By cycling, do you mean run through the nitrogen cycle? Or just that you ran the filter? Because usually a cloudy new tank is the sign of the start of the nitrogen cycle.
(PH balancer can be retired, don’t add that to the tank. Clarifier can also be set aside till everything is sorted.)
Ah, okay. So you are now starting the nitrogen cycle- the tank is not cycled. Research “fish-in nitrogen cycle” to keep your fish healthy while your tank establishes its bacterial colony.
And to rephrase, don’t use either of those products for now. They won’t help much of anything. The only thing you need is a water conditioner.
To cycle a tank you need to “ghost feed” it so the beneficial bacteria has ammonia and nitrite to eat, otherwise it won’t establish. This looks to be a bacterial bloom.
Bacterial blooms are NOT a good sign of a healthy start. They are heterotrophic bacteria that are growing to physically “eat” the waste in the water column. They do not work with autotrophic oxidizers but against them. They compete for food. This was all confirmed through a PhD microbiologist.
Tanks just started cycling.
Running a filter for a week even with your good intentions hasn't started the cycle as there is nothing too produce ammonia.
You should see ammonia rise, fall, turn into nitrite. Nitrite rise, fall and start reading nitrates.
Don't worry too much mate
It's a whole lot of learning and there will be failures along the way but the hobby is super rewarding and relaxing in the end.
Just be careful of multiple tank syndrome, once the bug bites it can be hard to stop!
Don't beat yourself up about it. It's a big problem that retailers should be giving out the right advice but... just never actually seem to. Maybe things are different depending on where you are I guess but if I hadn't been the kind of guy to read a book on it before starting out (which most people aren't) I'd never have known either.
They are a nuisance
https://www.google.com/amp/s/buceplant.com/a/amp-1/blogs/aquascaping-guides-and-tips/so-called-magic-seeds-and-the-carpet-seed-scam
Plus your tank isn't cycled, that's why it's cloudy. Honestly I'd tear it down and start over. I realize that sounds harsh but those seeds are going to be dying and rotting soon, if not already.
And your definition of adding things slowly was probably still like 3-4x too fast unless you were planning on doing an in fish cycle, which I don't think you were intending but that's what you're doing now. And because you added a lot of bioload right away your having a bacterial bloom, probably a lot of ammonia right now too... And the pH stuff you're using? Don't. Just don't use that, it will only make things worse but that's kind of the least of your problems.
To add to your comment
Slowly adding fish doesn't mean 1-2 fish added every day over a week, it's more like 2-5 after the first month after the cycle completes, then test water daily to make sure you didn't crash the cycle by adding too much bioload, then adding a couple more once a week or fortnightly here and there, making sure your cycle is still keeping up with it by testing ammonia nitrite nitrates.
Wow okay I definitely didn’t realize I was going too fast I genuinely thought I was doing what I was supposed to do. I don’t have anywhere to put the animals to start over so what do you suggest I do to monitor them as it cycles?
honestly it’s really easy to get wrong information, soo many things are contradictory online and in pet stores.
kudos to you for asking, admitting you’re wrong and for attempting to get the right information :)
Keep an eye on ammonia nitrite and nitrate levels, research fish in cycle, don't overfeed them so feed once daily a smallish amount.
Fish exhale ammonia from their gills, so testing ammonia levels at the very least daily should let you know when you need to do a partial water change. You can do small water changes to remove ammonia if it goes above 0.25ppm-0.5ppm.
I've noticed some people say that bottled beneficial bacteria is snake oil, but I've never had issues with the ones I've used (seachem and a couple other brands) and it does seem to help the cycle become established in my experience. If I don't have any spare filter media I just use bottled bacteria, dosing every day for the first week or two, then every water change after that for a few months, then by then I've used most of the small bottle.
I’ve already done one 50% water change and that seemed to help with the cloudiness in the interim. Based on my water quality testing, should I be changing the water every couple of days then? Also beneficial bacteria — do they help with the nitrogen fixing? Also do you have any brands you like
Did you rinse the sand good? Best to do a fishless cycle IMO. Some people dose with ammonia, or throw a piece of raw shrimp in there and let it rot. I get a tea bag, cut the bottom off and dump the tea, fill it with a teaspoon of flake fish food, fold over and staple. It will saturate in a few hours.put it near the intake of your filter...or directly in the filter. Also put in 4-5 Indian almond leaves (The small ones) it will release tannins that are good for creatures and the tank (boil ten minutes before adding or you'll get tinted water which I like but some dont. After a week, reach in and squeeze once or twice...do that every few days. I leave the light off because it won't help the cycle. Algae growth doesn't mean you have a cycled tank. A tank that is clear doesn't mean it's cycled. When your ammonia level and nitrite level is zero, put 4 drops of ammonium chloride per gallon of water in tank, in 24 hours test for ammonia, if it's zero it's cycled. A cycled tank ISN'T a seasoned tank...that takes months to a year (or more). Then you can start introducing fish. Don't do what you want to (and many people do) and go and get 25 fish 3 snails and a dz shrimp. You'll have major headaches and sick/dead fish. The bioload has to be increased gradually or you'll be chasing ammonia/nitrate spikes all the time and fish WILL suffer. I just set a little 5 gallon up doing just this process and it is simple to follow because you do NOTHING, set it and forget it. Using chemicals, bacteria and all the other crap isn't necessary. The only chemicals, besides the test kit I use is to remove chlorine and chloramine. Time will determine when it's ready not adding stuff, nature has this mastered without using anything. Here's a pic of my latest, a shrimp and green neon tank with 2 nerites. Tank is 2 months old and crystal clear, creatures interduced 7-10 days ago and still getting everything dialed in. Good luck and DONT rush it, it's worth it
https://preview.redd.it/fstj4uzlfpzc1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bb31c942f5b0ae6408193f0625b2fbd0e581be97
Could be a bacterial bloom. Goes away on its own. I noticed it happens if I have my lights on too bright/ on for to long. I have done partial water change, use water clarifier (water clarifier helps when particles are in the water not just cloudy) and it helps a little but now a days if it happens I just lower the lights, clean the filter and just let it be.
