What?

[domjd05]

Ok, so I'm in the middle of cycling my 125, with my 35g sump, using pure ammonia.. currently the tank is really cloudy, and I'm reading slightly over .5ppm ammonia, and there's this funky clearish goopy stuff lining everything inside my sump, and to a lesser extent in the tank.. Is this to be expected with fishless cycling?

Tank temp is 80F

[Scrup]

sounds like a bacteria bloom. Not sure if the goop is part of it though....

[Discus_Dude]

Never had that happen during a fishless cycle.... sorry I couldn't be more help!

[Scrup]

Sorry was about to leave home. Just double check that it is 100% ammonia, and keep up with it. It should clear up on its own. As far as the cause, most likely some sort of organic got in the tank, either in the substrate, or whatever. with no fish in it yet, its nothing to worry about too much.

[domjd05]

The tank has no substrate in it yet

[domjd05]

The ammonia does have surficant in it, but I've read through a few sources that surficants will not harm your fish

[Scrup]

surfactant?
Been a while since chemistry class but it would depend on what surfactant. A commonly used surfactant is soap. Another is laundry detergent.
Honestly IMO it will be a gamble.

An easy way to tell the difference is pure ammonia should not foam when you shake it. If it does, it has additives. You have an ace hardware nearby?

[jaysee]

Surfactants lower the surface tension of water. Not sure how that would affect the fsh...

[domjd05]

On the ingredients it does not list any "soap" ..I really hope I don't have to start over lol.

[Discus_Dude]

Dom, I have two concerns from what I’ve read so far.

1) IS it possible you added too much ammonia to the tank. If so, what happens in this case is that the ammonia will spike very far off the chart, then the nitrite will spike as well (also way off the chart), and it will continue to spike for a very long time. Why? There are a couple of possibilities. The first is that the filter media and surfaces in the tank or oxygen levels are simply insufficient to grow and maintain a bacterial colony massive enough to convert all of the ammonia and all of the nitrite to nitrates. Another likely possibility is that the ammonia levels are high enough to inhibit growth (through a biofeedback mechanism) of the bacteria rather than promoting it. The solution is quite simple, however. If you realize that you've added way too much ammonia, simply do a water change, or if necessary a series of water changes, to bring the ammonia and/or nitrite levels back into the readable range on your test kit. Then proceed as normal with daily additions of ammonia until the tank is cycled.

2) The ammonia surfactants content. Surfactants composition can vary and are used either as a disinfectant or to break surface tension of the water creating suds/foam.

So, depending on your comfort level with the above information, how long your into the cycling process, what your current tank water parameters test results are…. will determine on how you should proceed.

If it were my tank, I would either take the proactive approach, which should resolve both concerns. I would get pure/100% ammonia now from ACE, a drug store dollar store etc. Drain your tank, wipe down your tank and filter surfaces with paper towel, rinse and drain again. Gently rinse your filter media, squeeze and soak sump pre-filter sponges/pads with warm non-chlorinated water. Refill tank and add pure ammonia to reach 4-5ppm. Caution NOT to vigorously rinse/clean the filter media, filter sponges/pads, so as to not disturb any of the bacterial colony that may have started as determined by your water test results if nitrites/nitrates readings appear.

The reactive option is to wait until the tank is fully cycled and do the above just prior to adding fish, add a small amount of pure ammonia to get a reading and if is consumed overnight, proceed as you would in your fishless cycle.

Hope this helps!

[gadget228]

The ammonia does have surficant in it, but I've read through a few sources that surficants will not harm your fish

Have you seen this sticky by Lady Hobbs , there is a personal note about using ammonia with or without surfactant's.

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[Discus_Dude]

Are you planning to keep discus? They are highly sensitive to water quality!

[domjd05]

I am planning on keeping discus, however I bought a different kind of ammonia today without the surficant and it did not foam when I shook it, so I'm going to drain the tank clean it and start all over

Just a side note, this tank will have been up and running cycled and all for about 6 months before I will be able to add discus to it, no need to be alarmed, I have kept them before and am aware of their requirements, thanks for the help you guys!

[Discus_Dude]

The ammonia does have surficant in it, but I've read through a few sources that surficants will not harm your fish


In reading the above I took it to mean that you were either unfamiliar with the fishless cycle or that Discus require pristine water conditions free of chemicals; unless, required to support a healthy environment.

I didn't want to take any chances knowing what an investment it will be in keeping Discus.

[Lady Hobbs]

I've had a bit of slime and cloudy looking glass on doing fishless cycling myself but just kept it wiped off. But, my ammonia w/ surfactants did not foam, either! No chances are the best chances so glad you got good advice from above.

[domjd05]

Thanks to everyone for the timely and informative responses!