[PlantMan44]

Hello Everyone,
I'm James, St.Petersburg, FL resident, recently getting back into aquariums. I started a 75 gallon planted tank 2 weeks ago and having some trouble already....

Water
PH----7.5/7.6
Nitrate----0ppm
Nitrite----0 ppm
Ammonia----.25ppm

Filter---Penn Plax 1500, 350gph up to 200 gallon aquariums, with fluval bio rings, seachem matrix, seachem purigan, 1 filter floss, 1 filter coarse sponge
Basically all biological, no carbon

Lighting----48" Finnex Ray2 & 48" Current USA Plus model, both are LED

Substrate-----80lbs of Eco-Complete & 25lbs of standard aquarium gravel

My Tank has a grey haze over it and i cannot seem to clear it up....really need some help!!!

 

[quiquik]

If you started the tank 2 wks ago it is not cycled. Do you know about cycling a new tank? If not you can google it or look on this forum for info.

 

[Termato]

Like quiquik is saying, you are experiencing the effects of a cycle. What you are seeing is an algae bloom but it's not harmful. The ammonia in your tank is though.

I'd do a 30-50% water change as soon as possible to remove the ammonia. I'd also do as quiquik suggested and read a bit on the nitrogen cycle. You'll want to test your water daily and if you see any ammonia, simply do a water change. Any nitrite, water change. Nitrate over 40ppm, water change.

At this point, if you don't have a water test kit, I'd recommend getting one. API Freshwater Master Test Kit is advised due to it's accuracy. Water based test are more accurate than strips.

 

[PlantMan44]

10-4 guys, Thanks so much. Scared me a little, ammonia has dropped to zero today and yes i do have api master test kit, i love it! Any suggestions of using Seachem Stability to speed up cycling process? i used 100ml bottle over the course of a week, can i continue to use it if i get some more?

 

[Termato]

10-4 guys, Thanks so much. Scared me a little, ammonia has dropped to zero today and yes i do have api master test kit, i love it! Any suggestions of using Seachem Stability to speed up cycling process? i used 100ml bottle over the course of a week, can i continue to use it if i get some more?

Not a problem, glad to help.

Did the ammonia do that by itself or was it due to a water change. If it happened by itself, that could symbol that enough nitrifying bacteria have breed in your tank for it to move to the next phase. At this point you want to keep a closer eye on the tank as Nitrite will start to appear. It's far more poisonous than ammonia (if you have living creatures in there I'd do a good water change if you see any nitrite). If you get any in your readings then you know it's progressing.

If your ammonia level went down from water changes, just keep a close eye on the tank.

I have absolutely no experience with Seachem Stability but from reading about it on Seachems website it certainly wont hurt to introduce more bacteria into the tank.

I want to give you a bit of insight on what I do and I don't experience any cycling effects. I take media from an already established tank which has beneficial bacteria on it. Let's say I took half the media out of a 75G that was fully stocked. I put that media into a 29G tank that is lightly stocked. This media from the 75 (half) should be able to withstand a fully stocked 29G (should). When I put that media into a lightly stocked 29, I see literally no side effects because the bacteria start working and don't get over-run. These beneficial bacteria will double in numbers every 24 hours. The cloudy bacteria you see doubles every 1-2 hours. Different growth rates and a big reason why water changes wont clear your water up for now. It takes a bit of time for the colony of beneficial bacteria to develop. Because I don't know how much Seachem's Stability really does or can do, I can't speak towards that. Hopefully this gives you some insight on the process though.

 

[caique]

What is your tap water reading if you check for ammonia .25 is just a trace and you could have that in your tap or after adding Prime water conditioner.