Will I have to cycle again? D:

[T-Rexx]

Sooo yesterday I bought a new filter for my 60 gallon tank because I felt the one I had wasn't cutting it.

The water was becoming very cloudy (white) so I rinsed out the filters & did a 50% water change(day before yesterday) hoping it would solve the issue. The next day my water was still unclear. so I went to go buy new filter inserts. & instead I bought another filter all together. (Ive been wanting to for a long time)

I was going to run the 2 filters together, but in order to do that I would have to cut into the other hood top. So we decided not to. Since I just rinsed out my filters I didnt know how much bacteria they still had in them soooooooooo (I think i made a mistake) I didnt put any media into the new filter from the old one because I theres still good bacteria in the gravel. Right???

Today I went to test my water and I think there may be a small trace of ammonia in the water which hasn't been there since I first cycled my tank. What did I do???? Did I throw my tank back into a cycle by not putting old media into the new filter? I'm scared for my fish! >.< *galp*

If need be, a friend of mine has a cycled tank I may just have to go steal a filter from him.

 

[Convict2161]

Get yourself some media from an established tank and put it in your filter. You could have done it with your own media but hey what's done is done no biggie

Just get in touch with your friend and yes your probably going through a mini cycle. Just keep testing and doing your WC's and you'll be fine.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Cloudy white is a bacteria bloom. Usually caused by something being out of balance in the tank. It will clear on its own.
Did you rinse the media in tap water or tank water?
Putting a new filter on a tank without using the old media will result in a cycle. IME most of the bacteria are in the filter. By removing them your going to get a cycle. There are some bacteria in the gravel but they won't be in high enough numbers to support your fishes ammonia output.
Test everyday and do water changes as needed (ammonia or nitrite at or over .25ppm).
In the future don't replace your filter media without seeding new stuff.

 

[darkmatter_3500]

You will have bacteria in your gravel but not enough to deal with the load, since the bacteria is in your tank already it will start in your filter until it balances out, since you have both types of bacteria established it should not be a very long cycle until it catches up, filter material from established tank will help too. Just feed lightly and check your water

 

[darkmatter_3500]

Yeah the cloudy water is probably the bacteria that was left in your tank multiplying rapidly to feed off the extra ammonia and nitrite, this will go away once you get enough built up in your filter.

 

[T-Rexx]

Get yourself some media from an established tank and put it in your filter. You could have done it with your own media but hey what's done is done no biggie

Just get in touch with your friend and yes your probably going through a mini cycle. Just keep testing and doing your WC's and you'll be fine.

Thanks! I'll call him once he's off work and go steal a filter!! How often should I be changing my water and how much % ?

 

[T-Rexx]

Cloudy white is a bacteria bloom. Usually caused by something being out of balance in the tank. It will clear on its own.
Did you rinse the media in tap water or tank water?
Putting a new filter on a tank without using the old media will result in a cycle. IME most of the bacteria are in the filter. By removing them your going to get a cycle. There are some bacteria in the gravel but they won't be in high enough numbers to support your fishes ammonia output.
Test everyday and do water changes as needed (ammonia or nitrite at or over .25ppm).
In the future don't replace your filter media without seeding new stuff.

Thanks! & Yea I won't do that again!! /: I probably should have come and asked everyone on here first! I rinsed 2 out with tap and 2 out with tank water. how much % of a water change should I do once it reaches those levels?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Thanks! & Yea I won't do that again!! /: I probably should have come and asked everyone on here first! I rinsed 2 out with tap and 2 out with tank water. how much % of a water change should I do once it reaches those levels?

As much as it takes to bring it down to less than .25ppm. If it takes more than one that's fine. Make sure you don't take too much media from your friend. Don't want to put his tank into a cycle also.

 

[T-Rexx]

You will have bacteria in your gravel but not enough to deal with the load, since the bacteria is in your tank already it will start in your filter until it balances out, since you have both types of bacteria established it should not be a very long cycle until it catches up, filter material from established tank will help too. Just feed lightly and check your water

Thanks! Good to know for future reference. I just had a feeling yesterday that It was a bad idea to not seed the media first. Should ALWAYS listen to my instincts! If I didn't go get a filter from my friend (which I am, but just for knowledge sake) how long of a cycle do you think it would be?

 

[T-Rexx]

Yeah the cloudy water is probably the bacteria that was left in your tank multiplying rapidly to feed off the extra ammonia and nitrite, this will go away once you get enough built up in your filter.

The cloudy water happened before I changed my filter. What would of caused that? Mumma said a tank inbalance. How do I avoid that? the only thing that I noticed was off, was my nitrates which were at 40/80 and have been very difficult to bring down. I don't believe I'm over feeding and im doing 50% water changes weekly.

 

[T-Rexx]

As much as it takes to bring it down to less than .25ppm. If it takes more than one that's fine. Make sure you don't take too much media from your friend. Don't want to put his tank into a cycle also.

Okay I will definitely keep an eye on it!
He has 4 media in his filter, if I take one will that be alright? for both our tanks?

 

[darkmatter_3500]

The cloudy water happened before I changed my filter. What would of caused that? Mumma said a tank inbalance. How do I avoid that? the only thing that I noticed was off, was my nitrates which were at 40/80 and have been very difficult to bring down. I don't believe I'm over feeding and im doing 50% water changes weekly.

I missed that part lol, it can happen for various reasons but its basically from extra nutrients or conditions that allow the bacteria to mutliply in your water to consume whatever its feeding off of , the bacteria wont harm your fish but sometimes the condition that allows the bacteria to " bloom " will harm them. Its a good tell tale sighn that something is not in balance.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Okay I will definitely keep an eye on it!
He has 4 media in his filter, if I take one will that be alright? for both our tanks?

Removing one cartridge out of 4 shouldn't effect his cycle. As for whether it will keep you from having any spikes it really depends on a few things like his bioload/how much BB are on the cartridge. It will help though!

 

[T-Rexx]

I missed that part lol, it can happen for various reasons but its basically from extra nutrients or conditions that allow the bacteria to mutliply in your water to consume whatever its feeding off of , the bacteria wont harm your fish but sometimes the condition that allows the bacteria to " bloom " will harm them. Its a good tell tale sighn that something is not in balance.

Hmmm Well I wonder if it was this green algae looking stuff that was on top of the glass hood? It was dripping into my tank and I wiped it off and my water cleared up the next day

 

[T-Rexx]

Removing one cartridge out of 4 shouldn't effect his cycle. As for whether it will keep you from having any spikes it really depends on a few things like his bioload/how much BB are on the cartridge. It will help though!

Lol, Thanks!