Should I Clean My Newly Cycled Tank Before Adding Fish?

[Sheargrub]

I just set up my new tank about 3 weeks ago. I added my plants, treated the water, and added the bacteria. Since then I've noticed a bit of plant growth, as well as the presence of some detritus worms, limpets, and copepods in the tank. There's some algae as well. I've been testing the parameters nearly every day, and everything seems fine. Is it necessary to clean the inside of the tank before I add the fish next month? Part of me wants to clean up a bit of the algae, but another part of me really doesn't want to destroy all the progress I've made.

[JettsPapa]

Welcome to the forum.  First, if you haven't been adding an ammonia source your tank isn't cycled.  I'm not clear on whether or not you did.

In any case, no, don't clean the tank, and especially don't clean or replace the filter media.  If there's algae on the front of the tank you can scrape it off so you can see better, but don't do any more than that.

[Lonkley]

Seems like you have fish food in your tank. Unless the algae seems like it is out of control, probably should wait for fish to eat it. If you have any type of algae eating fish, they'll want a snack between meals. If anything reduce your light. 

[Sheargrub]

On 12/21/2023 at 10:43 AM, JettsPapa said:

Welcome to the forum.  First, if you haven't been adding an ammonia source your tank isn't cycled.  I'm not clear on whether or not you did.

In any case, no, don't clean the tank, and especially don't clean or replace the filter media.  If there's algae on the front of the tank you can scrape it off so you can see better, but don't do any more than that.

Thank you! And yes, I did cycle my tank. Now I'm just letting the bacteria and everything else establish themselves for a while longer.

I understand, I won't clean it then. I appreciate the advice!

[NOLANANO]

On 12/21/2023 at 10:39 AM, Sheargrub said:

 the presence of some detritus worms, limpets, and copepods in the tank. 

I could be wrong but I don't think these should be present in a 3 week old setup without any fish present.  I don't have enough experience with these to give any good advice, I just think these are things you usually see in a very seasoned tank and would be worried if they were present in a new setup.

Edited December 21, 2023 by NOLANANO

[Sheargrub]

On 12/21/2023 at 3:04 PM, NOLANANO said:

I could be wrong but I don't think these should be present in a 3 week old setup without any fish present.  I don't have enough experience with these to give any good advice, I just think these are things you usually see in a very seasoned tank and would be worried if they were present in a new setup.

In what way would this be a worrying situation? I know you said you don't have much experience, but I'd like to know your point of view on this.

[NOLANANO]

I don't think they would directly harm your fish but my thought would be that there is some sort of nutrient overload happening far too quickly.  I think these are things that show up in well seasoned tanks when there is a fair amount of detritus and build up to support them and if they are present before any fish are added, I'd worry about my water conditions going haywire once fish waste is added to the equation.

Is your substrate, plants, or other decor from a previous set up? That could maybe explain their existence so quickly but even so, to have detritus worms so prevalent that you notice them before adding anything is a red flag imo.

[Sheargrub]

That makes a lot of sense. Do you think it would be best to fertilize the plants less often? I've been doing it twice a week.

The plants were purchased from Aquarium Co-Op, so I'm guessing that's where they came from. Nothing else in the tank is from a previous setup.

[NOLANANO]

I am out of my element when it comes to fertilizing. I have a pretty heavily planted tank but I live in south Louisiana and our water is so full of nutrients since its pulled out of the swamp that all I have to do is water changes to get my plants the nutrients they need. And if a plant needs more than the water changes provide, I pitch it and try a new plant. The only fertilization I do is root tabs.

Do you have a test kit? What are your water parameters?

[JettsPapa]

On 12/21/2023 at 4:02 PM, Sheargrub said:

That makes a lot of sense. Do you think it would be best to fertilize the plants less often? I've been doing it twice a week.

The plants were purchased from Aquarium Co-Op, so I'm guessing that's where they came from. Nothing else in the tank is from a previous setup.

If the plants are doing well I wouldn't mess with your fertilizer schedule.

Did you get some water or plants from outside?  I'm puzzled more than concerned about the random livestock in the tank.

