If the water is grayish and has a swampy odor you are having a bacterial bloom. Your bacterial culture in the used filter probably experienced a die back and will need to regrow enough to catch up with your bioload. I would recommend not fiddling with it very much, just keep doing 25-30% waterchanges every couple days and if you can get some add a couple tbs of filter sludge from a healthy filter to your filter pads. It takes a little longer to clear up a tank than it does to cycle in a new one but it should clear in a week or so Make sure not to over feed and as long as your fish are not starving now I would only feed every other day until the tank clears.
STINKY water from new tank
- Thread starter billylee
- Start date
Alright, my nitrite is 0, my ammonia is 0, and my PH is 6.6
I thought I cycled my tank using the established 1 1/2 year old
Emperor filter from another tank.
If this tank is still cycling, shouldn't I get some weird readings with
the ammonia and nitrite. Same if its going thru a bacteria bloom?
I thought I cycled my tank using the established 1 1/2 year old
Emperor filter from another tank.
If this tank is still cycling, shouldn't I get some weird readings with
the ammonia and nitrite. Same if its going thru a bacteria bloom?
billylee said:Alright, my nitrite is 0, my ammonia is 0, and my PH is 6.6
I thought I cycled my tank using the established 1 1/2 year old
Emperor filter from another tank.
If this tank is still cycling, shouldn't I get some weird readings with
the ammonia and nitrite. Same if its going thru a bacteria bloom?
yes you should. that filter probably took care of it.
try using some carbon for a few days. Load up the filters with it.
Yeah, true, bacteria does not need clear, clean water, but I am not keeping bacteria. I am keeping fish, and fish needs clear, clean water. Bacteria will grow by themselves without any help from anyone because they feed on wastes. If you do something and it was successful, I don't mind mentioning it. Did i say, I would not advise this process to anyone? I am saying I did it, and I was successful. That is how I've done my tanks since the beginning. I tried cycling tanks like the fish stores suggests on little tanks, like 10, 20, and 30, up to 60 gallons, and it works great. But big tanks, with little fish. It's mostly water management. I don't have to do what the rest of the world is doing, since my technique works great for me. Just make sure that chlorine is removed from the water you are using.
Bada Bing!
If you had a die off of some of the bacteria in the filter other bacteria will eat their decomp products causing a brief greywater bloom, Your bioload remains close to the same and your readings barely flucuate, the main difference is that instead of being in the filter the current batch of bacteria is free floating.
Vince said:and fish needs clear, clean water. Bacteria will grow by themselves without any help from anyone
Bada Bing!
incorrect again.
Fish do not need clear/clean water.
"clean" is subjective to personal opinion.
also, Bacteria in a fishtank do infact need "help". You cannot just expect bacteria to grow without a food source.
one word biospira. cycled the 220 instantly. never had ammonia or nitrite and started reading nitrate by day 3.. that stuff is hands down the best "miracle cycle product " on the market and believe me in my newbie days I tried them all. Stupid me
OK, well you have fish in there, and you feed it. Therefore, the wastes the fish produces becomes food for the bacteria. If you have a media from an established tank, the bacteria WILL reproduced and create more bacteria. Changing water aids the bacteria by lessening the ammonia in the water, and in turn also aids the fish against ammonia. If ammonia is contained to low levels, nitrite production is less. And addition of new water again creates an environment with less nitrate. It's not rocket science.
