Cycling Complete - Dirty Aquarium Solutions

My 5 gallon planted tank is finally fully cycled and now has a happy male betta and nerite snail cruising the tank, along with two tiny ghost shrimp who I got to help clean up the mess, and which I assume will eventually be a betta snack.

My problem now is threefold:

1) There is some white-ish algae around my lace java fern roots/rhizome, which I am worried will kill the Java Fern if I do not remove it. The snail has snacked on it some, but I need more aggressive removal.

2) There is A LOT of debris and trash all over the bottom of the tank, as I did a fishless cycle with fish flake food to produce the ammonia. I have seen the ghost shrimp eating some of this, but there is a lot that needs to go.

3) The water has a brownish yellow tint to it, which I assume is substantially related to #2. To be honest I would like crystal clear water, but my preference is health fish, snail, and plants, so I can tolerate a tint if it is best for the tank.

My current thought process is:

1) Replace my filter cartridge (it has carbon), by putting the replacement in the filter for a week or two and then remove the old filter. I rinsed the old filter in the tank water during a water change a few days ago, but the current cartridge has been there for 2-3 months during the cycling.
2) Do a 50-75% water change while the fish, snail, and shrimp chill in a separate bowl. Take this time to remove and rinse all of the gravel in the old tank water, then replant my plants and re-set the aquarium decoration. I assume that so long as I don't clean the substrate or decorations with tap water or anything else I will not lose my beneficial bacteria. My worry with doing this is that it will be a giant waste of time since there will still be a lot of debris in the tank unless I do a 100% water change, and that the debris will still generally be mixed through the gravel substrate.

Is my plan a good idea, bad idea, worthless? Other ideas?

 

My 5 gallon planted tank is finally fully cycled and now has a happy male betta and nerite snail cruising the tank, along with two tiny ghost shrimp who I got to help clean up the mess, and which I assume will eventually be a betta snack.

My problem now is threefold:

1) There is some white-ish algae around my lace java fern roots/rhizome, which I am worried will kill the Java Fern if I do not remove it. The snail has snacked on it some, but I need more aggressive removal.

2) There is A LOT of debris and trash all over the bottom of the tank, as I did a fishless cycle with fish flake food to produce the ammonia. I have seen the ghost shrimp eating some of this, but there is a lot that needs to go.

3) The water has a brownish yellow tint to it, which I assume is substantially related to #2. To be honest I would like crystal clear water, but my preference is health fish, snail, and plants, so I can tolerate a tint if it is best for the tank.

My current thought process is:

1) Replace my filter cartridge (it has carbon), by putting the replacement in the filter for a week or two and then remove the old filter. I rinsed the old filter in the tank water during a water change a few days ago, but the current cartridge has been there for 2-3 months during the cycling.
2) Do a 50-75% water change while the fish, snail, and shrimp chill in a separate bowl. Take this time to remove and rinse all of the gravel in the old tank water, then replant my plants and re-set the aquarium decoration. I assume that so long as I don't clean the substrate or decorations with tap water or anything else I will not lose my beneficial bacteria. My worry with doing this is that it will be a giant waste of time since there will still be a lot of debris in the tank unless I do a 100% water change, and that the debris will still generally be mixed through the gravel substrate.

Is my plan a good idea, bad idea, worthless? Other ideas?

I wouldn’t remove your filter cartridge, I would just do frequent water changes and vacuum your gravel if you can. If you don’t have a siphon I’ve heard a turkey baster works. And I could be wrong but I think the white film on your Java fern is just biofilm, if you want to you could just remove it and pull some off but my shrimp and snails enjoyed snacking on it.

 

I wouldn’t remove your filter cartridge, I would just do frequent water changes and vacuum your gravel if you can.

I have a siphon, but my gravel substrate is about 1.5-2 inches, so there is just a lot of dirt and decomposing food mixed in, plus I usually run out of water in the tank before I can get much of the gravel cleaned, which is why I was think about just scooping out all of the gravel to rinse in the old water and then carefully put back into the tank to hopefully keep out the debris and decomposing food.

Wouldn't a replacement filter cartridge help clear out the water some, I believe it has carbon? My plan was to put the new filter in for a couple weeks before removing the old so that I don't lose bacteria, but is the benefit there so minimal that it won't help and still has substantial chance of hurting my bacterial colony?

 

I have a siphon, but my gravel substrate is about 1.5-2 inches, so there is just a lot of dirt and decomposing food mixed in, plus I usually run out of water in the tank before I can get much of the gravel cleaned, which is why I was think about just scooping out all of the gravel to rinse in the old water and then carefully put back into the tank to hopefully keep out the debris and decomposing food.

