Reply With QuoteBio film or bacterial consuming the food. No problem. No need put too much in case ammonia spiked too high
Hi, I'm 5 days into my fishless cycling process, and recently, there was some white mold look alike substance growing on the food pellets I fed the tank with,
my questions are,
1) Will it go away?
2) Is it harmful and will affect my cycling process?
3) what should I do? as it is almost impossible to remove all the mold infected pellets (too many of them already)
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Bio film or bacterial consuming the food. No problem. No need put too much in case ammonia spiked too high
Recent studies shows that putting recent studies in your statement have a higher percentage of trust people put into your recent studies. What?
If the pellets are in the tank and you see the white stuff, that means decomposition is happening. Do not do anything to the pellets as the nutrients being released into the water via decomposition will help in the cycling of the tank. You should not use too much of the food in fishless cycling however, because an "overdose" of sorts can lead to other problems later on.
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I see, currently my ammonia levels read at 4ppm, nitrite is still at 0, ph at 6 for about a week already, is that normal? anyway what kinds of problem will lead to if overdose? I do not really know if I had overdose or just dose enough pelletsOriginally Posted by stormhawk
Just curious, what substrate are you using? I'm assuming it's not ADA aquasoil or other soils designed for planted tanks (as those would already release enough ammonia initially to kick start the cycling process, so no need to use food pellets).
Since it's the first week of the cycling process, usually not much happens yet... but once the beneficial bacteria starts multiplying, you'll see ammonia gradually decrease until zero, nitrite increasing then decreasing to zero (sometimes it happens fast enough that nitrite seems to just stay at zero), then nitrate increasing steadily at the last part.
I guess putting in too much food pellets might end up creating a big welcome feast for detritus worms, planaria or maybe also snails which happen to hitchhike in on plants... so after the fishless cycle is completed, you might see lots of them crawling about the tank (which will be the next stage to solve).
Out of curiosity, since ammonia is need to kickstart the tank cycling, Seachem Prime should not be added to the water right? But Prime can get rid of the Chlorine effectively.
Well, Seachem Prime doesn't actually remove ammonia, it just converts it into a non-toxic form, so the detoxified ammonia is still available for bacteria to process... therefore it should still be added as an anti-chlorine/chloramine measure for all tap water used in tanks.
Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 24th Nov 2013 at 10:27.
I'm using ANS planta soil, my ammonia level dropped to 2ppm therefore, I fed the tank, but according to what you mentioned, I think I had overfed the tank.. hope nothing serious is going to happenJust curious, what substrate are you using? I'm assuming it's not ADA aquasoil or other soils designed for planted tanks (as those would already release enough ammonia initially to kick start the cycling process, so no need to use food pellets).
Since it's the first week of the cycling process, usually not much happens yet... but once the beneficial bacteria starts multiplying, you'll see ammonia gradually decrease until zero, nitrite increasing then decreasing to zero (sometimes it happens fast enough that nitrite seems to just stay at zero), then nitrate increasing steadily at the last part.
I guess putting in too much food pellets might end up creating a big welcome feast for detritus worms, planaria or maybe also snails which happen to hitchhike in on plants... so after the fishless cycle is completed, you might see lots of them crawling about the tank (which will be the next stage to solve).
ANS planta soil? Then in that case, its not necessary to use food pellets to create ammonia... the soil will already be releasing some ammonia initially to feed and grow the beneficial bacteria population (the soil's initial ammonia release is designed to boost plant growth, so planting densely at start up is recommended too).
Those tank cycling guides which mention using food pellets to create ammonia are actually referring to tanks which are using inert substrates (ie. gravel or sand).
Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 24th Nov 2013 at 10:44.
I see, question I want to ask is, will this fungus thing stop? or will it manifest and grow a bigger colony? I removed most of the fungus infected food pellets already, but it is practically impossible to remove all of them as some of them are hiding underneath the substrate and unless i remove everything from the tank, if not I can't completed clear all the fungus..
The fungus usually grows and feeds on uneaten food, dead fishes/shrimps (if they are left in a tank for too long and start to rot), sometimes on newly introduced wood too (probably feeding off the decaying outer layers).
If there is no more avaliable food source for the fungus, then they will usually just disappear on their own.
Though if the problem becomes persistent, then might have to consider using anti-fungus aquarium treatments.
I see, thanks man you are a great help! now I just have to wait until cycling is completed, anyway about cycling, about how long will my cycling process complete? my tank is about 30 litres
For brand new tanks and bio-media, usually on average around 4-6 weeks, can be faster or slower depending on the filter performance, plant density (heavily planted tanks usually cycle abit faster) and soil properties (i've noticed that ANS planta soil doesn't release as much ammonia as ADA aquasoil, so should be abit quicker for the bacteria to process it).
I see, anyway thanks a lot for your help
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