New Tank For A Beginner

[mmccx]

Hi,

I have just purchased myself a 60ltr tank with heater and filter to get me started in keeping tropical fish, this will be the second tank I have kept but the first time round wasn't exactly the best as I was very young and didn't understand cycling (also the importance of regularly maintaining it).

So after wanting to do it properly this time round I decided to do some research and came across this site. After reading lots about cycling I have decided to attempt the add and wait method, so last night I purchased an API kit from Amazon, and when it arrives I will get some ammonia and start this method, hopefully I will keep on top of it and any any advice along the way would be greatly appreciated!!

One Question at the moment before I start the cycling is... is it a good idea to keep live plants in the tank during the process? or is it something that needs to wait until a later date?

Many Thanks in advance...

Karl

 

[weezawoo]

Hey I found this quite a good read http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/299827-why-we-should-not-fishless-cycle-planted-tanks/
might answer your question!

 

[mmccx]

thank you for you reply

I know I haven't started cycling yet but I was wondering if anyone could hazard a guess at what might be going on. I set up the tank on Sunday and all was really clear until I woke up this morning. The water has gone cloudy and I'm not sure why, as all I put in the water on Sunday was de-chlorinator and the aqua plus cycle thing that came with the tank.

 

[Aqua Tom]

Early bacterial bloom?

 

[mmccx]

Its white in colour, not sure if that helps, and I couldn't tell you anything about my water until my test kit comes (hopefully Friday, do I need to do some kind of water change or just leave it until I know the water conditions?

also is a bacteria bloom a good or a bad thing?

Thanks in advance for any replies

 

[Skins]

Hi,

I have just purchased myself a 60ltr tank with heater and filter to get me started in keeping tropical fish, this will be the second tank I have kept but the first time round wasn't exactly the best as I was very young and didn't understand cycling (also the importance of regularly maintaining it).

So after wanting to do it properly this time round I decided to do some research and came across this site. After reading lots about cycling I have decided to attempt the add and wait method, so last night I purchased an API kit from Amazon, and when it arrives I will get some ammonia and start this method, hopefully I will keep on top of it and any any advice along the way would be greatly appreciated!!

One Question at the moment before I start the cycling is... is it a good idea to keep live plants in the tank during the process? or is it something that needs to wait until a later date?

Many Thanks in advance...

Karl

Hello Karl,
if you have not bought or ordered your plants i would leave them until you have finished your cycle.
Regarding your cloudy water i would agree with Tom which, if this is the case then it will clear in a few days.

Keith.

Its white in colour, not sure if that helps, and I couldn't tell you anything about my water until my test kit comes (hopefully Friday, do I need to do some kind of water change or just leave it until I know the water conditions?

also is a bacteria bloom a good or a bad thing?

Thanks in advance for any replies

Your Bacterial bloom will do no harm.

 

[mmccx]

Cheers Keith,

Will hold off on buying any plants for now then.

I will hopefully start the cycle on Friday and then try to get to grips with the whole process, and will probably end up posting my results and pleading for help lol!

In regards to the bloom then is it a good sign?

 

[Skins]

Cheers Keith,

Will hold off on buying any plants for now then.

I will hopefully start the cycle on Friday and then try to get to grips with the whole process, and will probably end up posting my results and pleading for help lol!

In regards to the bloom then is it a good sign?

Reading between the lines of an article i've just looked at, bacterias within your tank water chemistry are processing organic products but as yet not able to do it quick enough hence the cloudy water.

Keith.

 

[mmccx]

not know much about chemistry, i assum then that these bacteria and organic products already exist in my tap water?

 

[Essjay]

In a new tank, the organic chemicals in the silicone used to glue the panels together leach out into the water. There, heterotrophic bacteria eat them and grow so fast we can see them as the white cloudiness. Unfortunately, these are not the autotrophic bacteria we want to grow in the filter. But they will make a bit of ammonia as a by-product of eating the organic chemicals.
Once they have eaten all these chemicals, they will die off and the water will clear.

Edit:
These bacteria exist in the water supply in very small numbers, as do the ones we want in the filter. The chemicals come from the tank itself.

 

[mmccx]

cool that makes sense thank you very much,

So just to clarify.. as soon as these bacteria have eaten all of the bacteria in the chemicals used in the construction of the tank and ornaments, they will then die off and the water will become clear again?


Thank you all for your help guys! much appreiciated

 

[Essjay]

Yes, almost everything that goes in the tank will contain chemicals that will go into the water. Once the heterotrophic bacteria (the ones that cause the cloudiness) have eaten it all, they will starve and die. It'll only take a few days for the water to clear.
The bacteria are in the water from the tap. Very few survive being poisoned by the chlorine or chloramine that the water comapny adds, but there are enough. And the bacteria that make the cloudiness grow very fast. Unfortunately, the ones we want to grow in the filter are different ones, and they grow very slowly.

This is for white cloudiness. If you get green cloudiness, that is something different.

 

[Skins]

Yes, almost everything that goes in the tank will contain chemicals that will go into the water. Once the heterotrophic bacteria (the ones that cause the cloudiness) have eaten it all, they will starve and die. It'll only take a few days for the water to clear.
The bacteria are in the water from the tap. Very few survive being poisoned by the chlorine or chloramine that the water comapny adds, but there are enough. And the bacteria that make the cloudiness grow very fast. Unfortunately, the ones we want to grow in the filter are different ones, and they grow very slowly.

This is for white cloudiness. If you get green cloudiness, that is something different.

Thanks essjay for putting me right, very interesting.

Keith.

 

[mmccx]

so am I right in thinking that these bacteria that cause the cloudiness produce small amounts of ammonia, so effectively they have initially started my cycle for me? albeit in very small amounts and very slowly, (is this correct thinking). So when I come to test my water on Friday I should see an increase in ammonia and nitrite above what the test results for my tap water will be?

 

[Skins]

Have a good read of this article i found,
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/246850-bacterial-blooms-explained/

Keith.