# Contaminated Fish tank



## Fish Fingers (Apr 20, 2012)

Hi all. I'm new to fish keeping and this is my first time setting up an aquarium. 
I have an AquaOne AR850 aquarium (160 Litres) that I'm setting up as a freshwater tropical aquarium.

I started a fishless cycle with 2 raw shrimps 35 days ago. I used SeaChem Prime to dechlorinate the water. I didn't use any bacteria in a bottle or seeded filter material to get the cycle going. The aquarium is covered so no light can get in and the heater is set to 29 degrees.

I use API master test kit to test my water parameters every couple of days. There has not been any fall in ammonia yet and still no traces of nitrite, nitrate is somewhere around 0-5 PPM which is from my tap.

My water parameters are currently 

Ammonia 4PPM
Nitrite 0PPM
Nitrate 0-5PPM
PH 7.4

About 1 1/2 weeks ago I added an LED airstone to the tank which I brought from Ebay. A few of days ago I started to notice condensation on the inside of the glass of the LED light and also a build up of green material (kinda like the stuff that leaks from the terminals of old batteries) around the LEDs. Today I took the LED light out. The water leaking from the LED light smelt like battery acid.

Should I do a large water change to remove any contaminates or just start my tank from scratch as I think this stuff has likely made the tank uninhabitable for any beneficial bacteria and fish?


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

The tank is going through a normal process and is fine. The airstone with a light on it the green stuff is algae, which is normal My guess is the led has a leak in it which water was going into it. 

Let the tank cycle as is and at the end of the cycle do a large water change.


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## Fish Fingers (Apr 20, 2012)

Thanks for the reply, I am certain it's not algae.

I have dismantled the LED light, and have taken the LED strip out of the glass encasing.

The stuff is greenish white and has a chalky texture. This is probably the result of the solder joints coming in contact with water. It smells toxic. I'm not sure if this is preventing any beneficial bacteria from establishing in the tank.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

My first thought was algae too but it does sound like it was the soldering. Corroding metal can smell and look like that. A small amount of metals in water etc occurs naturally and are no risk but too much is toxic. I think the short amount of time it was there and the small amount of contact with the water means the amount was probably fairly insignificant. Personally I would change 50% of the water and then do the same after a couple of days. That would help to flush out any contamination. Then I would then feel safe to carry on as normal.


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## Fish Fingers (Apr 20, 2012)

Thanks, I will give that a try.


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## Summer (Oct 3, 2011)

Good luck, i hope it turns out aright. Did you contact the manufacturer of the light?


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## Fish Fingers (Apr 20, 2012)

Thanks. It's no fun looking at an empty aquarium . Yes, the seller said he would contact the manufacturer about the problem.


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