3Rd Day And Tank Is All Cloudy.

[-Jo-]

Hiya again everyone.

Today was going to be the day that after work I went to get some Ammonia to start the cycling of my tank. I filled up my new tank on saturday and left it till today to settle before I bought the Ammonia. I woke up this morning to find that my tank is really Cloudy. Apart from the aquarium wood i have in there - I cant see any of the rocks or pebble I have put in there. I can only describe it as looking like theres a fog/lots of steam moving around in there. when the aquarium light is off and its just natural light on the tank - the water has a tint of brown. This is most likely from the wood that is in there.

The filter has been left on since day one and so has the heater. My substrate is sand. last night it was clear - only during the night has it got like this. Is this normal in a new tank? Should I do a water change or anything before i start to add the ammonia? It just seems like such a lot of cliudiness that im wondering how long it will take to clear. I have ordered new plants that will be arriving soon - is it safe to put them in when the water is this cloudy?

Argh! x

 

[garyspence84]

This is normal for new tanks and new filters, yes. Think you just have to let it go through a full cycle and let it clear in its own time. a full cycle should take a week or so, depending on the tank size and filter. Plus, your sand might not have been cleaned properly and that MIGHT be making it worse.

 

[Mowbz]

Its a bacterial bloom but dont worry, its not as bad as it sounds.

Do a 100% water change and it should disppear. If left, it'll likely dissappear within a few days anyway.

Hope this helps.

 

[sheffieldlad]

A full cycle will take longer than a week by the way.

 

[the_lock_man]

a full cycle should take a week or so,

Erm..........

 

[Tizer]

I think someone needs to read up on cycling

 

[littlenemo]

its fine,,,, im on day 5 and by day 2 mine was like milk.its just starting to clear now, let it run its course it will clear up its just bactria bloom.

its fine,,,, im on day 5 and by day 2 mine was like milk.its just starting to clear now, let it run its course it will clear up its just bactria bloom.

 

[Mowbz]

a full cycle should take a week or so,

Erm..........

Erm indeed!

 

[-Jo-]

Thank you - I will leave it for a few days to see if it settles. I have plants arriving some time this week - will they be ok to be put striaght in? or should i keep them somewhere else until the boom clears? x

 

[Mowbz]

Yup, nothing is really affected by a bacterial bloom it seems, its just ugly to look at. If you want to shift it you can just do a partial (50% + in this instance) or a full water change, and it will go away pretty much instantly.

Since you said you were only just about to go get Ammonia to start the cycle, you have no cycle to effect by doing a water change (not that it woul affect it much anyway)

As others (Tizer and T_L_M, both very experienced keepers themselves) have VERY rightly pointed out, there was some quite bad advice thrown at you above. You've not actually told us how big your tank is, but even if its a "Betta Bowl", its sill going to take at least several weeks to properly cycle your filter media. Remember, you are only cycled once you have COMPLETED a qualifying week of 0ppm Ammonia and 0ppm Nitrite being handled inside 12 hours. I would be very interested to see a log from a cycle that took just a week. I really would. Its unheard of, but if possible, there would be 200+ members on here immediately that would want to know how its done.

Its something many of us have had to go through, and in some cases (seek out HayZ on here, you'll see she has a tank thats taking FOREVERRRRR) it can be over 2 months before you get double zero's.

Best of luck!

 

[-Jo-]

I have been doing some more reading online and have found that the reason why my tank is brown and cloudy, is probably due to the wood I have in my tank leaching out (which is annoying). Im guessing it would be benefical to take the log out and spend a lot of time on it boiling it to take as much of the tannin out as possible.

Oh i was under no illusion at all that the cycle of my tank was going to take a week! i am quite prepared for it to take as long as a couple of months. I just want healthy lovely fish and if thats as long as it takes, then thats that.

 

[-Jo-]

just an update - The tank is still brown and cloudy, althought its not as bad as yesterday, althought still bad!
Have recently ordered some ammonia, so as soon as that arrives I will be taking the wood out of the tank to clean it for a few weeks. Whilst doing that I will do a full water change, add the plants and start cycling. I was going to add the log back into the tank when the cycle has finished. Does that sound ok? or should the wood be in there whilst the cycling is happening? x

 

[Mowbz]

Firstly, dont boil the wood, its common for idiots (sorry) to suggest this to get rid of any nasties, and you can see the thinking behind it, but its fruitless, and will just make a mess of your tank. Boiling the wood wont get your tannins out much faster, itll just break the wood down and make it rot. Then you'll have even more stained water.

If you want to clean it just pour boiling water over, scrub, and pour again, no need to boil.

If you want the tannins out of the wood, you would be better of soaking it in warm water outside ofthe tank for a few weeks. Even then, it will still leach a little bit.

Some keepers and some fish actually enjoy the tannin look.

The steam and "fog" you are seeing is almost definately a bacterial bloom. Nothing to do with the wood.

 

[-Jo-]

I can safely say that I do not enjoy the tannin look - my tank now looks bright orange! I cant see a thing in there! ha! its disgusting I can understand the tannin still cropping up from time to time after washing it - but not to this extent. Im actually shocked at what the tank looks like. ha!

Will do what you suggested with the wood. I have ammonia arriving soon and was going to do a full water change and start my cycling with the ammonia WITHOUT the wood. I was going to put it back in after the cycling has complete. would you recommed that? Would it ruin the cycling process if i put the wood back in at the end of the cycling?

I will ignore you calling me an idiot x

 

[Noahs ark6]

Theres a helpfull link here to help with cycling