Cloudy Water/ammonia Question

[Porky p]

Hi, I recently bought on old 120ltr tank washed it out thoroughly using only warm water as well as a few ornaments. I bought some gravel and sand washed it out added it all in then added the water!
At first it was all fine just a few air bubbles which I've heard is normal anyway, I then added some live plants along with some plant nutrition and a bacteria kick start!
Now this I think is where I have gone wrong, I think I should have been more patient and not added all these chemicals!
I've also been told it could be a bacteria bloom as this is common in new set ups! The first filter I put in was a used one so I rinsed out the filter media and put that in hoping to help with the beneficial bacteria.
Anyway now my water has gone cloudy, there don't seem to be any particles just cloudy water, so I added accuclear hoping this would help. It has now been around 20 hours and there is no change. I removed the filter briefly as I have a new hang on filter coming tomorrow!
Does anyone have any tips, as I'm new to all this.

As for the ammonia, I didn't want to do a fish in cycle as apparently they usually die, so I'm going to do a planted fish less cycle, I've been told to add ammonia and test regularly this should let the good bacteria form! I went to the pet shop looking for ammonia but couldn't find any so I just bought some fish treat blocks. Will these do the same job once they start to decay or should I get pure ammonia? Also how will I know when my tank is ready and cycled as the PH us right now no ammonia but waiting for my nitrate nitrite testing kits..

Any help appreciated
Thanks, josh

 

[Aquascaper]

Ok, the cloudy water is a bacterial bloom but has little to do with the beneficial bacteria that your filter needs to be filled with and will go on its own.

Stop adding chemicals to the tank without knowing what they do/what they're for/if they're actually needed.....you can cause problems by doing so.

The only exact way to do a proper fishless cycle is to use a known, accurate ammonia source. You can do one by just allowing something to decompose but you will have no real way of determining the filtration capacity once complete which renders the method pretty pointless as you will have to stock in increments and test for changes.

 

[Porky p]

So where do you suggest I go from here..?

 

[Aquascaper]

Get everything set up with your tank, new filter, etc. and get an ammonia source. Homebase sell something (not sure of name) as do amazon (called kleen off)....only thing to look for is that it is pure, ie. no perfumes or surfactants.

There's good information in the pinned topics in this section regarding fishless cycling so well worth a read to help you understand the method

 

[Porky p]

Thanks a lot

 

[Aquascaper]

No problems, you've made a great start by deciding to fishless cycle but a good read will help to explain all the ins and outs of the method and anything you get stuck on will probably have already been asked and answered on the forum but if not just post your questions.

 

[DJH584]

Porky P.

Welcome to the forum. As Aquascaper has correctly pointed out, you do need an ammonia source. Homebase sell their own Homebase Value Household Ammonia which I think cost me about £2.00 to £3.00 when I bought it. So if you have a branch near you, head for there and pickup a bottle.

If you don't have a branch near you, then obviously you need to source some from elsewhere. Just make sure that it does NOT contain any surfactants.

Good luck with your fishless cycle and please keep the forum updated with your progress.

Regards

David

 

[DrSlackBladder]

Porky P,

I'm a newbie myself, and set up my first tropical tank a month ago. I did loads of reading, on this forum and elsewhere on the web, and opted for a fishless cycle. Like you I rushed at the beginning, adding water, a few pinches of fish food, then aqua clear to get rid of the cloudiness, but it just made a brown mess. So I emptied everything out and started again 4 wks ago. After the false start, I didn't use any chemicals other than the ammonia source and obviously dechlorinator for my water. I used Kleen Off pure ammonia, which I ordered on Amazon UK, along with my API Master Test Kit. I also seeded the filter with some ceramic media from a small established cold water tank I have. I posted the water data from my test kit in this forum every few days. I pretty much followed the well documented ammonia fishless cycle process, but I only kept ammonia dose to 3-4ppm, and all went to plan, so that last weekend I added fish. So far so good, very happy with the tank, the 6 tetras and 6 corys seem very happy, and my daily water checks are showing 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite and I'm keeping nitrate at around 10-20ppm with water changes. I intend to add a shoal of cardinals and eventually a couple of platy once the tank has been established for a good few weeks. I ran the cycle at 27C and turned down to 24C once completed. Hope this helps, check out my cycling data posts if you like, and good luck!

Patience pays off in the end!

 

[Porky p]

Hi thanks for all the help, I now have another problem.

I purchased a bottle of ammonia and tested my water, the reading came up with zero so I used an online calculator to work out how much ammonia to add to get the reading at 4-5ppm.
Anyway after adding 6ml of it the reading showed 8ppm.
I read somewhere that doing a large water change should lower it and put it right. However I have just tested again and it's around seven.
What should I do!?

Sorry forgot to mention the cloudy water has cleared up now

 

[Aquascaper]

The volume of water changed is the value the level will be reduced:

25% water change reduces level by 25%
50% water change reduces level by 50%
75% water change reduces level by 75%

If your level is at 7ppm and you want it to be 4ppm you need to do another 40% - 50% water change.

 

[DrSlackBladder]

Ha, I did exactly the same too; first dose of ammonia registered at 8ppm. A quick 50% water change got it down to 3-4ppm, where is stayed for about a week without having to add more.

 

[Porky p]

Ok so now mine is around 5 maybe 6, should I just leave this and wait for it to drop?!would doing anymore water changes slow down the cycle?

 

[Aquascaper]

Water changes won't affect the cycle, the amount of available ammonia will.

5ppm - 6ppm is a bit high and may stall the cycle so my advice would be to try and get it down to nearer 4ppm.

 

[Porky p]

Ok cheers ill do another water change now

 

[Porky p]

Roughly how long should it take to drop from 4ppm or is that unpredictable