Brand new tank

[Symphisodon]

Hey everyone,

We just set up a new tank and it is 3 days old...It is a 125 Gallon freshwater (hence it being in the fresh water topics ) with a rena XP4 and 2 stealth heaters. We are running into a issue with the water...it seems our water is green/yellow tinted. We believe it is our nitrate cycle taking off, actually the ammonia part. We believe that it will go away in a little bit as the bacteria begins to build and the cycle continues to finish itself. The water is definitly nothing like algea but we hope that youcan shed some light on this problem. Thanks a million and happy fishing

 

[rich311k]

Any driftwood in the tank? Algae blooms would be white/gray. What is your ammonia source?

 

[Symphisodon]

Hey rich,

I am almost 100% now that is is the driftwood...we have 5 peices of large driftwood and thinking and looking at it all day it looks like the leaching of tannins. Because it is a yellow/brown colour, it is not cloudy anymore and our ammonia is next to none and the nitrites are 0

so...I figure thats got to be the driftwood. We added some streight up ammonia to the tank when we got it set up...it has been 3/4 days and the ammonia and nitrites have gone down to nothing.

Well if you have anything else to say or any tips it would be greatly appreciated.Thanks a million and happy fishing

 

[rich311k]

Keep adding the ammonia to keep the cycle running. AC in your filter will help clear the tannins. When do we get pictures? What are you thinking of stocking in that bad boy?

 

[Zagz]

Congrats on the new tank. Definately keep the ammonia source constant as Rich mentioned in order to keep the cycle going along. I too am interested in what you are planning on stocking your tank with and pictures don't hurt either.

 

[Symphisodon]

Hey everyone,

Wow everyone is soooo nice here, one of the first forums of its type But we are doing a discus tank...not planted (with real-looking fake plants though) because we didnt want to get that involved in the plants just yet. I will get you guys some pictures as soon as we get our camera out, well I guess find it

But we talked to the LFS and he said because it is malaysian driftwood alot of the tannins and oils on the top are from it. He also said that with malaysian driftwood it will constently leak those tannins and oils which are bad for the discus (well we all know that tannins are good to a degree but the tannins from malaysian driftwood have a tendancy to cause fungus)...so he said keep your cycle going, do a 1/3 PWC once a week, change the activated carbon a bit as well and dont stop until the water clears up then it is good to go!

All and all we dont know how long this is going to take but he said it could be months before we can add fish. And out last question is I know alot of plecos and algea eaters eat the slime of discus so we are currently looking for a suitable yet good looking algea eater for the tank, any suggestions would be greatly apprecated and as a side note wer are looking into designer plecos (ie. Royals, gold nuggests, ect.).

All and all we are looking for advice on this matter and we will also get you guys some pictures Well "tanks" a million and happy fishing

 

[black hills tj]

Yellow green tint could be due to your lighting. What's the temp of your flourescent light? 6700 and less will be yellow/green 10k+ will be blueish

 

[Symphisodon]

Hey black hills,

The lighting has a portion to due with it but all in all it is tannins you cant miss it when you look through the side of the tank.There is some tinit from the lights but when we get pictures youw ill definitly see what I mean!

 

[black hills tj]

Ahh yes...skimmed over your driftwood reply. Tannins indeed. I boiled my piece of mopani driftwood for my 20 gallon for about an hour before putting it in the tank and guess what...yellow/brown water. It'll clear up with time. Activated Carbon will help clean it up faster.