Cleaning Tank And Ammonia Level

[This Old Spouse]

Eh?

 

[bluecharm7]

Eh?

Okay so the 40-50% water change was done yesterday. Also the filters were rinsed out. Today the tank looks cloudy I tested the water ammonia between 0 and .25ppm can't tell. Nitrites 0ppm and nitrates 0ppm. What did I do to make it cloudy. It is a cloudy white. Its not that cloudy but I can tell a difference from yesterday. I am going away over the weekend and won't be home to monitor the tank. I just don't want to come home on sunday and see any of my fish dead, what should I do? Is it going through a mini cycle? Did I wash away good bacteria? I cleaned the filter with tank water. I also put in Nite-Out and Microbe-lift special blend into the tank. Both have beneficial bacteria.

 

[fluttermoth]

Beneficial dead bacteria. There's no way those bacteria can stay alive in a bottle with no oxygen from water flow and no food source; they're a waste of time and money.

You'll find nearly every single long-term fishkeeper on here uses nothing but a good dechlorinator day to day (some may use things like fertilizers or mineral additives for special reasons; rift valley cichlids or something, but not bottled bacteria).

A dechlorinator and lots of water changes is all you need.

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with FM. Tap,tap,tap and a bottle a Prime... (where did that pirate tune come from originally, lol?)

Oh, and my +1 up there was to say that I totally agree with This Old Spouse that you don't -change- biomedia, you just gently rinse it. Coarse mechanical media (eg. coarse sponges) often also gets rinsed, whereas fine mechanical media (eg. floss or floss pads) often get replaced after a few cleanings. Chemical media (eg. carbon or zeolite) are optional and temporary, best used for special purposes only in most cases.

You always have to give it a couple days after water changes, it might just be the tap water or it might be a bit of bacterial bloom. Small increases in ammonia and nitrite following a period of those being zero is the definition of a mini-spike.

~~waterdrop~~