Fish-Less Cycle

[doodleing]

Hello,
Having recently re-taken up fish keeping again I'm setting up a small tank for my wife to keep a male Siamese Fighter.

Tank is AQ3 36LTR Width 16", Depth 15", Height 14".
Internal filter, gravel and a few ornaments.

DATE AMM AMM ADDED PH NI NA TEMP
TAP WATER 0 7.4 0 20
17/03/11 0 4 82
18/03/11 1 5 7.4 86
19/03/11 1 5 7.4 86
20/03/11 1 5 86
21/03/11 1 5 7.4 86
The reading I'm happy with.

What I'm not happy with is that there is (skin like) bits floating about and on the surface . The water has been cloudy since the second day which for which I was expecting but these bits have me worried .

 

[Wend]

Hiya, could it just be 'bits' off the new ornaments and stuff that maybe didnt get rinsed off right?

Mine has had all sorts of whitish floaty things bobbing around (Im on day 14 of fishless cycle). I just kept trying to catch them in a net, it seems to have stopped. Somebody else had some strange floaters and it was old bits of food that hadn gone mouldy?

 

[Dodders]

I had something that sounds very similar. In my case it turned out to be bits of algal/bacterial 'film' that were settling on the inside walls of the external filter return hose. Periodically bits broke away and shot out of the hose into the tank and floated around for a while before sinking to the substrate. Personally I don't think it's anything to worry about, but having not done a fishless cycle before I stand to be corrected by the more experienced forum members!

 

[Aqua Tom]

Dont panic, it is nothing to worry about. You are doing a fishless cycle so there shouldnt be any untoward aliens in there. Propbabaly just a bit of varnish or somthing from your onaments.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, all new tanks have the possibility of getting various films and fungus. It's normal, harmless and will go away of its own accord with time or there's nothing wrong with cleaning it if you want. One thing that happens is that some of the heterotrophic bacteria (different from the autotrophic ones we are trying to grow) will create visible (grayish/whiteish) biofilms that can come loose in sheets. These things rarely happen later after you have a cycled and running tank.

~~waterdrop~~