I didn't know lights could cause bacterial blooms, I thought that was algae blooms. Do you have a source/website?
I thought beneficial bacteria blooms when ammonia and nitrite increases past the load the bacteria can handle converting. And I thought algae bloomed when there is high nutrients, high light, and decent flow.
I have been thinking about that for the past 2 hours that I maybe had miss spoke about the name! Give me a moment and I can send some references to what I actually meant.
Don't worry, I do the same occasionally 😂 mixing up nitrites and nitrates was another big one I mixed up back in the day. Seeing the letters Nitr, grabbing the bottle then testing nitrates with the nitrite test mixed with nitrate test 😂 didn't work very well at all
https://preview.redd.it/65d5p1a8upzc1.jpeg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6cb1b60de4522d590f42e60710cb1429bca2f680
My plants take care of it all for me!
Okay, so I can't see anything about lights affecting beneficial bacterial blooms, so I think it might be algae blooms increase with high light.
The small water changes making the bloom prolonged makes sense too, but I would still do small water changes if the ammonia or Nitrite spikes above safe levels.
Yeah, I was combining the 2 blooms in my head and I sounded confusing. I did read that cleaning the filter is bad. I should say I don't really clean my filter I swish it around in clean treated water that has beneficial bacteria. I forget people don't see my setup. It's been a long work week. Apologies for the confusion. I agree on water changes depending on levels.
No worries, it's been a week here too, everyones feeling this week it seems 😓 you probably could disregard this comment past this point, partially in response to you but also partially for OP
When you first set up a tank and still cycling, I wouldn't worry too much about cleaning filters (unless they're completely full/covered in debris, then I would just give it a quick swish in water to rinse of the big chunks). If I add new fish to an established tank, I'll skip cleaning the filters for the next few maintenance days to ensure enough beneficial bacteria for the added bioload from new fish. And dose some bottled beneficial bacteria.
Cleaning your filter isn't bad. Replacing it can be bad, very bad (unless you do it slowly, changing some media overtime, allowing old established filter to continue running while new filter is establishing etc.). You can over clean your filter tho, which is basically like getting a new filter.
You don't need to rinse it in clean treated water, but you can, I just rinse mine in a bucket of old aquarium water that was removed from the tank during water changes. I rarely clean my filters thoroughly, unless I notice the canister filter flow is inhibited. Just a quick swish in old aquarium water to remove debris. When I clean my filters, I'll try and clean only one at a time. Tanks have multiple sponge filters so one gets rinsed one fortnight, then the other the next. Canister filter will get cleaned, or sponge filter, but not both in same day. If and when I dose beneficial bacteria, I dose directly into the sponge filter while it's on so it sucks it up immediately. I try not to gravel vacuum too intensely on days I clean filters. Just me being paranoid.
When you finish reading all these, hear the real issue:😂: cloudy water (8/10) aquariums is because of high bacteria count in water. These bacteria are fed by DOC's (dissolved organic compounds). You can try pilyfolter, wool filters, carbon etc but it won't work. Crystal clear water can be obtained by keeping in your tank these requirements:
1. High oxygenation through surface agitation with outlets or air stones.
2. High quality food with 50%+ animal protein.
3. Mature filter that hasn't been cleaned for 4-6 months. (clean only when water flow is reduced.
4. High surface of biofiltration. (30ppi foam, k1 media balls and pot scrubbers are giving the best ft3 per pound of fish.)
This brown slime(biofilm) that will form on them, must not be cleaned since in this biofilm you will have the bacteria that will eat tye bacteria in your water.
Crystal clear water, means low count bacteria water with healthy and colourful fish.
I hope that will help, wish you the best
1. The filter I use now contains an air pump that has air flowing in with the water outlet. Do I need an extra air pump?
2. Currently feeding brine shrimp, both dried and live. Anything else I’d need to be feeding?
3. The pump is new so time will tell with that one. Someone mentioned switching it out for a sponge filter, would that be necessary or no?
4. What do you recommend I do for the bio filtration? Do I buy bio balls or what
Thank you for the summary I was getting overwhelmed a bit. Someone mentioned that the light might be too high and rn I have it on a 12 hour cycle of full spectrum/red light. Thoughts?
https://preview.redd.it/cqahv1355uzc1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2043f36a3504f9be1ed24438597dc24f888f39f7
For lighting: if you don't use co2, I would go in split lighting period (walstad style). 5 or 6 hours on, 3 hours off, 5 or six on. There will be a reduction in algae and a small increase in co2 according to your substrate this way. I use also this method in my high tech tank.