[Comradovich]

There are two schools of thought here:

1. Those of us keeping more traditional tanks, (as others in this thread seem to be), will be somewhat confused by the microfauna. Having microfauna appear after three weeks is kind of a surprise. You usually don't see those for much longer out. It takes awhile for them to get established and build up to noticeable levels in a traditionally planted tank. (I.e. Aquasoil, sand & gravel substrate, chemical fertilization, etc.)

2. If you're running a dirted tank setup, similar to what Father Fish runs, then congratulations. Great Success! High fives all around. You've achieved exactly what you want, test for ammonia and nitrates, then see if you feel comfortable adding fish. Dirted's different. Might be a leak in your sand cap, but otherwise it's okay. What you're experiencing is actually a necessary step in a dirted setup. You'd be adding fish to control the microfauna and balance out the system.

I think you're right that they came in on the plants. Yeah, you got them from the Co-op, but even their plants have microfauna. Most of us would be planting in a tank that already has fish, and fish eat the microfauna. You're planting in an empty tank, and the tank stayed that way for three weeks. As long as there is nutrient-inflow, then there's near-limitless space for microfauna to build up. Your source of excess nutrients is your twice a week fertilization schedule. This is probably more than your new plants need. You might also have root feeding plants instead of epiphytes. Epiphytes like java ferns and annubias feed from the water column and Easy Green style ferts work well for growing them. Root feeders like Amazon Swords and Cryptocorynes are looking for food in your substrate. Easy Green doesn't necessarily penetrate this layer as fast. Chlorella is naturally occurring in tap water. If your tank has a slight haze to the water, that's Chlorella. The excess fertilizer is feeding the Chlorella, and everything else is eating it or each other. You may also have your lights on for too long during the day, or there's a south facing window in your room. Excess fert + excess light = algae like Chlorella. Try dialing one of these two things back a bit and see if it helps.

Assuming your water tests come back okay on Nitrates and Ammonia, I don't see an issue adding fish. They'll gorge themselves on the microfauna. Maybe don't feed as often while they control it. You've got an algae problem, but so did pretty much everyone else in this hobby when they first started out. My algae problem is on my plants and I'm kind of stuck with it as I'm keeping the lights on long enough to convince the pitbull otos that it's summer/baby-makin' season. You just learn to deal with your strains of algae.

Wanna know a secret? I have a jar of greenwater/Chlorella, daphnia, and copepods that I'm intentionally growing to inoculate my tanks with. My pygmy swordtails and tiger teddies are going to be in hog heaven. It's under an LED desk lamp and seems to be a wriggly little mess. Got two backup greenwater cultures bubbling away on the window sill, too. Your problem could always turn out useful.

[Sheargrub]

On 12/22/2023 at 7:54 AM, JettsPapa said:

If the plants are doing well I wouldn't mess with your fertilizer schedule.

Did you get some water or plants from outside?  I'm puzzled more than concerned about the random livestock in the tank.

The plants have been doing really well. But no, nothing in the tank is from outside. I bought the plants straight from Aquarium Co-Op, and my water came from the faucet.

[Sheargrub]

On 12/24/2023 at 11:55 AM, Comradovich said:

There are two schools of thought here:

1. Those of us keeping more traditional tanks, (as others in this thread seem to be), will be somewhat confused by the microfauna. Having microfauna appear after three weeks is kind of a surprise. You usually don't see those for much longer out. It takes awhile for them to get established and build up to noticeable levels in a traditionally planted tank. (I.e. Aquasoil, sand & gravel substrate, chemical fertilization, etc.)

2. If you're running a dirted tank setup, similar to what Father Fish runs, then congratulations. Great Success! High fives all around. You've achieved exactly what you want, test for ammonia and nitrates, then see if you feel comfortable adding fish. Dirted's different. Might be a leak in your sand cap, but otherwise it's okay. What you're experiencing is actually a necessary step in a dirted setup. You'd be adding fish to control the microfauna and balance out the system.

