Chemical Mistake

HI All,

I think I made a potential mistake. I just added some tetra easy balance to my tank since I haven't done anything to my tank since I added safe start a week ago yesterday with 4 tetras. Yesterday when I checked the water parameters I had .25 ammonia, and 0 Nitrates and 0 Nitrites. Is this going to mess with my cycle? I am also going to have to add water soon should I hold off till the cycle completes?

 

HI there.

EasyBalance is generally not recommended for tanks because it can mess with the parameters in a bad way, It's best to let the aquarium balance itself out instead of trying to do it with a chemical.

You may have disrupted the cycle as TSS needs about 2 weeks to stabilize. Again, keep checking parameters but generally speaking 0 Nitrates indicates an uncycled tank unless it's a really heavily planted tank.

You're not supposed to add or do anything to your water for 2 weeks after you add TSS. If you top it off, leave the water sitting out for 24 hours to get rid of chlorine.

Again, give TSS one more week and if it shows a spike in Ammonia or Nitrite after that then I would assume it failed.

I recommend Seachem Stability over TSS because you can actually do water changes whilst dosing and use water conditioners such as Seachem Prime or Kordon Amquel+

 

I use prime whenever I add water because chlorine will dissipate after 24 hours however chloramine will not. Back in the dark ages you could just leave a gallon of water unopened and it would be fine. Those days are long gone. Alison

 

So I put some Prime in some water last night and have let it sit out all day to add it tonight. Should I add it and take some readings in a few days to see what my parameters are at or not add any water at all?

 

I use prime whenever I add water because chlorine will dissipate after 24 hours however chloramine will not. Back in the dark ages you could just leave a gallon of water unopened and it would be fine. Those days are long gone. Alison

I am one of those fortunate fish keepers whose Hamlet still uses chlorine, rather than chloramine.
In effect, this means that while I may die of E. coli, my fish should be fine.
I am leery of most products that are used to alter pH, the exception (for me) being Seachems' acid buffer and alkaline buffer, which are used in conjunction and leave your water well buffered. Please note than when doctoring water in any manner, it is far safer to do so in a separate container and test it before adding it to your tank.
The only bacteria that I am aware of that reduce nitrate are anaerobic, but the Tetra page claims that they have hit on something that encourages aerobic bacteria to reduce nitrate(remember that you do not wish anaerobic bacteria in the tank as they often produce highly toxic hydrogen sulfide, easily avoided by avoiding having dead spots in your substrate).
However, the Tetra site gives it great reviews. I am also leery of the reviews given on a site dedicated to selling a product , but could find no independent reviews in an admittedly rather brief search.
Perhaps I have a suspicious nature. At any rate, hope that your cycle goes well, and best to you, rick

 

@ricmcc. That post made me laugh. I am glad at least you fish will be safe. Alison

So I put some Prime in some water last night and have let it sit out all day to add it tonight. Should I add it and take some readings in a few days to see what my parameters are at or not add any water at all?

Yes you can add the water that you put the prime in , just make sure you match the temperature of your tank water. If it is too cold than take a little out of the bottle and heat in the microwave and put back into the bottle a little at a time. I use a thermometer to check. put my hand over the top and turn upside down a couple of times to mix the hot and cold then check the temp. repeat till it is where you want it. If too warm then I put some of the water over ice to cool it, same procedure . Just the way that is easy for me. Alison

 

Yes you can add the water that you put the prime in , just make sure you match the temperature of your tank water. If it is too cold than take a little out of the bottle and heat in the microwave and put back into the bottle a little at a time. I use a thermometer to check. put my hand over the top and turn upside down a couple of times to mix the hot and cold then check the temp. repeat till it is where you want it. If too warm then I put some of the water over ice to cool it, same procedure . Just the way that is easy for me. Alison

Ali,

Thank you so much for help. Even if I add the water it is not going to upset the TSS cycle is it?

I also just tested the tank. The PH is 8 and the Ammonia is still at .25ppm. Is this ok? or is the PH high?

 

I also just tested the tank. The PH is 8 and the Ammonia is still at .25ppm. Is this ok? or is the PH high?

The pH shouldn't be that big of a concern to you unless it's extremely low which may inhibit the growth of Beneficial Bacteria and not only that but in a cycling tank, pH will be bouncing around constantly...

Leave the pH be and don't use any chemicals to raise it or anything.

Also, hold off on testing your water until TSS is through with it's 2 weeks, you'll get wonky results. Unless you see your fish acting wonky, don't test.

 

When using TSS to cycle a tank Do not test the water for the two weeks. The reason is that it detoxifies the ammonia so that it doesn't hurt the fish but the water tests don't know the difference annd can cause you to panic when there is no problem and the TSS is working fine. I started three tanks using a fish in cycle and TSS . All three tanks were cycled to the bioload of the fish in 2 weeks. then I started adding a couple of fish at a time every week or two until my tanks were fully stocked. During the two weeks I did twice a day head counts and fed them and that's it. The only water I added was to make up for evaporation. Alison

 

aliray brings up a very important point that I just want to emphasize; always remember that any aquarium system is cycled only to its current bioload, so if you introduce new fish, do so gradually so as to not get ahead of your cycle. If you use a smaller QT, which is a great idea, btw, that will almost guarantee that new introductions will be gradual. All the best, rick

 

So if I add new fish do I need to add another dose of TSS? Or let the cycle normalize again, before adding new fish

 

In your case, assuming you do have a near or completed cycle, you can add 2 more fish and see what happens.

 

In your case, assuming you do have a near or completed cycle, you can add 2 more fish and see what happens.

Should I add the same species? or try something new?

 

Should I add the same species? or try something new?