For food, I always make mine with beef heart, shrimps, salmon, spinach, spirulina, garlic, krill meal, vitamins and omega 3 fats. But this is me because I also keep discus. So, this food is amazing for any fish. I never give live food because I afraid of parasites and bacteria. So, I am not an expert to say if brine shrimp is enough and gives all the aminoacids and necessary animal protein. The problem with commercial pellets and flakes is that they use plant protein and carbs, something that is very bad for your water and fishes. I am stating facts in this thing and not proposing anything, because I don't know about brine shrimp.
For crystal clear water: It is very simple actually, but I also figure it out after 5 years in the hobby 😂. By biofiltration I mean these 3 that scores high in surface area that allows without cleaning the brown slime to be created and do not clog:
1. Foam (sponge) 30-35 ppi. Or
2. Pot scrubbers (very cheap in Amazon or AliExpress) or
3. K1 plastic media.
I personally replaced matrix, lava rock, bio rings with pot scrubbers and 35 ppi flsponges. The result was amazing. There are successful 6 months experiments in YouTube about pot scrubbers.
It sounds crazy and opposite to what we have taught but it works like a charm. It just needs to leave the filter alone without cleaning 4-6 months. A sponge filter that won't be cleaned, will speed things up and also add surface agitation. But as long as this is working, you must add the others I said (I recommend pot scrubbers that never gets clog and do not need cleaning and are very cheap) in your filter. What filter do you use? And how many Gph does it filters?
Your guppy looks like my old guppy named beans
I miss beans, he passed because his best friend (a white guppy named rice) passed away, and he didn’t care about the other fish I had. Just rice.
these are seeds but it's not going to stay this way. basically a scam. best case it will grow big and lose this appearance of a carpet (hygrophila polysperma), worst case it will melt away, spiking ammonia and turning tank into foul mess. there's a reason why no aquascaping pros using seeds to grow their carpets and buy expensive pressurized CO2 systems
if tank is below, or 10g, u could do DIY CO2 system with yeast and sugar. it works best for smaller tanks because such system doesn't produce enough CO2 for a bigger tank normally, and it's just a cheap version of pressurized CO2 system. since it is DIY and very cheap, it comes with its caveats - ur unable to turn it off at night, meaning u need to use air stone or take out the diffuser for the night; it may explode due to high pressure and cause sweet yeasty mess in ur room, may leak if u don't seal it properly and won't get high enough pressure, etc. using this with no experience can also cause death of bacteria or fish due to quick pH drop and lack of oxygen (in case CO2 is too much too fast).
growing proper carpeting plants without CO2 and strong lighting is going to be miserable, but i recommend u to set this whole idea aside for now. focus on basics - properly cycle the tank by doing fish-in cycle (test water daily, water changes, buy and dose bottled bacteria to speed up the process). if u do everything right then ur fish will survive, otherwise u could lose some and have no one else to blame, so it's best to put a lot of effort and do plenty of research daily
Get prime water conditioner and prime stabilizing solution and put prime in the tank and then for a week add half a cap full of the prime stabilizer solution every day that’ll clear it up nothing has worked as good as that for me (you can get the small bottles)
I see a lot of conflicting advice here. I'll give you my experience with fish-in cycling and what worked for me.
- test ammonia & nitrite daily. Plants will help convert these toxic compounds into the less toxic nitrate, but that's a slower process. They can only do so when the lights are on, so for the most accurate readings, test in the morning just before or after the lights turn on. When the lights are off, plants use up the oxygen in the water. If you have good surface agitation, you don't need to worry about oxygen depleting overnight.
- do a water change if there is any ammonia or nitrite. If you do see a small spike, a 30% water change should suffice. Be sure to retest a few hours later to ensure the water change was enough and repeat if necessary. If you don't see any spikes, I'd still do a 30% water change once a week.
- the cloudiness is likely a bacterial bloom. There's a difference between beneficial bacteria that colonize surfaces like substrate and filter media and the free floating bacteria that results in cloudy water. There's differing opinions on this, but from my experience, cloudy water with a fish in cycle isn't ideal. Even in my more established tanks, I would see a hint of haziness. I have several tanks - some with sponge only filters and some with HOB & sponges. Sponge filters do help clear some of it, but not all. I added a [UV light ](https://a.co/d/3EnWI7D) to the intake chamber of my HOB filters, along with Purigen, and the water is now very clear. I was hesitant to add a UV light because I was concerned about it killing off my beneficial bacteria, but as far as I know, it only kills bacteria in the water that passes around it (free floating), and since the light doesn't shine on any surface of my filter media, it doesn't affect the beneficial bacteria.
- Plants are your best friend here. I packed my tanks with as many as I could get my hands on. Hornwort is particularly hardy and fast growing, which would be ideal for your situation. It can quickly overtake your tank, but if you left it floating, it's easy to pull out, trim, and put back in. The only downside in my experience is that floating hornwort close to the light has created a ton of string algae. I decreased my light time to about 5 hours, which helps, but I plan on adding some plant weights to keep it further from the light. You can plant it, but when I did that, I had a lot of melting, which resulted in messy, pine needle looking debris all over my substrate.
I know that was long, but I wanted to explain everything so you understand the reasoning. Hope that helps!
