New Tank Problems

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bhallg2k

AC Members
Jul 24, 2006
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I've tried searching the forums for help before posting this, but since I don't know exactly what's going on, I don't know what to look for.

At any rate, I've got a new 29 gallon tank with a Penguin Bio-Wheel 350. The tank has been set up and running since Sunday (no fish yet). Last night, I noticed tiny brown particles floating around the water surface. The only thing I know to compare them to are tiny clumps of plankton, even though I know that's not what they are. Today I noticed some faint white streaks along the inside front of the tank in the direction of the water flow from the fliter. They almost look like finger smudges. Again, they aren't that. Anyone have any idea what the particles and streaks are?

I did a water test. Ph is 7.8, no ammonia, nitrates and nitrites at 5 ppm. My guess is that the nitrates and nitrites are coming from the Stress Zyme. Water temp is a constant 77 degrees.

I asked someone at Petsmart and her idea was to just start over. Before I do that though, I'd like to solicit some other opinions. Any help would be much appreciated.
 
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Hello there. Stop using Stress Zyme. It contains the wrong type of bacteria for an aquarium. It will just die in the tank, and massive bacteria die-offs can contribute to ammonia or nitrite spikes. Hope this helps. :)
 
Thanks for the tip. But I'm not too worried about the nitrate and nitrite levels yet, unless those are what's causing the floating particles and streaking.
 
I agree with KHOMBRE bacteria die offs may be the cause but also
you should not be showing nitrites or nitrates yet in fact if nitrate is at 5 ppm then nitrite should not be that high at all ammonia is what starts the cycle are you doing a fishless cycle? I am assuming this is a freshwater tank? Are the particles loose gravel or other tank matter. The white marks may be from the water bubbles that form. The white may be good bacteria sticking to the glass where the bubbles are at. I would not start over unless the nitrites are at 5 ppm this is very dangerous to fish it sounds like you may want to test again nitrites like i said should not even be showing up yet unless you have ammonia present in your water. Test your tap water for ammonia and nitrate post the results.
 
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Read up on fishless cycling here on AC... a search should pull up some good articles.
 
The particles aren't from anything in the tank. They didn't show up until a couple of days after initial set up. And I'm not so sure that the streaks come from any sort of bubbles, unless those bubbles are nearly microscopic - which I'm open to.

A tap water test shows perhaps some ammonia. The tested water's color is in between the yellow for none and light green for 5 ppm. Nitrates for the tap water are 5ppm.

This was so much easier when I lived in Tennessee. I never had water problems. **** this Jersey water.
 
I think your ammonia is at .5 ppm, not 5 ppm. The light green on most testing kits is the lower levels, which would be .25-.5 depending on your test. 5ppm is cause for serious alarm.
 
joylynn said:
I think your ammonia is at .5 ppm, not 5 ppm. The light green on most testing kits is the lower levels, which would be .25-.5 depending on your test. 5ppm is cause for serious alarm.
Click to expand...

You're right. I confused myself doing two tests at once. Ammonia looked to be between 0 and .25.

Thanks for the catch.
 
No problem, levels of 5 start to sort of scare folks on this forum :)
 
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