# Added Activated Carbon But My Water Looks Worse?



## dmackey (Jan 26, 2010)

just wondering if im missing doing something or is this normal ? i added activated carbon to my sump today and came home after and can barley see the fish, water is really cloudy and all my param's went way up. nitrite 1.0 , natrate,5.0, and ammonia 2.0. i did a 40% water change a few days ago to try to help with the ammonia . just wondering if this is part of the cycling process or wtf??? and yea i washed actived carbon a few times before i added it to the sump. although i can see some of the grit from the activated carbon filter in my tank since i dont have and sand yet . how do i get that out also ? will it just vac out ?


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

You tank is going through the cycling process. Carbon will only take away the odor, not cloudiness. How long has your tank been up? A full cycle will take you 2-3 weeks and a mini one will take a few days.


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## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

Did you disturb any of your media?
I have never heard of carbon doing that to a tank, are you sure its not ammonia remover?


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## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

itll vac out. its best to just leave things be. your tank needs to cycle. post above address any questions i would have and comments i would of made so x2 to all that is posted above me.


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## dmackey (Jan 26, 2010)

just did a 40 gal water change . this is getting nutz !!!!wtf....does this looks like a cyclying tank ? and yea the odor is gone now thats great now my crib dont smell like the lfs lol. my parm this moring are ammonia 1.0 so thats down a bit. nitrite 1.0 the same. and nitrate 10 so thats up from last night it was 5.


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## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

water params seem typical for a cycling tank just leave it be for now and your cycle will be done in no time. changing large amounts of water especially during a cycle usually makes the water stay cloudy longer. we need to rule out one factor at a time. right now the only logical reason for cloudy water is the fact your tank isnt cycled and you have a high level of ammonia and nitrites. once these decrease and eventually are eliminated your tank should be clear. if it is not clear at that time we can give some other pointers.


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## dmackey (Jan 26, 2010)

AS fan said:


> water params seem typical for a cycling tank just leave it be for now and your cycle will be done in no time. changing large amounts of water especially during a cycle usually makes the water stay cloudy longer. we need to rule out one factor at a time. right now the only logical reason for cloudy water is the fact your tank isnt cycled and you have a high level of ammonia and nitrites. once these decrease and eventually are eliminated your tank should be clear. if it is not clear at that time we can give some other pointers.


could it be the activated carbon tho ? even tho i thought i rinsed it good i can still see the grit from it clearly in the bottom of my tank. and on my scrubbies in my sump. im pretty sure that is a huge factor here. what can i put in my sump to clear out the sand like grit in my tank now ?


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## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

naw its not the carbon. carbon makes water black not cloudy and if you rinsed it at all which you said you did then it wouldnt taint the water. u can really just net out what floats and gravel vac what sinks to the bottom. if its in the sump thats fine. but in reality you dont need carbon in the first place your tank wont smell once the cycle is done either so carbon is a bandaid for a bigger issue. you only need carbon to remove meds. the only issue with your tank right now is isnt cycled. the cycle takes time just have to wait. after a couple months carbon needs to be replaced as well so it gets expensive.


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## TJcali (Mar 27, 2009)

I agree with ASfan you really dont need the activated carbon unless you are using it to remove meds and doing a

40% water change does'nt help either man IMO thats too much your killing the little bio load that you have and

causing it to pre cycle each time you do a big water change like that try doing 25% water change and you should

really let your tank cycle before you put fish in it especially P's


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## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

I agree with everyone carbon is not neccessary


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## dmackey (Jan 26, 2010)

well before i had a higher reading on my ammonia (2.0) and my nitrites and nitrates were both at zero , so i wanted to more so use the active carbon to lower the ammonia and take the smell out and even tho i rinsed the active carbon i still think its causing the tinted blackish color my tank has now, i took the active carbon bags out today to rinse them and did a small 25gal vac to try taking out some of the grit and black color. also i took my scrubbies out and washed the collected grit from the active carbon and wasted the active carbon bag . lots of sandish looking stuff came from both, so i probably just did a shitty job on rinsing it im thinking , dunno......


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## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

i hope you used tank water to rinse stuff off because if you didnt you just killed what little beneficial bacteria you did have. the ammonia is what is being consumed by the bacteria to colonize which is what you need for the cycle to finish. when the cycle is done that means you have enough beneficial bacteria to consume all the ammonia being produced by your fish. the same goes for the nitrites bacteria consume that and convert it to nitrates and you remove the nitrates through water changes. if you dont have any ammonia source the tank cant cycle or convert to nitrites then nitrates. when the tank is cycled you will have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites and your tank will not smell. filters arent ment to be pretty its ok if they are dirty as long as your ammonia and nitrites read 0 your nitrates will have a reading which is fine and should be kept low as possible but never will be 0 in a fish only setup so dont worry about the nitrate number. you have to set your tank and leave it alone. you dont even have to change the water during a cycle just keep a eye on the water parameters. post the numbers here and we will give feedback. never hurts to ask first. no question is a stupid question. just get the tank cycled first. you can walk away and not do anything to it until the tank is finished being cycled. just to not confuse you all you need to do right now is feed your fish lightly and not worry about changing water or cleaning any of the filter until the tank is cycled.


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

yeah, i'd leave your bio media alone from now on, that's not gonna help your cycle at all. i would also cut back on the big water changes, if you are trying to keep your ammonia levels in check, try doing smaller volume water changes more often instead of a big change every few days.


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## dmackey (Jan 26, 2010)

AS fan said:


> yeah, i'd leave your bio media alone from now on, that's not gonna help your cycle at all. i would also cut back on the big water changes, if you are trying to keep your ammonia levels in check, try doing smaller volume water changes more often instead of a big change every few days.


whats considered small for a 180 ? and are we talking like say every 3rd day ?


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

your fish produce waste (ammonia), which is converted by bacteria to nitrites, then another type of bacteria converts the nitrites to nitrates... nitrates just build up in your tank and are removed through water changes. ammonia and nitrite are both highly toxic and can kill your fish at relatively low concentrations, it takes a lot more nitrate to do damage to your fish.

it takes a while for the bacteria to multiply enough to handle your the bio load in your tank, that is why you have to wait for a cycle. with an ammonia source, ammonia consuming bacteria will multiply. after those convert your ammonia to nitrite, nitrite consuming bacteria will start to multiply. so first you will see the ammonia spike from the ammonia source, then after a bit you will see a nitrite spike, which means that you now have ammonia consuming baceria building up in your bio media, once you are showing 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite and are showing nitrates in the tank, that means that you now have enough nitrifying bacteria to handle the bio load in the tank and your tank is "cycled".

performing too many large water changes and rinsing your bio media in tap water will disrupt the bacteria that are trying to multiply and it will set you back.


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## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

Joe has you covered. heres a link to add a picture with the words http://www.piranha-fury.com/information/article.php?id=18


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## dmackey (Jan 26, 2010)

AS fan said:


> Joe has you covered. heres a link to add a picture with the words http://www.piranha-fury.com/information/article.php?id=18


thanks good link bru. really helpful info, just wanted to see how things break down .cool


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## assclown (Dec 12, 2005)

also want to chuck a handful of rock salt in the water to help them breathe 
a bit easier and it will protect their gills (aids against nitrite poisoning)


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## dmackey (Jan 26, 2010)

assclown said:


> also want to chuck a handful of rock salt in the water to help them breathe
> a bit easier and it will protect their gills (aids against nitrite poisoning)


iight cool


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