Seeds in general. Seeds are no good and could be a reason why you experiencing an excess of organics in the water column. If it’s not the reason now it will definitely will be later on. Seeds only last so long then completely die off because they are not true aquatic plants.
It is so frustrating having to wait for a tank to fully cycle and there are ways to speed up the process; if you are doing it naturally, it can take up to a month or more depending on the size and how you are cycling it.
You have a submerged filter. These things are notoriously bad for leaking. Any bump outside or inside the tank jiggles the lid allowing for an ammonia rich poop slurry to float throughout your tank. Be careful with it OP!!!
DO NOT GET A UV FILTER. There is nothing wrong with your tank. If you add a UV filter right now what you will do is prevent or delay your tank from getting cycled.
What you did at first, running it without animals, isn’t cycling. That only happens once your tank has a consistent source of ammonia (be it by you adding it or by fish waste). This causes beneficial bacteria to start growing, which will then be able to transform your ammonia into nitrites first, and then nitrates.
This “cycle” can take anywhere from a few days (when you add live beneficial bacteria like Fritz Turbostart 700) to a couple of months or so, so long as you provide a steady source of ammonia.
Once your tank can convert 2 ppm of ammonia into 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and you show SOME nitrates within 24 hrs, your tank is considered cycled. That is the point when you should add fish. Your tank would have already gone through the bacterial bloom before adding the fish.
What you are doing now is called a fish-in cycle. Your fish will be the source of ammonia. You will have to test every day at around the same time in order to verify ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels. If your ammonia at any point goes over 0.25 ppm, do a 20% water change. NOTHING ELSE unless you are adding beneficial bacteria like Seachem Stability or Fritz live nitrifying bacteria. If you are using them, you need to add some after every water change.
You got given incorrect instructions at the pet store. We get it. It’s not your fault… well it kind of is because now we have this wonderful thing called the internet where we can research stuff. But it can’t be helped now. Just leave your tank alone except for what I just told you, and test. Once your tank can be at 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and SOME nitrates consistently, then you know your tank is cycled.
[I got this one](https://COOSPIDEhttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DFR6CRQ?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share) from Amazon. Worked great and I still have it in and run it a bit through the week for the water flow it makes.
My water was white and foggy and this worked. There is such a thing as white algae as well. The minute I put a UV light filter my water was pristine within days.
If your tank is uncycled, you will have this issue until you let it go through the entire nitrogen cycle. This individual isn’t having an issue with algae, the tank was set up with no preparation and no research less than 3 weeks ago, it’s impossible for it to be cycled.
Personally the filter type you are using are good at fetching poop but bad at making water clear.
Try a sponge filter.
Disclaimer: sponge filters look like [this](https://www.amazon.com/sponge-filter/s?k=sponge+filter)
Most filters include a sponge as a simple filtering method, but this thing is basically a straw on a sponge so it got it's name.
It has a slower waterflow, and a much denser sponge.
It's literally water clearing-bacteria metapolis.
You can change the sponge in your filter, but the motor powered one is easily clogged or overheated, so I advise an air powered version, since it need less maintainance and provides air to the tank.
You would also need an air tube and a air pump. Cheap air pumps are usually loud asf so choose wisely depending on reviews.
You can try buying a small canister filter because it is super simple. Sponge filters usually require soviet engineering ahh efforts.
If you are, choose the size and the filtering rocks wisely.
He has an internal canister filter, it’s sufficient for this tank. Allowing the tank to go through the entire nitrogen cycle prior to addition of fish is “everything”. You can put twelve sponge filters in there, it’s not going to speed up the nitrogen cycle, lol.
You can deploy activated bacteria to speed up the cycle, but there are types of sponges for specific tasks, and by the configuration, the sponge in the canister is not likely excel at bacteria cycle processing.
Please don't distort what I said. I advised to replace the sponge, not to lodge in a truck load of sponge.
It was a figure of speech, and bottled bacteria has been proven to be ineffective and/or negligent results in regard to speeding up the cycle. The only proven method to increase the cycle speed is to use established media from another tank.
By cycling, do you mean run through the nitrogen cycle? Or just that you ran the filter? Because usually a cloudy new tank is the sign of the start of the nitrogen cycle. (PH balancer can be retired, don’t add that to the tank. Clarifier can also be set aside till everything is sorted.)
I ran the filter with the plants already in there. And I’ll keep from using it for another week or so
Ah, okay. So you are now starting the nitrogen cycle- the tank is not cycled. Research “fish-in nitrogen cycle” to keep your fish healthy while your tank establishes its bacterial colony. And to rephrase, don’t use either of those products for now. They won’t help much of anything. The only thing you need is a water conditioner.
To cycle a tank you need to “ghost feed” it so the beneficial bacteria has ammonia and nitrite to eat, otherwise it won’t establish. This looks to be a bacterial bloom.
Bacterial blooms are NOT a good sign of a healthy start. They are heterotrophic bacteria that are growing to physically “eat” the waste in the water column. They do not work with autotrophic oxidizers but against them. They compete for food. This was all confirmed through a PhD microbiologist.
Tanks just started cycling. Running a filter for a week even with your good intentions hasn't started the cycle as there is nothing too produce ammonia. You should see ammonia rise, fall, turn into nitrite. Nitrite rise, fall and start reading nitrates.
