I screwed something up

[FriscoTX]

Rewind 5 months: I killed my fish
Fast Forward 5 months: I decided to get the aquarium set back up, but with some cool tropicals this time.

Over the past 5 months, I've kept the tank filter running with the hopes that it would help keep the cycle shorter 2nd time around.

Phase 1:
Once I decided to get the tank up and running again, i put a raw shrimp in the tank with hopes that I could kickstart the cycle process. I tested the water a few days later and my ammonia was at 5 and nitrates were at 40. I took that to mean that lots of the biologicals were already present and converting nitrite to nitrate.

Phase 2:
I removed the old substrate and kepth the water that washed off the gravel. Put in pool filter sand and some ornaments - including a dried starfish that we've had from one of those souveneir shops. I tested the water just after I put in the new substrate and stuff and was supprised to see that my ammonia was at 2.0, nitrites were.5 and nitrates were at 20.

Phase 3:
Once water clears and ammonia/nitrite levels are at .0, research compatible species for a 10 gal tank.

Hope derailed: I noticed a bad odor coming from the tank this morning. I tested the water and got

Ammonia 10+
Nitrite .25
Nitrate 5.0
pH 7.5

Is it the starfish? When I moved the gravel and put the old wanter back in the tank, did it kill the biologicals and cause the ammonia spike?

 

[scalesojustice]

sounds like the starfish could be the contributing factor. i would say remove it and put it in a bucket, test it in a week or so to see if it is.

from what i understand, most of the bacteria growth is in the filter, hardly any in the water. so it sounds like something new you added.

 

[NeonJulie]

Ammonia 10+
Nitrite .25
Nitrate 5.0
pH 7.5

Is it the starfish? When I moved the gravel and put the old wanter back in the tank, did it kill the biologicals and cause the ammonia spike?

Probably a good number of your bacteria colonies lived on the gravel, despite reusing some of that water... the bacteria doesn't live on the water, it lives on media like gravel, filters, plants, decor, etc. By replacing it, you may have lost some of that and experienced a slight setback. (Often times people gradually replace substrate over time.)

 

[JRagg]

If the tank hasn't had fish/ammonia source for 5 months you likely have no beneficial bacteria in your tank.

Ammonia is high due to the shrimp and likely due to the starfish. I think it's safe to say that the starfish is rotting in your tank as well, which is causing additional ammonia.

Why did you pull out the shrimp? The purpose of it is to just let it go for however long it takes to rot down to nothing. When it's gone, your cycle is generally done.

 

[jamesrm]

Bad oder could also be brown algey starting to form. My tank had a really bad "Stagnent marine" smell for about a week before I noticed the actual algey. I added extra filtration and it cleared right up.

How big is your tank and what kind of filters do you run?

 

[FriscoTX]

Step 4: since its blowing ice outside, I decided it would be the perfect time to take my tank out and clean the sand. With the starfish out and the water drained, I thought what the heck, lets get the sand cleaned too. How long do the bacteria in my filter have to live outside of the tank?

Jragg: yes i let the shrimp "rot" till my ammonia was up to about 5 and took it out. Since I had nitrates show so quickly, are you sure that the beneficial bacteria were dead?

 

[JRagg]

What were the nitrates before you started?

If you didn't see nitrites yet I would assume that nothing really happened.

The beneficial bacteria are only supposed to last a few days without a source of food, so after 5 months I wouldn't expect to have any left. That's assuming it stayed wet the whole time, which from your description I assume it did.

 

[scalesojustice]

if you weren't continually seeding the bacteria with ammonia, the beneficial ammonia, nitrite and nitrate bacteria died. wihtout an ammonia source, the bacteria has nothing to eat.

how long did the tank sit without the shrimp or ammonia? after the levels dropped?

i recommend this method for fishless cycling. of course, you have to get into the habit of adding the ammonia every day, it's no less demanding than feeding your fish every day.

 

[FriscoTX]

well that's the odd thing, i had that shrimp in there for about 4 days and my nitrate levels after 4 days were pretty high - i don't know what they were before then

 

[joannde]

could just be high nitrates in your tap water or remants from when the tank was running. without knowing what they were before there's no way for you to know if they've changed.
My guess is that you have to cycle from scratch.
Bio-Spira is a nice fast solution if you don't want to go through the fishless cycle time.

 

[FriscoTX]

Well - the sand washing experiment went ok, till i broke the little plastic hinge that the hood hooks too - grrrr this 10 gal is very annoying...

well at least till I got my NEW 29 GAL - I'm stoked!

I'm starting a new thread...in more ways than one.