I'm a beginner so bare with me. I've just got a big (100 gallon) tank that came with everything. BTW - It's a fresh water tank. It has a built-in filtration systems and came with a heater, pump, and everything else. So, I've set it all up a couple of days ago. Added the water (tap), added the water conditioner and turned everything on. For the first day, the water was crystal clear, but on the second day the water turned a bit cloudy. Not too badly, but surely not clear. The filtration systems (multiple champers with filters) came with a bunch of "white cylinder rocks" with holes in them that are placed underneath the filter pads for water to run through it. In addition, there is also a bag with black "rice-like" grains in them that tends to turn the water slightly dark, also placed underneath the filter pads. What are these things and what are their benefits? Could this be the cause of the water being cloudy? Anyhow, getting back to the cloudy water. This seem to be a bit strange since I haven't even introduced livestock yet. I read that this is the "normal" cycle process, but I haven't even done anything. I haven't even started the "fishless cycling" process or introduced any fish to the tank. In the meantime, I turned the entire systems off this morning and plan to replace the entire water and start over. Any advise? Thanks in advance.
New Tank Setup
- Thread starter drealxmen
- Start date
That is a HUGE tank, you are so luck to have that as a first tank!
Don't worry about replacing the water, I'd imagine it is just the normal bacterial bloom that new tanks go through, it will clear in a day or two. (This happens whether you intentionally introduce anything or not).
The filteration system sounds good, (any chance of some pics?), at best guess I would say that the white-cylinder-rocks are going to be your bio-media. Although the benficial bacteria of your filter system will populate the entire system to a certain extent, it is on these where the majority will live. DO NOT wash this with tap water once you start cycling your tank, and do NOT let it dry out!
The black 'rice' I would guess at being activated carbon. This is used to remove chemicals from the water, but is not effective for very long once introduced. You will also find in your time here that most people won't actually use it all the time. It HAS to be removed if you medicate the tank etc as otherwise it will try to remove the medication; basically a 'fresh' pack is somethign that most people will keep on standby 'just in case' but won't leave fitted in their filters.
Not sure how much you know about filtration but basically it is split into 3 parts; mechanical, chemical, and biological.
In it's simplest form:
Sponges = Mechanical
Charcoal = Chemical
'white-cylinder-rocks' = Biological.
There was a good writeup on it in a thread a few days back but the search is playing up for me at the moment, I'll post back if I find it.
In the meantime it's probably worth you having a good read of the topic on FISHLESS CYCLING.
Finally, welcome to the TFF, possibly the biggest & friendliest bunch of fish-knowledgable people on the web
"Carlsberg don't do Fish forums, but if they did..."
Don't worry about replacing the water, I'd imagine it is just the normal bacterial bloom that new tanks go through, it will clear in a day or two. (This happens whether you intentionally introduce anything or not).
The filteration system sounds good, (any chance of some pics?), at best guess I would say that the white-cylinder-rocks are going to be your bio-media. Although the benficial bacteria of your filter system will populate the entire system to a certain extent, it is on these where the majority will live. DO NOT wash this with tap water once you start cycling your tank, and do NOT let it dry out!
The black 'rice' I would guess at being activated carbon. This is used to remove chemicals from the water, but is not effective for very long once introduced. You will also find in your time here that most people won't actually use it all the time. It HAS to be removed if you medicate the tank etc as otherwise it will try to remove the medication; basically a 'fresh' pack is somethign that most people will keep on standby 'just in case' but won't leave fitted in their filters.
Not sure how much you know about filtration but basically it is split into 3 parts; mechanical, chemical, and biological.
In it's simplest form:
Sponges = Mechanical
Charcoal = Chemical
'white-cylinder-rocks' = Biological.
There was a good writeup on it in a thread a few days back but the search is playing up for me at the moment, I'll post back if I find it.
In the meantime it's probably worth you having a good read of the topic on FISHLESS CYCLING.
Finally, welcome to the TFF, possibly the biggest & friendliest bunch of fish-knowledgable people on the web
"Carlsberg don't do Fish forums, but if they did..."
Miss Wiggle
Practically perfect in every way
yeah nice size tank to start off with, gives you loads and loads and loads of options, for us to help you best can you give us some ideas of what you are hoping to achieve with the tank (water with fish in huh?! ) do you want big fish, small fish, agressive, peaceful, single species, beautifully planted tnak etc etc etc. if you just don't know then hop over to the members aquarium pics section for some inspiration. Just helps us to tailor our advice slightly if we know what your goal is, a lot of things will be the same but there are some small differences.
this is a good topic about filter media http
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=139488 have a good old read through. i agree the white ones are probably bio media and the black one sounds like carbon. Carbon is a much debated topic, my personal view is that you don't need it, but don't get too caught up in the decision weather to have it in or not, it's a small decision on the scale of things, what's far more important for now is getting the cycling stuff in your head right and getting the water safe before you add fish.
the cloudiness could be one of a few things, yes it could be a bacterial bloom, but it could just be a bit of dust that's stirred up from the substrate. what substrate are you using and how did you wash it before you put it in the tank.
have you had a good read through of the pinned topic on fishless cycling? are you intending to follow the add and wait method? just fire away with any questions that you have about it.