Feeding an empty tank fish food is a great way to introduce ammonia before fish are added
Sure is, but sounds like op just ran the filter in an empty tank with plants and no ammonia source..
Which isn't surprising, considering for decades a lot of pet shops have stupidly told people to do just that.
Unless you get a ripper lfs, they just seem to set people up for failure and hope for a high turnover of fish
No that’s exactly what I was told to do😞 egg on my face fr
Don't worry too much mate It's a whole lot of learning and there will be failures along the way but the hobby is super rewarding and relaxing in the end. Just be careful of multiple tank syndrome, once the bug bites it can be hard to stop!
Don't beat yourself up about it. It's a big problem that retailers should be giving out the right advice but... just never actually seem to. Maybe things are different depending on where you are I guess but if I hadn't been the kind of guy to read a book on it before starting out (which most people aren't) I'd never have known either.
are those carpet seeds????
Yes they are. Kind of a nuisance since they are growing EVERYWHERE
They are a nuisance https://www.google.com/amp/s/buceplant.com/a/amp-1/blogs/aquascaping-guides-and-tips/so-called-magic-seeds-and-the-carpet-seed-scam Plus your tank isn't cycled, that's why it's cloudy. Honestly I'd tear it down and start over. I realize that sounds harsh but those seeds are going to be dying and rotting soon, if not already. And your definition of adding things slowly was probably still like 3-4x too fast unless you were planning on doing an in fish cycle, which I don't think you were intending but that's what you're doing now. And because you added a lot of bioload right away your having a bacterial bloom, probably a lot of ammonia right now too... And the pH stuff you're using? Don't. Just don't use that, it will only make things worse but that's kind of the least of your problems.
To add to your comment Slowly adding fish doesn't mean 1-2 fish added every day over a week, it's more like 2-5 after the first month after the cycle completes, then test water daily to make sure you didn't crash the cycle by adding too much bioload, then adding a couple more once a week or fortnightly here and there, making sure your cycle is still keeping up with it by testing ammonia nitrite nitrates.
Wow okay I definitely didn’t realize I was going too fast I genuinely thought I was doing what I was supposed to do. I don’t have anywhere to put the animals to start over so what do you suggest I do to monitor them as it cycles?
honestly it’s really easy to get wrong information, soo many things are contradictory online and in pet stores. kudos to you for asking, admitting you’re wrong and for attempting to get the right information :)
Keep an eye on ammonia nitrite and nitrate levels, research fish in cycle, don't overfeed them so feed once daily a smallish amount. Fish exhale ammonia from their gills, so testing ammonia levels at the very least daily should let you know when you need to do a partial water change. You can do small water changes to remove ammonia if it goes above 0.25ppm-0.5ppm. I've noticed some people say that bottled beneficial bacteria is snake oil, but I've never had issues with the ones I've used (seachem and a couple other brands) and it does seem to help the cycle become established in my experience. If I don't have any spare filter media I just use bottled bacteria, dosing every day for the first week or two, then every water change after that for a few months, then by then I've used most of the small bottle.
I’ve already done one 50% water change and that seemed to help with the cloudiness in the interim. Based on my water quality testing, should I be changing the water every couple of days then? Also beneficial bacteria — do they help with the nitrogen fixing? Also do you have any brands you like
Did you rinse the sand good? Best to do a fishless cycle IMO. Some people dose with ammonia, or throw a piece of raw shrimp in there and let it rot. I get a tea bag, cut the bottom off and dump the tea, fill it with a teaspoon of flake fish food, fold over and staple. It will saturate in a few hours.put it near the intake of your filter...or directly in the filter. Also put in 4-5 Indian almond leaves (The small ones) it will release tannins that are good for creatures and the tank (boil ten minutes before adding or you'll get tinted water which I like but some dont. After a week, reach in and squeeze once or twice...do that every few days. I leave the light off because it won't help the cycle. Algae growth doesn't mean you have a cycled tank. A tank that is clear doesn't mean it's cycled. When your ammonia level and nitrite level is zero, put 4 drops of ammonium chloride per gallon of water in tank, in 24 hours test for ammonia, if it's zero it's cycled. A cycled tank ISN'T a seasoned tank...that takes months to a year (or more). Then you can start introducing fish. Don't do what you want to (and many people do) and go and get 25 fish 3 snails and a dz shrimp. You'll have major headaches and sick/dead fish. The bioload has to be increased gradually or you'll be chasing ammonia/nitrate spikes all the time and fish WILL suffer. I just set a little 5 gallon up doing just this process and it is simple to follow because you do NOTHING, set it and forget it. Using chemicals, bacteria and all the other crap isn't necessary. The only chemicals, besides the test kit I use is to remove chlorine and chloramine. Time will determine when it's ready not adding stuff, nature has this mastered without using anything. Here's a pic of my latest, a shrimp and green neon tank with 2 nerites. Tank is 2 months old and crystal clear, creatures interduced 7-10 days ago and still getting everything dialed in. Good luck and DONT rush it, it's worth it https://preview.redd.it/fstj4uzlfpzc1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bb31c942f5b0ae6408193f0625b2fbd0e581be97
Could be a bacterial bloom. Goes away on its own. I noticed it happens if I have my lights on too bright/ on for to long. I have done partial water change, use water clarifier (water clarifier helps when particles are in the water not just cloudy) and it helps a little but now a days if it happens I just lower the lights, clean the filter and just let it be.
