes from a possible disaster!

 

[eco23]

If this ruins the whole thing I've got going, there's probably going to be a free 48 gallon bow front aquarium to give away to somebody. I'm so disgusted with putting this much effort and excitement into something only to ruin it with 20 seconds of stupidity. And I can't even blame this one on the wife .

 

[eco23]

The bottle with the ammonia is stored under the tank in a bottle I wrote AMMONIA! all over the bottle with a sharpie. It's just that when I was testing the ammonia levels in the bathroom, the actual solution was literally about an inch away and I absent mindlessly grabbed it. If it was the other way around I would have deserved to go blind if i didn't see the writing.

 

[eco23]

I haven't tested the levels of anything yet. I figured I'd give it an hour or so to circulate. Before the disaster, they were- Ammonia-2ppm, Nitrites 1.5ppm, Nitrates >1, PH 7.8.

 

[Epuerto]

lol i call the tank!
just kidding itl work out fine
(i got dibbs) lol

 

[eco23]

Just rechecked the levels, and everything just went down a little after the 30% water change. I've got the actual ammonia back up to 4ppm and will continue to monitor it. I'm gonna think positive and believe that 40 drops of contact solution into 48 gallons of water wont have too much effect if any... I guess we'll see in a couple of days. Thanks for all your replies, especially Epuerto. If anyone else reading this has thoughts, feel free to share them. Unless you want to tell me I'm an idiot... I already know that after tonight.

 

[Epuerto]

No problem, good luck