Wet/Dry Filter for 180 creating FOAM?!

[CrystaliZed]

Hey MFK...

Urgent question here...

We've set up our 180 gallon today, after making sure our custom rock wall was secured. Filled w/ H20, added Stability & SafeStart along w/ 4 bags of old media from my 55 gall laying on top of the bioballs... We've been cycling the water now for a few hours and we have a LOT of FOAM building in 2 bins of the wet/dry filter... Anyone know what may be causing this & how to fix it?

 

[Piscine]

You didn't add any pimafix or melafix did you? (can't see why you would, just asking)

What are you cycling with? If you are using store bought ammonia, make sure it contains no surfactants.

 

[CrystaliZed]

Just cycled it w/ what I stated above... no medicating it b/c we're getting it ready for fish...

I've added Prime, Stability & SafeStart along w/ carbon & 4 bags of already cycled media laying on the bioballs of this tank...

Right now the ammonia is high - 2.0
pH - 7.2
Nitrates - 0.0
Nitrites - 0.0

Maybe I need to get test kits for testing more of the water quality...

I'm wondering if something from the rock wall we've created is affecting this such...

 

[Piscine]

Just cycled it w/ what I stated above... no medicating it b/c we're getting it ready for fish...

I've added Prime, Stability & SafeStart along w/ carbon & 4 bags of already cycled media laying on the bioballs of this tank...

Right now the ammonia is high - 2.0
pH - 7.2
Nitrates - 0.0
Nitrites - 0.0

Maybe I need to get test kits for testing more of the water quality...

I'm wondering if something from the rock wall we've created is affecting this such...

What products did you use for the rock wall?

There's no fish and you already have ammonia???

Was the media in use right before you began using it in the new tank?

Something isn't adding up here....

 

[CrystaliZed]

Normal aquarium products were used for the rock wall creation such as silicone for adhering the rock wall... we also used polystyrene for the actual creation of it. The ONLY thing I can think of that would be causing an issue is the paint we used, but it was a non-toxic epoxy. It is very strange that we do have such a high ammonia rate right now... the foam is building heavily in the first bin of the wet/dry filter where the 3 filter socks are & flowing over into the area where the bb's are...

 

[Piscine]

Please be specific when answering.

What are you calling "normal aquarium products"?

Again, there are NO FISH in the aquarium and you haven't added any ammonia products, correct?

What kind of paint did you use?


Just the simple fact that you have ammonia with no fish is a big red flag.

 

[CrystaliZed]

Silicone to adhere the wall...
Polystyrene to build the wall...
Non-toxic epoxy paint for the wall...

No fish yet. Its a new tank set up...

No ammonia products used...

 

[Piscine]

Silicone to adhere the wall...
Polustyrene to build the wall...
Non-toxic epoxy paint for the wall...

No fish yet. Its a new tank set up...

No ammonia products used...

What brand and types of these products did you use?

Yes, it matters.

 

[CrystaliZed]

Owens Corning Polystyrene. GE Silicone II clear. Deck Restore paint epoxy.

When water was put in we cycled Stability, Prime and SafeStart.

 

[CrystaliZed]

Just found out the bf accidentially cleaned the tank w/ windex and glass cleaner - which obviously HAS ammonia... Ugh... So what now? ...and water change? A couple fish places said w/ ammonia at 2.0 it'd take about 10-14 days to cycle this crap out so i've also upped the stability and prime dosage.