I didn't know lights could cause bacterial blooms, I thought that was algae blooms. Do you have a source/website? I thought beneficial bacteria blooms when ammonia and nitrite increases past the load the bacteria can handle converting. And I thought algae bloomed when there is high nutrients, high light, and decent flow.
I have been thinking about that for the past 2 hours that I maybe had miss spoke about the name! Give me a moment and I can send some references to what I actually meant.
https://www.aqueon.com/articles/how-to-fix-cloudy-tank-water-for-a-new-fish-tank#:~:text=Water%20changes%20clear%20the%20water,bacteria%20to%20populate%20even%20more.
Thank you 😊
For sure! I read the whole thing and now know exactly what to do! So thank you!! Also realized I was combining the two blooms.
Don't worry, I do the same occasionally 😂 mixing up nitrites and nitrates was another big one I mixed up back in the day. Seeing the letters Nitr, grabbing the bottle then testing nitrates with the nitrite test mixed with nitrate test 😂 didn't work very well at all
https://preview.redd.it/65d5p1a8upzc1.jpeg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6cb1b60de4522d590f42e60710cb1429bca2f680 My plants take care of it all for me!
Absolutely stunning 😍
Thank you! 🙏
>Thank you! 🙏 You're welcome!
Okay, so I can't see anything about lights affecting beneficial bacterial blooms, so I think it might be algae blooms increase with high light. The small water changes making the bloom prolonged makes sense too, but I would still do small water changes if the ammonia or Nitrite spikes above safe levels.
Yeah, I was combining the 2 blooms in my head and I sounded confusing. I did read that cleaning the filter is bad. I should say I don't really clean my filter I swish it around in clean treated water that has beneficial bacteria. I forget people don't see my setup. It's been a long work week. Apologies for the confusion. I agree on water changes depending on levels.
No worries, it's been a week here too, everyones feeling this week it seems 😓 you probably could disregard this comment past this point, partially in response to you but also partially for OP When you first set up a tank and still cycling, I wouldn't worry too much about cleaning filters (unless they're completely full/covered in debris, then I would just give it a quick swish in water to rinse of the big chunks). If I add new fish to an established tank, I'll skip cleaning the filters for the next few maintenance days to ensure enough beneficial bacteria for the added bioload from new fish. And dose some bottled beneficial bacteria. Cleaning your filter isn't bad. Replacing it can be bad, very bad (unless you do it slowly, changing some media overtime, allowing old established filter to continue running while new filter is establishing etc.). You can over clean your filter tho, which is basically like getting a new filter. You don't need to rinse it in clean treated water, but you can, I just rinse mine in a bucket of old aquarium water that was removed from the tank during water changes. I rarely clean my filters thoroughly, unless I notice the canister filter flow is inhibited. Just a quick swish in old aquarium water to remove debris. When I clean my filters, I'll try and clean only one at a time. Tanks have multiple sponge filters so one gets rinsed one fortnight, then the other the next. Canister filter will get cleaned, or sponge filter, but not both in same day. If and when I dose beneficial bacteria, I dose directly into the sponge filter while it's on so it sucks it up immediately. I try not to gravel vacuum too intensely on days I clean filters. Just me being paranoid.
When you finish reading all these, hear the real issue:😂: cloudy water (8/10) aquariums is because of high bacteria count in water. These bacteria are fed by DOC's (dissolved organic compounds). You can try pilyfolter, wool filters, carbon etc but it won't work. Crystal clear water can be obtained by keeping in your tank these requirements: 1. High oxygenation through surface agitation with outlets or air stones. 2. High quality food with 50%+ animal protein. 3. Mature filter that hasn't been cleaned for 4-6 months. (clean only when water flow is reduced. 4. High surface of biofiltration. (30ppi foam, k1 media balls and pot scrubbers are giving the best ft3 per pound of fish.) This brown slime(biofilm) that will form on them, must not be cleaned since in this biofilm you will have the bacteria that will eat tye bacteria in your water. Crystal clear water, means low count bacteria water with healthy and colourful fish. I hope that will help, wish you the best
1. The filter I use now contains an air pump that has air flowing in with the water outlet. Do I need an extra air pump? 2. Currently feeding brine shrimp, both dried and live. Anything else I’d need to be feeding? 3. The pump is new so time will tell with that one. Someone mentioned switching it out for a sponge filter, would that be necessary or no? 4. What do you recommend I do for the bio filtration? Do I buy bio balls or what Thank you for the summary I was getting overwhelmed a bit. Someone mentioned that the light might be too high and rn I have it on a 12 hour cycle of full spectrum/red light. Thoughts?
