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hey all,

i recently set up a 36 gal corner tank. let it run a couple days, then add 5 buenos aires tetras and some bio spira. by the next day, the tank is really white and milky. the day after that, the tank is so milky that you can't even see the fish unless they're right up against the glass. now, since last night, the tank is becoming progressively clearer and clearer. it's looking pretty good right now.

i was assuming this cloudiness was a bacterial bloom, which would be normal. EXCEPT for this one bit of strangeness.. i've been testing ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate all through this thing, and they're ALL at zero. how is this even possible? i mean, there are five fish eating and pooping in there. how could there have been bacteria with no ammonia etc? is my set of test kits possibly just bunk?? my ph is 7 btw, so i don't think its any strange minerals in the water that caused the milkiness.

i want to transfer in some of my old fish to this new tank, but i have NO IDEA how to tell if it's safe for them yet or not! i dont THINK my tank could have cycled and built up bacteria if there are ZERO nitrates.. is this even poss??

thanks in advance!

Hi
Are you sure your tests are good? Did you check the colours of the tests in good daylight? Sometimes the ammonia tests can be quite tricky. The nitrate one also.

i've done and checked each of the three tests many times. i'm starting to think it's possible that the entire master test kit i bought is bad?

Hmmm......Maybe the fish in there have not created enough ammonia for the bacteria to feed on, and might have starved the bacteria, and eventually killing it? The live bacteria has a white cloudyness already. I would think that tons of dead bacteria have a whiter color. Maybe you should add a bit more fish food, or, go for the fishless cycling, or if worst comes to worst, you maybe can add a bit of ammonia to the tank to get things started. Also check your test kit with your LFSs. Ask them to give you the parameters of your water. Then, compare it with theirs. This will determine if it is at all accurate. Make sure that you also seed the tank with gravel from one of your previous ones too! And add some plants, for stress relief and nitrate reduction.

Biospira has had some remarkable and miraculous cycling tales. Some people say that it only took a couple of days to establish a cycled tank. Maybe the biospira just took awhile to get going.

Good luck, and you soon will be able to add fish, but i would wait at least 3-4 more days before you decide to do too much!

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I would take the test kit and a good water sample to your LFS and get a full test done. Then get them to check your test kit out for age and accuracy.

Setting it up and expecting every to be OK in a couple of days is expecting a lot.

Give us as much as possible info about your tank. Filtration, substrate, air, plants live or artificial, Have you added any chemicals to the water if so what and how much and often. Also get your water supply tested this info also helps.

All this info will help us help you.

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Keith

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