) do you want big fish, small fish, agressive, peaceful, single species, beautifully planted tnak etc etc etc. if you just don't know then hop over to the members aquarium pics section for some inspiration. Just helps us to tailor our advice slightly if we know what your goal is, a lot of things will be the same but there are some small differences. this is a good topic about filter media http
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=139488 have a good old read through. i agree the white ones are probably bio media and the black one sounds like carbon. Carbon is a much debated topic, my personal view is that you don't need it, but don't get too caught up in the decision weather to have it in or not, it's a small decision on the scale of things, what's far more important for now is getting the cycling stuff in your head right and getting the water safe before you add fish.the cloudiness could be one of a few things, yes it could be a bacterial bloom, but it could just be a bit of dust that's stirred up from the substrate. what substrate are you using and how did you wash it before you put it in the tank.
have you had a good read through of the pinned topic on fishless cycling? are you intending to follow the add and wait method? just fire away with any questions that you have about it.
Miss Wiggle
Practically perfect in every way
well it's Mr Monks work, if you're not familiar with him he regularly writes for the top fishkeeping mags in this country and has published books most recently a v good one on brackish water fishies which is one of his many specialities. i strongly advise you to look up his topics and read just about everything he's written. the man sure knows his stuff!!
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
Hi drealxmen and Welcome to TFF 
MW and Schmill are getting you started up there and its very important to begin reading the pinned articles at the top of the "New to the Hobby" forum and to -not- get fish while you are having these initial discussions.
~~waterdrop~~
MW and Schmill are getting you started up there and its very important to begin reading the pinned articles at the top of the "New to the Hobby" forum and to -not- get fish while you are having these initial discussions.
~~waterdrop~~
Thank you all for the nice welcome. I've read some bit since I last posted. Very nice informative articles on this site. I believe the cloudy water was indeed bacterial bloom. It has dissipated since. The water is now clear. I'm planning to have variety of fishes, but mostly semi-agressive to mildly agressive species. Due to the size of he tank, I think it would look best to have medium to large size fish. I don't plan on having too large of a fish (like the Oscar) or its kind in the tank. I was thinking of the African Cichlids since they're more colorful in nature. I'm in the process of Cycling the tank and will be complete within a few days to a week or so. What do you all think about mixing species? More in terms of having semi-agressive species like the Tiger Barb in the tank with the African Cichlids? Unlike the Oscar, most African Cichlids stay relatively medium in size and therefore not too much of a threat to the barbs. I also plan on having a few catfish and a couple of Discus. What do you all think? Is this wishful thinking that they all will co-exist together in one tank? Thanks
Miss Wiggle
Practically perfect in every way
OK if you're looking at medium-large fish, particularly african cichlids then you stock heavily to dissipate agression, this means you need a big old filter to deal with all the waste. if you give us the make and model of your filter we can either reassure you that it's up to the job or make suggestions for an any filters to supplement it.
it's important to decide early on between african cichlids and any other fish, the pH requirements are significantly different and you need to set the tank up accordingly. there's a good topic that's linked in my signature which talks about the correct ways to adjust pH which i recommend you read. if you keep african cichlids then it needs to be just afican cichlids. discus need much softer water and would be relentlessly bullied by the tiger barbas and african cichlids, very very bad combination i'm afraid to say.
if you want discuss then the tank is certainly big enough, they are fairly delicate and sensitive though, they are often not recommended to beginners because of their care requirements. now i'm not one to say that beginners can't keep anything, if you want them that badly then it's fine, but you need to be prepared to do plenty of research before hand and invest a little bit more time and effort into ensuring water quality is spot on for them.
if you want semi-agressive med-large fish to go with a large group of tiger barbs then there are plenty of new world cichlids which are compatible, thngs like friemouths, convincts, acara's, severum's etc would work, but again none of these are suitable with discus.
so yeah, thats your choice, semi-agressive new world cichlids and barbs, african cichlids or discus.......can't have them all i'm afraid!
when you say you expect the tank to be cycled in a week or so, fanatastic if it will be but it does seem rather quick, so it just makes me want to ensure that you understand the process and how to qualify if the filter has cycled. so can you please let us know how you are cycling the tank and what your test results are?