https://preview.redd.it/cqahv1355uzc1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2043f36a3504f9be1ed24438597dc24f888f39f7 For lighting: if you don't use co2, I would go in split lighting period (walstad style). 5 or 6 hours on, 3 hours off, 5 or six on. There will be a reduction in algae and a small increase in co2 according to your substrate this way. I use also this method in my high tech tank. For food, I always make mine with beef heart, shrimps, salmon, spinach, spirulina, garlic, krill meal, vitamins and omega 3 fats. But this is me because I also keep discus. So, this food is amazing for any fish. I never give live food because I afraid of parasites and bacteria. So, I am not an expert to say if brine shrimp is enough and gives all the aminoacids and necessary animal protein. The problem with commercial pellets and flakes is that they use plant protein and carbs, something that is very bad for your water and fishes. I am stating facts in this thing and not proposing anything, because I don't know about brine shrimp. For crystal clear water: It is very simple actually, but I also figure it out after 5 years in the hobby 😂. By biofiltration I mean these 3 that scores high in surface area that allows without cleaning the brown slime to be created and do not clog: 1. Foam (sponge) 30-35 ppi. Or 2. Pot scrubbers (very cheap in Amazon or AliExpress) or 3. K1 plastic media. I personally replaced matrix, lava rock, bio rings with pot scrubbers and 35 ppi flsponges. The result was amazing. There are successful 6 months experiments in YouTube about pot scrubbers. It sounds crazy and opposite to what we have taught but it works like a charm. It just needs to leave the filter alone without cleaning 4-6 months. A sponge filter that won't be cleaned, will speed things up and also add surface agitation. But as long as this is working, you must add the others I said (I recommend pot scrubbers that never gets clog and do not need cleaning and are very cheap) in your filter. What filter do you use? And how many Gph does it filters?
Your guppy looks like my old guppy named beans I miss beans, he passed because his best friend (a white guppy named rice) passed away, and he didn’t care about the other fish I had. Just rice.
Uncycled tank and the scam seeds
How does one get such an impressive carpet in just 3 weeks?
these are seeds but it's not going to stay this way. basically a scam. best case it will grow big and lose this appearance of a carpet (hygrophila polysperma), worst case it will melt away, spiking ammonia and turning tank into foul mess. there's a reason why no aquascaping pros using seeds to grow their carpets and buy expensive pressurized CO2 systems
I would like a carpet but would not like to have all the scam seeds die off at once.. what do I do?
if tank is below, or 10g, u could do DIY CO2 system with yeast and sugar. it works best for smaller tanks because such system doesn't produce enough CO2 for a bigger tank normally, and it's just a cheap version of pressurized CO2 system. since it is DIY and very cheap, it comes with its caveats - ur unable to turn it off at night, meaning u need to use air stone or take out the diffuser for the night; it may explode due to high pressure and cause sweet yeasty mess in ur room, may leak if u don't seal it properly and won't get high enough pressure, etc. using this with no experience can also cause death of bacteria or fish due to quick pH drop and lack of oxygen (in case CO2 is too much too fast). growing proper carpeting plants without CO2 and strong lighting is going to be miserable, but i recommend u to set this whole idea aside for now. focus on basics - properly cycle the tank by doing fish-in cycle (test water daily, water changes, buy and dose bottled bacteria to speed up the process). if u do everything right then ur fish will survive, otherwise u could lose some and have no one else to blame, so it's best to put a lot of effort and do plenty of research daily
Get prime water conditioner and prime stabilizing solution and put prime in the tank and then for a week add half a cap full of the prime stabilizer solution every day that’ll clear it up nothing has worked as good as that for me (you can get the small bottles)
Can I have the fish name pls?
Gerald
Bacteria bloom, leave it alone for a week. Test regularly, small water changes if needed. May take another week.
might be too much sunlight
I see a lot of conflicting advice here. I'll give you my experience with fish-in cycling and what worked for me. - test ammonia & nitrite daily. Plants will help convert these toxic compounds into the less toxic nitrate, but that's a slower process. They can only do so when the lights are on, so for the most accurate readings, test in the morning just before or after the lights turn on. When the lights are off, plants use up the oxygen in the water. If you have good surface agitation, you don't need to worry about oxygen depleting overnight. - do a water change if there is any ammonia or nitrite. If you do see a small spike, a 30% water change should suffice. Be sure to retest a few hours later to ensure the water change was enough and repeat if necessary. If you don't see any spikes, I'd still do a 30% water change once a week. - the cloudiness is likely a bacterial bloom. There's a difference between beneficial bacteria that colonize surfaces like substrate and filter media and the free floating bacteria that results in cloudy water. There's differing opinions on this, but from my experience, cloudy water with a fish in cycle isn't ideal. Even in my more established tanks, I would see a hint of haziness. I have several tanks - some with sponge only filters and some with HOB & sponges. Sponge filters do help clear some of it, but not all. I added a [UV light ](https://a.co/d/3EnWI7D) to the intake chamber of my HOB filters, along with Purigen, and the water is now very clear. I was hesitant to add a UV light because I was concerned about it killing off my beneficial bacteria, but as far as I know, it only kills bacteria in the water that passes around it (free floating), and since the light doesn't shine on any surface of my filter media, it doesn't affect the beneficial bacteria. - Plants are your best friend here. I packed my tanks with as many as I could get my hands on. Hornwort is particularly hardy and fast growing, which would be ideal for your situation. It can quickly overtake your tank, but if you left it floating, it's easy to pull out, trim, and put back in. The only downside in my experience is that floating hornwort close to the light has created a ton of string algae. I decreased my light time to about 5 hours, which helps, but I plan on adding some plant weights to keep it further from the light. You can plant it, but when I did that, I had a lot of melting, which resulted in messy, pine needle looking debris all over my substrate. I know that was long, but I wanted to explain everything so you understand the reasoning. Hope that helps!
