[csaxe21]

Hey everyone,
I'm not going to make this a life story, but to sum it up, I didn't install the co2 drop checker correctly, and it turns out the the drops (2 of them) ended up leaking into my tank. I just want to know if this happened to anyone, what I should do, and what this will cause? I have no fish in my tank yet, because I am in the process of cycling, and letting my plants grow in, so are the plants in danger? Also, ever since I noticed it, my tank has look incredibly foggy. I thought it was a bacterial bloom considering I am only about 3 weeks in max, but I read that once the Ammonia goes down, so will the cloudiness. But, I just checked twice, and my ammonia is just about 0.

Maybe someone could clear this up for me? Is there anything else I should check (as of water parameters)? What do I do about the leak? Will it be safe for when I do begin to add fish in about a month, or maybe a bit longer?

Thanks a lot.

 

[Tex Gal]

I don't think that 2 drops will hurt anything. You can always do a water change if you are concerned. I would guess the cloudy water is a bio bloom. You could try some purigen in your filter to help with the cloudiness. It should go away by itself.

 

[ed seeley]

I've lost a whole drop checker full of solution in the tank before when the sucker's come off so a couple of drops shouldn't do any harm. I had fish and shrimp in that tank too!

 

[latte hiatus]

Like Ed, I also had a drop checker fall off its suction cup and dump its entire contents into my 70g tank. I had added between 6 to 8 drops of bromothymol blue to the 4dKH solution. All plants, fishes, and inverts were fine, without any water changes.

Bacterial blooms are not necessarily related to ammonia levels - IIRC, it's more correlated to increased DOC levels. I also had cloudy water that started out slowly, but over the course of two weeks made it so "foggy" that I couldn't see more than 6 inches into the tank. I could probably have let it run its course, but put in the 9W UVS from Petsmart and the water cleared up in four days.

 

[csaxe21]

Thanks everyone. It is looking a touch clearer now, and I'm just going to let it be for now. Would anyone recommend water changes, or could that ruin the cycle?

 

[latte hiatus]

I wouldn't bother doing a water change at this juncture, particularly if nitrites are not at 0 yet (which would indicate you are still mid-cycle), but I'm also lazy and don't like lifting buckets.