it's important to decide early on between african cichlids and any other fish, the pH requirements are significantly different and you need to set the tank up accordingly. there's a good topic that's linked in my signature which talks about the correct ways to adjust pH which i recommend you read. if you keep african cichlids then it needs to be just afican cichlids. discus need much softer water and would be relentlessly bullied by the tiger barbas and african cichlids, very very bad combination i'm afraid to say.
if you want discuss then the tank is certainly big enough, they are fairly delicate and sensitive though, they are often not recommended to beginners because of their care requirements. now i'm not one to say that beginners can't keep anything, if you want them that badly then it's fine, but you need to be prepared to do plenty of research before hand and invest a little bit more time and effort into ensuring water quality is spot on for them.
if you want semi-agressive med-large fish to go with a large group of tiger barbs then there are plenty of new world cichlids which are compatible, thngs like friemouths, convincts, acara's, severum's etc would work, but again none of these are suitable with discus.
so yeah, thats your choice, semi-agressive new world cichlids and barbs, african cichlids or discus.......can't have them all i'm afraid!
when you say you expect the tank to be cycled in a week or so, fanatastic if it will be but it does seem rather quick, so it just makes me want to ensure that you understand the process and how to qualify if the filter has cycled. so can you please let us know how you are cycling the tank and what your test results are?
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
Yes, agree with MW on the fishless cycling. If carefully using pure ammonia on a tank that began Nov 4, the earliest you could reasonably expect a technical finish would be Nov 25th unless you had a successful mature media seeding from another tank. Even then you want to "qualify" your 12-hour drops for a week, right? Otherwise you're gonna have a lot of dead fish on your hands, lol.
~~waterdrop~~
~~waterdrop~~
Thank both for the great advice. The cycling process does take some time, perhaps I was a bit too eager. I'm following the set of instructions for the Fishless Cycling process. I know that the ammonia and nitrite level need to be zero before fish are to be added. I will also do a 90 percent water change to eliminate the nitrate before tank is ready. Great advise about the type of fish, Miss Wiggle. I didn't find out about the new world cichlids until now. I think they will be a great addition to the barbs. Though I love to have the African Cichlids, I guess it would have to wait for the second tank. I'll keep you all posted on the new tank goes. Again, thanks for all the advise.
Miss Wiggle
Practically perfect in every way
excellent, just so long as we know you're cycling it properly then that's all good, and we'll keep our fingers crossed that your cycle is super speedy!!
what i'd suggest you do is keep a log of your fishless cycle, make each days entry something like this
Day X Fishless Cycle 100 Gallon tank
08:00am Test results
pH - 7
ammonia - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate - 10
Added X drops ammonia to raise to Xppm
08:00pm test results
pH - 7
ammonia - 5ppm
nitrite - 0
nitrate - 10
and then details of anything else you did, water changes, anything you noticed like cloudy water etc.
Then if you pop back on here every 3/4 days or something like that and pop your log up for the last few days with any questions you have we'll have a look at how you're getting on and can flag up any potential problems before you hit them and stuff like that. we might not reply everytime you post them up but i will keep reading them whenever you post so you can be assured that if nothings said then you're on the right track.
getting the right stocking list with new world cichlids is vital, so pop over to the new world cichlid area of the forum and there's a few gusy n gals over there who specialise in them and they will be able to help you decide what species go together and i'm sure the7y'll be able to suggest some more fish that you might not be aware of.
oh and a quick word of warning, the single most common thing to go wrong with cycles is a pH crash, so if the pH starts to drop then post up here ad we'll tell you what to do.
what i'd suggest you do is keep a log of your fishless cycle, make each days entry something like this
Day X Fishless Cycle 100 Gallon tank
08:00am Test results
pH - 7
ammonia - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate - 10
Added X drops ammonia to raise to Xppm
08:00pm test results
pH - 7
ammonia - 5ppm
nitrite - 0
nitrate - 10
and then details of anything else you did, water changes, anything you noticed like cloudy water etc.
Then if you pop back on here every 3/4 days or something like that and pop your log up for the last few days with any questions you have we'll have a look at how you're getting on and can flag up any potential problems before you hit them and stuff like that. we might not reply everytime you post them up but i will keep reading them whenever you post so you can be assured that if nothings said then you're on the right track.
getting the right stocking list with new world cichlids is vital, so pop over to the new world cichlid area of the forum and there's a few gusy n gals over there who specialise in them and they will be able to help you decide what species go together and i'm sure the7y'll be able to suggest some more fish that you might not be aware of.
oh and a quick word of warning, the single most common thing to go wrong with cycles is a pH crash, so if the pH starts to drop then post up here ad we'll tell you what to do.
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