New Tank Set Up Is Not Really Happening!

[CraigieBon]

Hi,

I purchased a tank a couple of weeks ago with the intention of getting tropical fish. I put the gravel in and filled it up with tap water. The pet shop gave me TetraAqua AquaSafe and EasyBalance to put in the water in order to balance the Ph levels for the fish. I put some plants in at the same time and set up my filter and heater.

The water looked green after I put the TetraAqua stuff in and I thought this would change, but it hasn't. Should it? One of my plants also died and started clogging up my filter. The filter has an automatic button which clicks up when it is not working properly and this has clicked up. It seems clean but won't got back down!? Any ideas? In addition, snails started to appear and grow quite quickly in the tank. Is this a good thing? Ther seem to be a lot of them.

I'm just wondering whether I should start from scratch and empty the tank, or persist with the situation and try and fix it. Also, when will I know it is safe to put the fish in?

I hope you can help.

Many thanks.

 

[Liam]

Welcome to TFF,
How much of the Aquasafe did you put in it usually has the amount to put in on the bottle. No it shouldn’t turn the water green the normal amount wouldn’t colour the water noticeably. If the water went green just after the tetra stuff then its not ‘green water’ algae. Don’t know about the filter, I guess just ask the seller if there is something wrong with it.
Not sure about what happened to the plant. The snails it depends, I don’t mind them personally, but you can remove them if you don’t want them.

Have you read about cycling the tank (there is a good pinned article here on the site) are you adding ammonia to the tank to get the filter bacteria started?

 

[Ter]

hi,

sounds like maybe suspended algae? is it a new tank? how long are your lights on per day? what are your PO4 readings? No3s? picture?
Ter

 

[Kiwigirl]

The water looked green after I put the TetraAqua stuff in and I thought this would change, but it hasn't. Should it? One of my plants also died and started clogging up my filter. The filter has an automatic button which clicks up when it is not working properly and this has clicked up. It seems clean but won't got back down!? Any ideas? In addition, snails started to appear and grow quite quickly in the tank. Is this a good thing? Ther seem to be a lot of them.

Re-filter problems.

Did you get a users manual with your filter, they normally have instrunctions on maintanence.
You need to clean it out.

I purchased a tank a couple of weeks ago with the intention of getting tropical fish. I put the gravel in and filled it up with tap water. The pet shop gave me TetraAqua AquaSafe and EasyBalance to put in the water in order to balance the Ph levels for the fish. I put some plants in at the same time and set up my filter and heater.

Re-PH levels, do you mean to stabilize ph swings???
Were you having ph problems before you purchased products to control it

Read about the nitrogen cycle as recommended, this will tell you when it is safe to put fish in.

Do you have a master test kit, if not get one you need it, I recommend API.

 

[DoyouWantsum]

What tipe of filter is it.

 

[CraigieBon]

What tipe of filter is it.

My filter is a Fluval 2plus. I don't have any lights, so I think the green is definately related to the amount of the AquaSafe I put in. I suspect I got my calculations wrong and put too much in. Should I empty it and start again?

 

[JoanneH]

Hi,
I have a fluval 3 plus, the clogging indicator goes down when blocked, but it does become less sensitive with time and tends not to work that accurately. not sure about your water problems though, sorry.

 

[Glod]

I use Aquasafe in my aquariums, it does have a blue colour to it when you add it but it very quickly fades in my experience.

How much did you add to the tank ?

If there are no fish in the tank I would try a 50% water change without the dechlorinator and see if that resolves the colour of the water. Then leave it a day or so before starting your fishless cycle.