Have a made an error?

[richardh]

I was having a few cycling issues with my 17g. I couldn't get the nitrites to zero an built up in 4-5 days back to 0.5ppm. To help it out i decided to squeeze the filter media out of my 33g cycled tank. It seemed a good idea at the time. I didn't really anticipate just how much stuff was going to come out of the old filter cartridge! I have a very cloud tank now with lots of particles. It seems to be clearing a little after just an hour.

Question is, will this be harmful to the fish that are in there? I know I should have considered this beforehand, but ain't hindsight a wonderful thing!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

It shouldn't directly harm them but the excess waste you squeezed in might contribute to the problem. If you want to seed a tank put the media in the filter. Does a better job that just squeezing it IMO. I'd do a PWC to try and clean some of the crap floating in the water.

 

[richardh]

Thanks, I'll do that. I see a lot has settled on the gravel, but the water itself seems to be clearing well.
I'll give it a good gravel vac and see if it has made the situation any better.