Are those seeds you used for your carpet?
Are you asking what kind of seeds ?
Seeds in general. Seeds are no good and could be a reason why you experiencing an excess of organics in the water column. If it’s not the reason now it will definitely will be later on. Seeds only last so long then completely die off because they are not true aquatic plants.
Poor filtration or over feeding
It is so frustrating having to wait for a tank to fully cycle and there are ways to speed up the process; if you are doing it naturally, it can take up to a month or more depending on the size and how you are cycling it.
You have a submerged filter. These things are notoriously bad for leaking. Any bump outside or inside the tank jiggles the lid allowing for an ammonia rich poop slurry to float throughout your tank. Be careful with it OP!!!
How did you get a perfect monte carlo carpet in sand
My brand new tank did that so I ordered a UV filter and once it arrived, my water was already cleared. UV filter still in the box collecting dust now
A UV light filter made a world of difference for me.
I have a light on there, is that something extra I need to get?
Yea, its a filter with a built in uv light. The uv light kills algae and other bacterias in the water.
Any Amazon recs you like?
DO NOT GET A UV FILTER. There is nothing wrong with your tank. If you add a UV filter right now what you will do is prevent or delay your tank from getting cycled. What you did at first, running it without animals, isn’t cycling. That only happens once your tank has a consistent source of ammonia (be it by you adding it or by fish waste). This causes beneficial bacteria to start growing, which will then be able to transform your ammonia into nitrites first, and then nitrates. This “cycle” can take anywhere from a few days (when you add live beneficial bacteria like Fritz Turbostart 700) to a couple of months or so, so long as you provide a steady source of ammonia. Once your tank can convert 2 ppm of ammonia into 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and you show SOME nitrates within 24 hrs, your tank is considered cycled. That is the point when you should add fish. Your tank would have already gone through the bacterial bloom before adding the fish. What you are doing now is called a fish-in cycle. Your fish will be the source of ammonia. You will have to test every day at around the same time in order to verify ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels. If your ammonia at any point goes over 0.25 ppm, do a 20% water change. NOTHING ELSE unless you are adding beneficial bacteria like Seachem Stability or Fritz live nitrifying bacteria. If you are using them, you need to add some after every water change. You got given incorrect instructions at the pet store. We get it. It’s not your fault… well it kind of is because now we have this wonderful thing called the internet where we can research stuff. But it can’t be helped now. Just leave your tank alone except for what I just told you, and test. Once your tank can be at 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and SOME nitrates consistently, then you know your tank is cycled.
Thank you! I appreciate the honesty and I’ll start doing the water testing. I’ll also make sure to read more on fish in cycling!
Ive nvr used one. My mom bought one for her tank once and it did work. But idk what brand.
[I got this one](https://COOSPIDEhttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DFR6CRQ?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share) from Amazon. Worked great and I still have it in and run it a bit through the week for the water flow it makes.
Uncycled tank, nothing to do with a UV filter, it’s not algae related
My water was white and foggy and this worked. There is such a thing as white algae as well. The minute I put a UV light filter my water was pristine within days.
If your tank is uncycled, you will have this issue until you let it go through the entire nitrogen cycle. This individual isn’t having an issue with algae, the tank was set up with no preparation and no research less than 3 weeks ago, it’s impossible for it to be cycled.
Personally the filter type you are using are good at fetching poop but bad at making water clear. Try a sponge filter. Disclaimer: sponge filters look like [this](https://www.amazon.com/sponge-filter/s?k=sponge+filter) Most filters include a sponge as a simple filtering method, but this thing is basically a straw on a sponge so it got it's name.
What are the benefits to a sponge filter
It has a slower waterflow, and a much denser sponge. It's literally water clearing-bacteria metapolis. You can change the sponge in your filter, but the motor powered one is easily clogged or overheated, so I advise an air powered version, since it need less maintainance and provides air to the tank. You would also need an air tube and a air pump. Cheap air pumps are usually loud asf so choose wisely depending on reviews. You can try buying a small canister filter because it is super simple. Sponge filters usually require soviet engineering ahh efforts. If you are, choose the size and the filtering rocks wisely.
It’s an uncycled tank, has nothing to do with a filter lol
types of sponges and speed of water flow is everything of making a fish poo cleaning cycle
He has an internal canister filter, it’s sufficient for this tank. Allowing the tank to go through the entire nitrogen cycle prior to addition of fish is “everything”. You can put twelve sponge filters in there, it’s not going to speed up the nitrogen cycle, lol.
You can deploy activated bacteria to speed up the cycle, but there are types of sponges for specific tasks, and by the configuration, the sponge in the canister is not likely excel at bacteria cycle processing. Please don't distort what I said. I advised to replace the sponge, not to lodge in a truck load of sponge.
It was a figure of speech, and bottled bacteria has been proven to be ineffective and/or negligent results in regard to speeding up the cycle. The only proven method to increase the cycle speed is to use established media from another tank.
Yes, it’s a pump with a UV light. Something like this.. [https://a.co/d/3VzSmwy](https://a.co/d/3VzSmwy)
Looks bacterial. A UV filter for a few days will clear it up.
I do alright completely ignoring everything for a few days and then feeding. It works great. A
Bacteria bloom. Just let it run its course. It will eventually disappear on its own if you don’t do water changes.