2 days in and cloudy

[kurtyboh]

I set up my tank 2 days ago, I used it once before with a goldfish pretty much just released him and fed him. We moved and the tank was put away for a while. It is a 5.5gal hex with active carbon filter as well as a biofilter and a hood with light. The light i recently replaced with a plant light.
Anyhow I went to the pet store a while ago they told me set it up 2 weeks later come in and get fish. (I live in Germany, I guess its what tehy do) I also put my plants in yesterday had to drain some water to get my arm in. everything was fine when i went to bed, this morning the water is cloudy. I got some top plants... little green dots that float? I dont know what these plants are but the signs say pogostemon helferi and sagittaria subulata/terres, one of each. My test strip says 0 chlorine 6.8ph 130ppm carbonate hardness, between 4 and 7 total hardness 0 nitrite and approx 10 nitrate. it doesnt seem to have ammonia? so should i buy a seperate test for that?

thanks in advance for any advice i can get

kurtis bohanon

 

[Lowryder]

Nitrogen Cycle

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...ks-for-your-fastest-fishless-cycle/Page1.html

Here is a few links to get you started. What do you plan on stocking? Goldfish are out. They can reach 1 foot and need a 20g tank.

 

[kurtyboh]

I am in the process of attempting a fishless cycle already but 2 days in and the water is cloudy that's my question Why is it cloudy????
I do not plan on putting another goldfish in there, it'll either be a betta, a snail and a couple shrimp or a snail and a couple guppies.

 

[meegosh]

What color is the cloudiness? Does it look like someone poured some milk in the tank? If so that is a bacterial bloom, common in newly set up tanks. Read the articles Lowryder suggested. I'd say ignore any further advice from the LFS since they have already led you astray (let set for 2 weeks then add fish).

 

[kurtyboh]

whats lfs? i did read the articles still confused about cloudy at least how long it should be cloudy (fter addition from another tank) minutes hours days?, but yeah it looks like watered down milk. The fish store also gave me liek 1/2 gallon of their water with the plants which i put in... now would these plants have this cycle started for me? like the good bacteria already on them?

 

[BigJim]

LFS = local fish store

There were probably some bacteria on the plants, but with no fish in the tank, there's no ammonia to feed the nitrifying bacteria. Read up on fishless cycling. You'll need to add ammonia to the tank until it can process it to nitrates (a two-step process). I would recommend buying a liquid reagent test kit. In the US, the API freshwater master is the gold standard.

Don't worry about the bacteria bloom until your tank is cycled. You wouldn't believe the things I saw in my tank when I was cycling.

 

[kurtyboh]

I havent added amonia but i read that i could use fish food to start the cycle (which i did when i set up my tank) its just difficult to gage how much ammonia is being added... the article also said shrimp can also be used so my question then was live shrimp, dead shrimp and if dead is it ok if they were frozen. I cant find pure ammonia so alternatives are the way until i can. As far as a liquid test kit the only one ive found has german instructions making it near impossible for me to use and beyond that its 70 euros which is almost 100 bucks and i certainly cant afford that.

 

[kurtyboh]

Btw Bigjim, that is exactly what i needed to hear... sometimes when cycling your tank may look like a science experiment... or something along those lines. I just dont want to have to start over... i would hate that. Like i said i'm impatient and now have 3 days down.

 

[BigJim]

I'm not a big fan of the fish food method. It can work, but it's messy and not as precise as adding ammonia. Dead shrimp work on the same principle as fish food. They decay to produce ammonia. Putting the shrimp in a media bag before putting it in the tank saves a lot of mess.

$100 is crazy. Look online. Over here, the API kit is ~$30. It may take a little bit to get there, but it should last you a long time.

I was almost kind of glad that cycling took a while. It was fun to watch all the nematodes, tubifex worms, and other little critters do their thing. I've seen ponds with less life in them than my tank had during the cycle.

P.S. You live in Germany and you don't speak German?

 

[kurtyboh]

stationed here for the army... dont always choose where you go, so no time to learn before you go.

 

[kurtyboh]

oh and the tank mess its atrocious already the gravel cleaner cant get here fast enough.

 

[BigJim]

stationed here for the army... dont always choose where you go, so no time to learn before you go.

Understood. Thank you for your service.

oh and the tank mess its atrocious already the gravel cleaner cant get here fast enough.

That mess is where your ammonia is coming from. Don't get overzealous with the cleaning.

 

[kurtyboh]

My wife is in the service, I just follow. I know about the mess being my ammonia. All I am saying is i hope i can find ammonia before the end of the month becuase I dont want an algae prob before i even get my fish in there.

 

[kurtyboh]

I guess my aquarium is doing better than i though... the Ammonia is a bit low sitting around 3ppm, nitrites around 5ppm (bought a liquid test kit for this as well as ammonia today) and nitrates still showing at 10ppm... also was able to order some ammonia from an aptheke(kind of like a pharmacy) which will be in this afternoon. feelin ready to give up last night but today has renewed my hope for a fishless cycle. thanks to everyone who took the time to read about my troubles and to BigJim for responding to so many questions.

kurt

 

[BigJim]

You're off to a good start. Test your tap water too, just to get a baseline. I've seen too many threads saying something like "My tank has been cycling for three days and I've already got nitrates!" only to find out the tap water the person filled the tank with already had 5ppm of nitrates in it out of the faucet.

 

[kurtyboh]

the test isnt showing anything from my tap water... I think the plants and water from the fish store gave me a head start... i mean it was at least 1/10 of my water so foods for those bacteria floating around plus having them on my plants whichi i got from them was a boost. I may still see the nitrates drop off if the nitrites dont pick up the pace though.

 

[kurtyboh]

I got some tetra safe start yesterday when i found out where to get my ammonia, now my carbonate hardness jumped from about 120ppm to over 400 what do i do to bring it back down? or is it not even a concern because its still cycling?