New Planted Aquarium Help!

[ryano13]

Hey Guys,

New to the forums, hoping to get some advice!

I just got a new 36 gallon bowfront aquarium and decided I wanted to do a planted tank. I went to the LFS and got some Activ Flora substrate. I followed the directions on the bag and poured the contents of the bags into the tank. I then began to fill the tank with de-chlorinated water. I then added some quick start and stress zyme to the water. The water was noticeably cloudy, but the bag said it would go away in a few hours so I wasn't worried. Probably stupidly I ran my filter for a couple hours and I noticed the cloudiness start to disappear, but my filter was brown. I rinsed my filter and unplugged it and went to bed.

I woke up this morning to no improvement on the cloudiness and it has been about 16 hours since I set it up.

Couple questions:

Should I leave the filter on and just replace the bags to improve the cloudiness?
What about water clarifiers? Could a simple additive work?
Should I do a water change?

Any and all advice is appreciated!

 

[molly100a]

I would think the cloudiness will go away after a few days, your filter running should be ok. I would do water changes if you want it to clear up sooner or just leave it alone.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

I agree with Molly's suggestions, but a water clarifier isn't that bad of an idea. It's bundled with floramax substrate, as an example. Also adding filter floss to the filter to catch the finer particulates and add an extra level of polishing, which can help as well.

Did you add quick start in hopes to speed up the cycle? I'm not sure if that 'BB in a bottle' has the correct species of bacteria to accomplish that. In my experience, Tetra Safe Start or Dr. Tim's One and Only have the correct bio-spira strains. But this in general is a very touchy and debated topic. One thing worth noting is that by planting fairly heavy from the start, you're effectively "seeding" the tank with BB from the plants... this is assuming you purchased plants from an established aquarium (i.e. LFS or other hobbyists) rather than grown emersed from gel packs or tubes from petsmart/petco.

What lighting are you planning to use on the 36g? If you purchased this tank as a kit, like the Aqueon from petsmart, the stock light is not adequate for planted tanks. You'll need to upgrade that.

 

[Old Scales]

Welcome!

Welcome to AA Ryan. Glad you found us. There are many friendly and knowledgeable folks in here ready to help each other out as we pursue our wonderful hobby. You have just met two of them. From your post, it is clear that you are intelligently researching and preparing your new aquarium. Congrats to you and good job.
Keep your filter running to help clear up the cloudiness. You just have to clean out the part that catches the dirt a little more often but don't disturb the media that holds your beneficial bacteria. Not only will you have this cloudiness from the new substrate but as your aquarium cycles you'll get a temporary bacterial cloudiness. This is normal. Any other questions you have please feel free to ask us. We are all in this together and again welcome.
Good luck, OS.

 

[ryano13]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the help. I got that exact kit you are referring to from petsmart for a good deal. I believe it came with a full spectrum one bulb T5? I don't want to go overboard with the plants at first as the tank isn't huge. What light would be sufficient?

I did add the quick start to get the cycle going. Can I add one of the better cyclers on top of what I already added?

"One thing worth noting is that by planting fairly heavy from the start, you're effectively "seeding" the tank with BB from the plants..."

I haven't put any plants or fish in yet. Just water and the "live bacteria" substrate. Can you explain this? What does this mean exactly?

Also what is filter floss?

 

[ryano13]

Also what is the part of the filter that holds the beneficial bacteria? The bag with the black (I think activated charcoal) stuff? Thats what got so brown and gross

 

[Old Scales]

Some Info

"Filter floss"is the fibrous or foam part of your filter that catches the particles out of the water. "Bio-Media" is a term we use referring to the beads or ceramic looking pieces that give the beneficial bacteria a place to live in your filter. These bacteria you need to turn ammonia and nitrites into nitrates. You clean the filter floss periodically an old tap water, never fresh tap water, and put back in the filter. This is because the filter floss holds some bacteria like the bio media does.
From your post I'm assuming you are doing a fishless cycle. Here is a link to an excellent article about it. Good luck, OS.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...guide-and-faq-to-fishless-cycling-148283.html

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

The light that it comes with is a T8 17W. Maybe you can get away with lowest of the low light plants like java fern, anubias, and moss. I'd upgrade to a Finnex Fugeray Planted+ LED to expand on plant species. It would fit right over the glass on the stock hood, too. There's a 30" version.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00GH9HSC6?vs=1

Filter floss is like a thin fibrous sponge that has smaller openings through it to filter out smaller particles which can cause cloudiness. I have this one and just cut to size. However, this might be dependent upon the type of filter you're using. Are you using the stock aqueon filter the kit comes with? I personally would upgrade this filter, too.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002565PW/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?qid=1389987175&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70

Beneficial bacteria (BB ) live not only in an established filter but eventually grow colonies on every surface inside an aquarium. Plants coming from an established aquarium purchased from a local fish store or from other hobbyists have the BB on them. When you plant these plants, you're effectively transplanting ("seeding" ) these BB strains into your tank. If you supply an ammonia source, whether it be from pure ammonia a la fish-less cycle or fish-in cycle (fish produce ammonia), the BB will grow and get your tank cycled without the need for BB in a bottle supplements.

But if you're not going to plant heavy and it will be more fish-focused rather than planted, BB products can be useful in expediting the process, IMO. You can wait and see if the API products (e.g.. quick start) actually work. Did you buy an API freshwater master test kit? You'll need one to monitor your progress in the cycle. If it fails, get established media from a friend with an aquarium or Tetra Safe Start is the product to get.