I think you're right that they came in on the plants. Yeah, you got them from the Co-op, but even their plants have microfauna. Most of us would be planting in a tank that already has fish, and fish eat the microfauna. You're planting in an empty tank, and the tank stayed that way for three weeks. As long as there is nutrient-inflow, then there's near-limitless space for microfauna to build up. Your source of excess nutrients is your twice a week fertilization schedule. This is probably more than your new plants need. You might also have root feeding plants instead of epiphytes. Epiphytes like java ferns and annubias feed from the water column and Easy Green style ferts work well for growing them. Root feeders like Amazon Swords and Cryptocorynes are looking for food in your substrate. Easy Green doesn't necessarily penetrate this layer as fast. Chlorella is naturally occurring in tap water. If your tank has a slight haze to the water, that's Chlorella. The excess fertilizer is feeding the Chlorella, and everything else is eating it or each other. You may also have your lights on for too long during the day, or there's a south facing window in your room. Excess fert + excess light = algae like Chlorella. Try dialing one of these two things back a bit and see if it helps.

Assuming your water tests come back okay on Nitrates and Ammonia, I don't see an issue adding fish. They'll gorge themselves on the microfauna. Maybe don't feed as often while they control it. You've got an algae problem, but so did pretty much everyone else in this hobby when they first started out. My algae problem is on my plants and I'm kind of stuck with it as I'm keeping the lights on long enough to convince the pitbull otos that it's summer/baby-makin' season. You just learn to deal with your strains of algae.

Wanna know a secret? I have a jar of greenwater/Chlorella, daphnia, and copepods that I'm intentionally growing to inoculate my tanks with. My pygmy swordtails and tiger teddies are going to be in hog heaven. It's under an LED desk lamp and seems to be a wriggly little mess. Got two backup greenwater cultures bubbling away on the window sill, too. Your problem could always turn out useful.

Thank you for this comment!

I'm running a traditional setup. My plants include java ferns and a banana plant, nothing else. I did reduce the amount of time I keep the lights on by a couple of hours, and I also reduced the amount of times I fertilize the plants to only once a week. The algae appears to have cleared up quite a bit, as it's now mainly on the decor rather than on the glass. The plants are still growing nicely.

My water tests came back with 0 ammonia and nitrite, and only 25 ppm nitrates. Seems like I'll be ready to get the fish in a couple of weeks.

Also, I really like that idea of growing all kinds of organisms in a jar to use for other tanks. Might consider doing that in the future!

[Lennie]

I dont think the tank reflects nature but it is actually quite artificial. I think at best we take some good info and managable sides from nature but that's basically it. Water sitting in a glass tank, being fed, has technologically devoloped filters in, You mix sand, rocks, driftwood, plants, fish, snails, shrimp... from all around the world, usually reflecting a stable season forever unlike reflecting events like rainy seasons water rising and lowering, changing temperatures even during the day,  changing diets based on the season, using artificial lights... So yea, to me, at best, we take some sides from nature and setup a nice planted tank at best and try to make our fish comfy.  Therefore, I personally never completely understand the "natural tank" perspective. 

 

I said all of these to mention that, as long as there is a predator in your tank, AKA fish, I think having copepods, detrius worms, and such not harmful critters are good. I think you should not worry. 

On 12/21/2023 at 11:58 PM, Sheargrub said:

Thank you! And yes, I did cycle my tank. Now I'm just letting the bacteria and everything else establish themselves for a while longer.

To me, this is kinda interesting if you totally started from 0. 3 weeks seem a bit quick to me to cycle a tank actually. You basically introduced an ammonia source, and it turned to nitrite and then both cleared up and you only read nitrates? Because nitrates can be coming from fertilizer and plants might also consume ammonia if you happen to cycle the tank with tiny amount of ammonia.

Edited December 28, 2023 by Lennie

[Pepere]

On 12/21/2023 at 11:39 AM, Sheargrub said:

Since then I've noticed a bit of plant growth, as well as the presence of some detritus worms, limpets, and copepods in the tank

As soon as you add fish, you will see far fewer detritus worms and copepods..  The fish will enjoy eating them and the remaining ones will work a lot harder to keep out of sight,..