Setting Up New Tank

[kiriyama]

Hi , I recently set up a small tank (16.03.10).....
I took a couple of very small portions from my external filter and put these in the new filter, replaced about half of the sponge and a third of the carbon sections on the new filter which is tiny, wondering now if I could just have filled up the internal filter 100% (?)
Anyway . I cleaned the sand put in a piece of ocean rock and some large aragonite coral gravel to up the pH,
Done about 30% water change yesterday and come home from work this morning to find the tank cloudier than ever , any suggestions?
Was thinking tomorrow that I would just replace the filter sponges 100% with donated media from the external and do 100% water change ?
Any correspondence greatly appreciated

 

[roadmaster]

Hi , I recently set up a small tank (16.03.10).....
I took a couple of very small portions from my external filter and put these in the new filter, replaced about half of the sponge and a third of the carbon sections on the new filter which is tiny, wondering now if I could just have filled up the internal filter 100% (?)
Anyway . I cleaned the sand put in a piece of ocean rock and some large aragonite coral gravel to up the pH,
Done about 30% water change yesterday and come home from work this morning to find the tank cloudier than ever , any suggestions?
Was thinking tomorrow that I would just replace the filter sponges 100% with donated media from the external and do 100% water change ?
Any correspondence greatly appreciated

Did you rinse the rock and gravel before placing it in the tank? This might be contributer. I understand you borrowed some filter material from the external filter and placed it in the new filter to help seed the new filter with bacteria. Was or is,,the filter being provided with source of ammonia (ie) fish, fish food, or other source?
Could also be a bacterial bloom. I believe eventually the water will clear even if the rock and or gravel was not rinsed , it'll just take longer. Would be sure and provide some source of ammonia for the filter('s) if fish are not present and or other source is not being provided ,, or bacteria will begin to die off. I am assuming no fish are present or sudden change to ph by addition of rock and gravel would have negative effect on them.

 

[kiriyama]

Rinsed sand, garvel, rocks.
50%+ of the filter is donatede media.
Had been adding fish food, was tempted adding a couple of fish to help cycle but think this would not hav a poeitive outcome.
Water much clearer BUT the ocean rock has what looks like furry slime all over it, so I will completly drain the tank, add some more media to take the filter to 100% donated media then fill 50% using other tank water and start over, just weird 'cos when I set up the first tank none of this happened, is this because the tank is much smaller?

 

[OldMan47]

A bacterial bloom is not at all unusual, especially if you have fish food rotting in the tank to produce ammonia. If you drain the water and refill the tank, just use dechlorinated tap water, there is nothing in the old tank water that will help in any way.

 

[kiriyama]

Cheers OldMan47 , yesterday i drained the tank, washed and added a bit more sand, washed and added a bit more coral gravel, donated more more from large external filter so the PF1 is 100% donated media (just removed the carbon pads), hope I'm not in trouble. I filed it 50% tankwater from other tank and 50% dechlorinated tap water. Wasn't sure if this was right.
The tank is much clearer, although that said there is still a small amount of furry stuff on the ocean rock which I washed yesterday and a very small amount on the top of the heater. Looks like a film developing on the glass just above the sand. Is this normal and the bacterial bloom you mentioned would this have been harmful, won't add any more fish food etc....

 

[kiriyama]

Wiped all the inside of the glass, heater,filter with a new sponge and the tank filled up with what looked like little blobs of clearish jelly, the tank filled with it but seems to have cleared now, added 2 small Vallis (twisted) and 2 small pieces of Tufa. Used API test kit , here are the results, found it difficult to gauge the colours so here goes.
pH high end ....... 7.8
Ammonia ....... 0.25
Nitrate No3 ....... 5.0 (mg/l)
Nitrite No2 ....... 0ppm (mg/l)
Any advice greatly appreciated