Wouldn't a replacement filter cartridge help clear out the water some, I believe it has carbon? My plan was to put the new filter in for a couple weeks before removing the old so that I don't lose bacteria, but is the benefit there so minimal that it won't help and still has substantial chance of hurting my bacterial colony?

Replacing the filter may do more harm than good, i have this nasty filter but the water in the tank is clear and Parameters are all good, it holds a lot of beneficial bacteria. And I’ve never removed the gravel, but taking out at least the top layer couldn’t hurt anything if that’s what you have to do. I’m sure anything you try will end up fine.

[edit- I know a lot of people don’t believe in this but I like Purigen, I put it in to remove some color from the tannins in my water and i haven’t had a problem since. I recommend it]

 

Replacing the filter may do more harm than good, i have this nasty filter but the water in the tank is clear and Parameters are all good, it holds a lot of beneficial bacteria. And I’ve never removed the gravel, but taking out at least the top layer couldn’t hurt anything if that’s what you have to do. I’m sure anything you try will end up fine.

[edit- I know a lot of people don’t believe in this but I like Purigen, I put it in to remove some color from the tannins in my water and i haven’t had a problem since. I recommend it]

I agree with all of this. A lot of your beneficial bacteria are in your filter cartridge. Removing that this early on and you will remove most of your cycle. A smaller siphon will allow you to vac up the gravel a bit, I am guessing its larger gravel chunks that waste can settle throughout it? You may want to make it a bit shallower than 1.5-2 inches if that's the case. It will trap too much crud otherwise - or at least give it a good cleaning now that you are done cycling the tank.

I am also a huge fan of Purigen. Works great in my experience in clearing up water. Carbon should only be used in filter media if you are trying to remove medicines from the water or for other short term specific reasons - which I can't really think of.

 

Since the bacteria isn't free floating in the water you could change out half the water daily. As long as you add your water conditioner and temp match the fresh water, daily water changes are not going to harm your fish or your bacteria. If you have room for it put some poly fill in your filter along with your cartridge. It will help catch the fine particles stirred up while vacuuming the gravel. Since you won't be depending on the poly fill as bio-media it can be changed as often as needed. If water is still flowing through your cartridge freely then don't replace it.

When doing the gravel vac push the end of it deep into the gravel. Once the water runs clear lift the tube and move over an inch or so away from where you were. Continue doing this until you have removed half the water. Do this with each daily water change until you have vacuumed all of the gravel.

I really don't recommend pulling the tank apart this soon after first finishing the cycle.

 

Thanks everyone.

So it seems like I will not mess with any filter cartridges, sounds too risky without any payoff.

I will just try to keep doing 50% water changes every day or so and see if that helps clear out the detritus and get the water a bit clearer. Since the general thought may be that I have more gravel than I want, I will let some of the gravel come out in the siphon, particularly the parts that have a bit too much dirt and algae.

What are my risk levels of negatively hitting my bacterial colony if I remove a little gravel? I had understood that the gravel substrate was a prime location of my bacteria?

 

Thanks everyone.

So it seems like I will not mess with any filter cartridges, sounds too risky without any payoff.

I will just try to keep doing 50% water changes every day or so and see if that helps clear out the detritus and get the water a bit clearer. Since the general thought may be that I have more gravel than I want, I will let some of the gravel come out in the siphon, particularly the parts that have a bit too much dirt and algae.

What are my risk levels of negatively hitting my bacterial colony if I remove a little gravel? I had understood that the gravel substrate was a prime location of my bacteria?

I would say as long as you don’t remove more than 50% of your gravel then you will be fine, and if you wanted to you could just rinse the gravel that comes out and throw a little of it back in.

 

Thanks everyone.

So it seems like I will not mess with any filter cartridges, sounds too risky without any payoff.

I will just try to keep doing 50% water changes every day or so and see if that helps clear out the detritus and get the water a bit clearer. Since the general thought may be that I have more gravel than I want, I will let some of the gravel come out in the siphon, particularly the parts that have a bit too much dirt and algae.

What are my risk levels of negatively hitting my bacterial colony if I remove a little gravel? I had understood that the gravel substrate was a prime location of my bacteria?

It sounds like you have a plan. No more gravel than you will be pulling out while gravel vacuuming shouldn't cause a problem. As suggested though you may want to just put it back once the water change is done. An inch or two really isn't too much gravel 'specially if you have plants planted in it. You may need that much to keep them rooted in place.

When it comes time to replace your cartridge your thought of running both old and new is a very good idea. I would run both for a month if possible. Before I put the new one in though I would cut a slit in the fiber and dump the carbon out of it. Carbon really isn't needed. It starts breaking down and that is one of the main causes of cartridges clogging up. Personally I've not run carbon in my tanks for years.