I Might Have Really Messed Up.

[attibones]

I'm cycling two tanks right now. One of them is going well, but the other is havig a very tough time developing any sort of bacteria. It's been three weeks and it isn't processing the ammonia.

Anyway, I just checked my bottle of ammonia, and it has surfactant labled on the ingredients. There are only a few bubbles at the surface of my tank, but they pop fairly quickly. Will this ruin my tank? It is processing ammonia in twelve hours (but not nitrIte, yet). I don't have to start over do I?

 

[This Old Spouse]

As far as I know the surfactant would be harmful to your fish, and probably isn't doing your bacteria any good. Can you get a different bottle of ammonia that is pure?

 

[attibones]

As far as I can remember, that was the only bottle I found at Wal-Mart. I can check my home improvement stores though for others. Could the surfactant be contributing to the stalling in one of my cycling tanks? Also, when the tanks are done cycling, I was going to do an eighty percent water change. Should I rinse my tank a few times to be sure there is no residual surfactant?

 

[This Old Spouse]

Try a hardware store for ammonia. I would think it could be stalling your cycle. And why not do a 100% water change when you're cycled? Couldn't hurt to at least wipe down the glass on the inside too.

 

[attibones]

I always thought it would be not good to do a water change of that magnitude, but I was planning on changing the substrate to gravel anyway, so it might not be that bad of an idea. I'll definitely wipe it down and rinse the filter media in dechlorinated tap water for the refill. Thanks for your help. I may indeed have better luck at a hardware store than at an awful mega superstore.

 

[DrRob]

Surfactant is basically a detergent to allow the ammonia to penetrate what it's being used on better. It does cause foaming though and isn't really a good idea in your tank.
 
That said it should gradually clear with water changes, a good sized one and then more as the cycle progresses should hopefully clear it, the nice thing is that the point of it is to stop things from sticking together properly.
 
Overall, I've never seen a good answer to the what to do now question with surfactant. Some say to break everything down, wash everything and restart, others say a few water changes and carry on. I've honestly never heard of anyone having an issue from surfactants in the tank later on, but I'm not going to tell you that it can't happen.

 

[attibones]

I think I'm going to first try to find some pure ammonia. I'll start using it to cycle and do a water change every week. Hopefully that will be all we will need to do. Hopefully it won't be too much of an issue in the long run. When it is fully cycled, I'll do a good cleaning with white vinegar and water before I do my refill.