Was Ammo- Carb A Bad Idea?

[Taradane]

I did a 50% water change in a 3.5-gallon tank. (ill put details of the tank at the bottom of this post)
I added some Ammo carb in a mesh bag. Water was clear for about a day then it turned foggy and now it is very slimey??? I have researched but I am not finding extremely clear answers.
My question is...
Is the fog from a good bacterial bloom because it has not completed the Nitrogen cycle yet?
Is the Fog from not rinsing the ammo-carb carbon gravel well enough?
Is the SLIME a good bacterial bloom or algae?
Any help is welcome. THANK YOU
Tank Set up and Stocked February 18th
Fish: 3 female baby bettas that are getting along fantastically but will be separated if needed.
Heat: H10 heater.
Plants: No live plants.
Filter: Top Fin Element that came with the 3.5 Gallon tank.
Water Treatment: Betta conditioner with a green tea extract. NOW carbon in the filter after the cartridges.
Light: Tiny LED lights, about 12 feet from a large window but not in direct sunlight.
Water Changes: one a week 50%, or twice a week with 25%.
Cleaning Equipment: Gravel vacuum used every water change, and algae sponge.

 

[Mick Frost]

Short answer, yes.

Ammo-carb is a zeolite carbon mix. The zeolite is removing the ammonia from the water, effectively starving your beneficial bacteria. Worse yet, if the zeolite is left in for too long it will leach ammonia back into the water.

Carbon removes chlorine and a few heavy metals, its pretty much useless if you use Prime or equivalent to dechlorinate but it is only harmful to a handful of fish (Wild caught catfish/botia and a couple others).

 

[Taradane]

Short answer, yes.

Ammo-carb is a zeolite carbon mix. The zeolite is removing the ammonia from the water, effectively starving your beneficial bacteria. Worse yet, if the zeolite is left in for too long it will leach ammonia back into the water.

Carbon removes chlorine and a few heavy metals, its pretty much useless if you use Prime or equivalent to dechlorinate but it is only harmful to a handful of fish (Wild caught catfish/botia and a couple others).

OK so because I am using a water conditioner that removes chlorine and ammonia, I don't need to use Carbon. It seemed to happen within days of adding carbon so that makes sense. I scrubbed the algae off the glass and plants and removed the Carbon bag that was in the filter so that should help. I am basically starting my Nitrogen cycle over again then?
Thank you for your answer, I appreciate it. This is really simple stuff to you, but I'm trying.

 

[Mick Frost]

OK so because I am using a water conditioner that removes chlorine and ammonia, I don't need to use Carbon. It seemed to happen within days of adding carbon so that makes sense. I scrubbed the algae off the glass and plants and removed the Carbon bag that was in the filter so that should help. I am basically starting my Nitrogen cycle over again then?
Thank you for your answer, I appreciate it. This is really simple stuff to you, but I'm trying.

It’s fairly overwhelming looking at the aisles of stuff. Very few companies label their products with “this is what it does, and how, and why you want to use it, and why you don’t.”

Carbon is fine for use, just unnecessary in most situations. Highly recommend to have some on hand for removing medications after treatment.

The Zeolite, however, has screwed up your cycle. And yes, I suggest you look at it as if you’re starting over from scratch. This is one of the few situations where a bottled bacteria booster (Fritz 7, Dr Tims, Microbe Lift Special Blend) would be worth the money. Remove the Zeolite, monitor your ammonia levels, water change if it’s over 0.5ish.