Please help. New to aquariums

[Corey234]

Need help please. First tank, got a 120 gal with fluval fx4 canister filter. I put a 1 1/2 inch soil base used kellogg organic potting soil then put 2 inch sand bed. Its been 2 days since put water in it, very brown water cant see through. How do i fix?

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Is the soil a proper aquarium plant substrate or soil from a normal terrestrial garden potting mix?
If it's from a garden potting mix, remove it and wash the tank out and set it back up.

Aquarium plant substrates are not worth having and regularly produce heaps of ammonia for months after its added, and this stops you having fish in the tank until its cleared.

If you want a plant tank, just use brown gravel and a liquid iron based aquarium plant fertiliser.

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As for the current issue, you can try draining the tank and refilling it with dechlorinated water. Try not to disturb the substrate when you do this and see if it helps. Some people put a bowl in the aquarium and sit it on the substrate, then slowly fill the bowl with water and let it overflow into the tank. This can reduce the amount of substrate being disturbed when adding water to the tank.

[Aiken Drum]

See post #2 for a handy tip to not disturb substrate while filling a tank.

https://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...er-379754.html

[Corey234]

I was carful and did not disterb the sand cap it jus turned cloudy brown after abiut 6 to 10 hours after startup

[Colin_T]

it's probably from whatever is in the substrate. If it contains peat or wood chips, that will turn the water a yellow brown colour.

do a big water change and see if it helps. It might help for a day or two but if the substrate is releasing tannins, the water will go brown again pretty quickly.

the ideas that we mentioned for not disturbing the gravel, was if you do a water change now and didn't want to stir the substrate up when adding the new water.

[Corey234]

Thank u for the help

[Corey234]

Would it help if i put waterhose in aquirum and a little bielge pume n circluate fresh water while pumping at the same time to remove the brown

[Caliban07]

Originally Posted by Corey234

Need help please. First tank, got a 120 gal with fluval fx4 canister filter. I put a 1 1/2 inch soil base used kellogg organic potting soil then put 2 inch sand bed. Its been 2 days since put water in it, very brown water cant see through. How do i fix?

Brown is from the substrate. Keep changing water until it stops and get a seachem ammonia alert. Put this in the tank and it will give you an indication of when the substrate has stopped releasing ammonia.

[Corey234]

Thanks for all help on this im bout ready to clean out and use artifical plants

[Corey234]

Is there any type of fish my wife can put in till i get all levels right and get her off my back

[Aiken Drum]

What do you understand about the nitrogen cycle and how to cycle the tank?

You need to cycle the tank. There are 2 main methods of doing this, a fishless cycle and a fish in cycle. I'll post an overview of these 2 methods. Decide how you want to proceed and i can post more detail on your chosen method.

[Aiken Drum]

To cycle a tank you need to grow denitrifying bacteria to consume ammonia and nitrite that your tank produces. The bacteria needs an ammonia source to grow colonies sufficient in size to consume all the ammonia and resultant nitrite and turn it into nitrate which typically you remove through your regular water changes.

Two commonly used methods to cycle a tank are called a “fish in” cycle and a “fishless” cycle.

A fish in cycle uses fish waste as an ammonia source and regular water changes are undertaken to ensure that water parameters are maintained at relatively non toxic levels. This has been the go to method to cycle a tank for many years, and it commonly is the way new fish keepers cycle a tank when they have bought fish with no knowledge that a tank needs cycling and how to go about it.

Pros.

You get to keep “some” fish pretty much on day 1 of setting up your tank.

More consistently gets you through your cycle.

Only real choice if you already have fish.

If done simply, eg stock lightly, add fish slowly, you can fishless cycle safely without testing. Although testing your water while cycling is still a good idea.

Cons.

Lots of water changes, especially if you are doing a fish in cycle with a fully stocked tank.

Although you should be doing plenty of water changes to maintain relatively safe water, your fish will be living in waste which isn’t ideal.

Can take a long time (several months) to go from an empty tank to fully stocked if done safely.

A fishless cycle uses an ammonia source to replicate the fish waste that a tank of fish would produce. This ammonia source can be pure ammonia, an aquarium specific ammonium chloride product like Dr Tims Ammonium Chloride, a cocktail shrimp or fish food.

Pros.

You cycle the tank before adding fish, therefore they shouldn’t be exposed to their own waste.

No need for regular water changes while your tank cycles.

Can be quicker to go from an empty tank to fully stocked.

Cons.

Needs patience, you will be looking at an empty tank for several weeks.

More technical approach requiring dosing ammonia and will need to be done alongside regular testing.

Less consistently successful than fish in cycles, especially with new fish keepers who don’t understand the process and expect it to run to a timetable.