Whatever species you start with should prob be completed before adding in a different species. Especially if that species is a schooling one.

Generally, you should add the most peaceful fish in first.

 

I am one of those fortunate fish keepers whose Hamlet still uses chlorine, rather than chloramine.
In effect, this means that while I may die of E. coli, my fish should be fine.

Hah!

But you should be aware that straight chlorine is actually a far more powerful disinfectant, and is more effective at killing bacteria than using chloramine.

Chloramine is used for a number of reasons, but frequently, systems that use it must switch back to straight chlorine from time to time, to try to kill off bacteria that's growing in their distribution systems.

So don't diss the chlorine, baby!

 

So if I add new fish do I need to add another dose of TSS? Or let the cycle normalize again, before adding new fish

No you don't once it is cycled. however when you add another fish or two it will take a few days to breed some more of the good bacteria to keep your tank in balance. It will happen on its own just add the fish slowly every week or two. Alison

 

Hah!

But you should be aware that straight chlorine is actually a far more powerful disinfectant, and is more effective at killing bacteria than using chloramine.

Chloramine is used for a number of reasons, but frequently, systems that use it must switch back to straight chlorine from time to time, to try to kill off bacteria that's growing in their distribution systems.

So don't diss the chlorine, baby!

I would never diss chlorine (and like to think that it also speaks well of me ), but I do agree with you that chlorine is the more powerful germicide, and believe that chloramine is used primarily because it is more stable than chlorine, and as aliray points out, takes forever (approximately) to bubble out of standing water. This is another advantage of chlorine; it can be used very effectively in dilute solutions to clean old tanks and equipment without leaving a long lasting residue, although a final wipe with prime can't hurt.
And I am not really all that E. colI phobic, although I do prefer cooked meat.
My only complaint about chlorine is my reaction to it when using public swimming pools, like at the 'Y'; more than once, owing to its effect on my eyes, I have had strangers approach me after a swim, and say something like 'Buck up, it can't be that bad'-fortunately, I'll take hugs where I can get 'em. rick

 

I would never diss chlorine (and like to think that it also speaks well of me ), but I do agree with you that chlorine is the more powerful germicide, and believe that chloramine is used primarily because it is more stable than chlorine, and as @aliray points out, takes forever (approximately) to bubble out of standing water. This is another advantage of chlorine; it can be used very effectively in dilute solutions to clean old tanks and equipment without leaving a long lasting residue, although a final wipe with prime can't hurt.
And I am not really all that E. colI phobic, although I do prefer cooked meat.
My only complaint about chlorine is my reaction to it when using public swimming pools, like at the 'Y'; more than once, owing to its effect on my eyes, I have had strangers approach me after a swim, and say something like 'Buck up, it can't be that bad'-fortunately, I'll take hugs where I can get 'em. rick

Oddly, it's almost always chloramine compounds that cause the eye irritation in, and are associated with the "chlorine smell" of, a swimming pool.

Chlorine reacts with certain (ahem) "substances" often found in swimming pools, and that creates chloramines. There are three species of chloramine. Monochloramine (which is what they shoot for when creating it for use in water distribution systems), Dichloramine, and Trichloramine.

Dichloramine and trichloramine are what give a swimming pool that characteristic smell. Trichloramine can actually be used as a form of tear gas! And it can form under the right conditions in a pool. It's supposed to irritate your eyes. So you're not the only one who hates that stuff! If your eyes burn at a pool, they need to get the kids to stop using the pool as a latrine, and, counter intuitively, add more chlorine!

Chloramine is used in water treatment as the secondary disinfectant for two main reasons. First, as you've mentioned, it's less reactive, and can last longer in the distribution system. So it carries a "disinfectant residual" for a longer time, allowing the more stagnant "dead ends" in the system to still have a disinfectant residual that's acceptable and legal.

Second, it helps to reduce the formation of some of the suspected carcinogenic "Disinfection Byproducts" (DBPs) that EPA regulates.

So those are the two main reasons systems have adopted its use.

But it does have problems. One of which is that it can actually "feed" some biofilm forming bacteria (because, after all, chloramines are chlorine-ammonia compounds). These are nitrifying bacteria, just like we try to cultivate in our filters! When those nitrifying bacteria get out of hand in the distribution system, they can produce enough nitrate to become an issue for the system. (Sounds pretty familiar, doesn't it?) Some of these bacteria are evolving to be very good at metabolizing chloramines.

So many systems end up periodically switching to chlorine for a while to try to strip off and kill the biofilm that's formed inside of the piping and storage tanks. Then they switch back to chloramine again.

We use plain chlorine at our plant, and I'm glad we do. While it will form DBPs if the water has organic "precursors" in it, it does avoid a lot of issues in the system.

Something interesting, too, is that when treating water with plain chlorine, we practice what is called "breakpoint chlorination". This is where we add enough chlorine to meet the immediate chlorine demand of the water. Then we allow the water to be disinfected for a while (so called contact time), and then we add more chlorine to get to the level we want for it to have as it goes out into the distribution system.

As you begin adding chlorine to the water, it initially forms some chloramine as it reacts with any ammonia present. Then, as you add more, it breaks that chloramine back down, and finally, when you've added enough, the water has no chloramine in it. So when systems using chlorine have complaints about taste and odor of "chlorine", what the customers don't realize is that they're actually smelling and tasting chloramine. And counter to what you'd expect, the plant most likely needs to increase their chlorine dosage to get the water past that breakpoint, and get rid of that nasty "chlorine smell".

https://chlorine.americanchemistry....Library/Chloramines-Understanding-Pool-Smell/

 

Interesting link. Thx&all the best, rick.
This may cause me to review my view of my hamlet and perhaps upgrade it to a townlet.