Well I came back from South Florida where I was visiting family and checked my tank and found one of my probe thermometers in the tank. My ex...bless her heart, fed my cat and various tanks while I was gone. She is good about not over feeding and knows what fish are herbivores and what not...My new 180 had been setup and finished the cycle a week prior. I had between 20-40 NO3, and NO2 and NH3 were 0. I had seeded the tank heavily with a fx4 from another tank, and extra matrix from another tank....along with my various snake oil additives I always add when doing my fast-track cycling method (I have done this same method with great results for over a decade generally never seeing NO2 and going straight into NO3).
Anyways, I have 2 probe thermometers. One on each side to compare temps and check for thermal layering, etc. I discovered one in the tank...she must of accidentally knocked it in and there is know telling how long it was in the tank. Possibly several days. I looked at the latch on the thermometer and it already looked corroded and oxidized...it is less than 4 weeks old ><. So, metal most likely leached in the tank...and metal + not maturely established BB barely cycled=calamity. I immediately checked my paras. I have only performed 2 x 20% pwc's during my cycle I find that it prolongs things lol...my NH3 = 0.25, but my NO2 spiked to ~ 1, NO3=40. I immediately did a 50% pwc change, went ham with the Prime, turned on airstone to mitigate O2 consumption of Prime at 5x dose, bought some stability to add back and give a boost, and through some Poly Filter to help take out the metal in the tank.
Luckily, the fish are not showing any signs of stress, but I am worried that I nuked my BB with the battery in the thermometer...and do not want to poison the fish. Batteries in the tank is bad...mmkay.
Anyways, I have 2 probe thermometers. One on each side to compare temps and check for thermal layering, etc. I discovered one in the tank...she must of accidentally knocked it in and there is know telling how long it was in the tank. Possibly several days. I looked at the latch on the thermometer and it already looked corroded and oxidized...it is less than 4 weeks old ><. So, metal most likely leached in the tank...and metal + not maturely established BB barely cycled=calamity. I immediately checked my paras. I have only performed 2 x 20% pwc's during my cycle I find that it prolongs things lol...my NH3 = 0.25, but my NO2 spiked to ~ 1, NO3=40. I immediately did a 50% pwc change, went ham with the Prime, turned on airstone to mitigate O2 consumption of Prime at 5x dose, bought some stability to add back and give a boost, and through some Poly Filter to help take out the metal in the tank.
Luckily, the fish are not showing any signs of stress, but I am worried that I nuked my BB with the battery in the thermometer...and do not want to poison the fish. Batteries in the tank is bad...mmkay.
