Overdose in Tank

Question
QUESTION: Hello, I have a 26 gallon tank I have recently set up and have no fish in it yet, I have filled, heated, etc. and then bought some Tetra AquaSafe with Bioextract to remove the chlorine etc. about 10 minutes after adding it the tank went pink looking. Took me a while to figure this out, but I used too much Aquasafe, it called for 5 ML per 10 gal and I used 10 ML per 10 Gal. So I effectively doubled the dose by accident. Can you tell me how to correct this or will it be ok in time? I could remove a portion of the water as it will not harm my fish since there aren't any in there yet. If I should do a water change, how much?
Also as far as cycling the tank, I had a biowheel from my smaller tank that I put in there, will that help avoid the NTS when I add fish as long as I add only a few small fish to start?

Thanks for any help!

ANSWER: Hi Sheryl;

That's very strange. I've used triple and quadruple doses of AquaSafe and related products before and my water never turned pink. Blue, but never pink. Maybe your water chemistry has a natural component that caused a reaction with the chemicals? Strange. I doubt it's harmful. I would change 50% of the water and just don't add more Aquasafe.

When you added the biowheel, the beneficial bacteria on it probably died because the tank is too clean. The bacteria feeds on fish waste. Or when there are no fish in the tank the bacteria can eat organic matter of some other type such as decaying fish food, cocktail shrimp, or fish chunks. Without this organic waste the bacteria starves and dies out. It's possible there is a little waste in there that was attached to the wheel with the bacteria. You might try adding a pinch of fish food every day and test the levels of ammonia and nitrite for a week to see if they go up any. Doing this is called a "fishless cycle". It's much safer because you aren't risking the health and lives of your fish. It's usually a shorter cycle too because you will raise the temperature to 82f so the bacteria will grow faster. No fish, no risk, and a safer "cycle". Here's more information about it with details;

http://aquatic-terrors.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5843

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello again Chris,
Thanks for the info and your time. I will do a 50% water change today and not use any more Aquasafe. They had my water off due to a line rupture a few days ago, maybe they over treated it with chemicals and that is why? Hmmm..

As far as the cycle, you mentioned the bacteria feeds on waste, I added about a cup of old nasty looking water from the very bottom of the other tank to the water to add some waste and I also am using the rocks and ornaments from the other tank as well, they were all cleaned, but you know how difficult it is to get that gravel really clean. So the tank is probably not really too clean as far as no waste. As soon as I plugged everything in and got it going stuff was floating around like waste or old food, etc. So maybe the bacteria has some waste to feed on and that will help. Ya think?
I read your info on the fish less cycle and will try to add a few flakes and test and see what transpires.
Thanks so much again!
Sheryl

Answer
Hi Sheryl;

There may have been an unusual combination of minerals or chemicals from the water line break, I think you are right about that.

You are right on top of the cycle issue too. Adding waste is exactly what it needs. Keep up the good work!

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins