Cloudy Tank,will It Ever Clear?

[gothikhaz]

Just wondering how long it will take to clear. Fishy mates have said it will all of a sudden just clear.

It is a 4ft tank holding 127 litres of water. It has been running for 3 weeks,with mature filter gunk in the filter since the off.

Ammonia is 0n 0.3 and nitrites are the same.

 

[Davo86]

Hey
Do you have fish in the tank?

Although it may have had mature media it probably didn't have enough to give you a completely cycled tank
and so at present you are seeing the occurance of a nitrate bloom where you have more waste being produced than bacteria to control it,

Water changes are the quickest way to clear it as you will be removing the excess waste products, These will definitely need to be done if there are fish present as it will harm the fish

 

[gothikhaz]

Hey
Do you have fish in the tank?

Although it may have had mature media it probably didn't have enough to give you a completely cycled tank
and so at present you are seeing the occurance of a nitrate bloom where you have more waste being produced than bacteria to control it,

Water changes are the quickest way to clear it as you will be removing the excess waste products, These will definitely need to be done if there are fish present as it will harm the fish

Thanks for repyling
Yes,there are fish in there,quite a few. I have vacced the gravel,done a bit of a water change,still cloudy.Have added some stuff called B Clear which is supposed to clear cloudiness caused by new tank syndrome and bacterial bloom.
Should I keep doing 50% water change every day,or just leave it alone?

 

[Davo86]

you'll definitely need to carry on with the daily water changes, if you don't the ammonia will just keep rising and eventually all of your fish will die.
do you have a test kit? you will need to keep the ammonia and nitrite as low as possible as even a zero point value can be harmful to fish.

although B clear may be clearing the cloud it won't be touching the lethal ammonia and nitrite that will be building up

 

[gothikhaz]

you'll definitely need to carry on with the daily water changes, if you don't the ammonia will just keep rising and eventually all of your fish will die.
do you have a test kit? you will need to keep the ammonia and nitrite as low as possible as even a zero point value can be harmful to fish.

although B clear may be clearing the cloud it won't be touching the lethal ammonia and nitrite that will be building up

I have test kits and test religiously every other day.
As I said above my ammonia and nitrites are on 0.3,so not badly high.

 

[Davo86]

No, not badly high but still too high for the fish to live comfortably, as said above even a 0.1 value can be harmful to them and will cause them stress

 

[gothikhaz]

No, not badly high but still too high for the fish to live comfortably, as said above even a 0.1 value can be harmful to them and will cause them stress

So what would you recommend then please? A 25 - 30% water change,add the tap safe stuff as well? Then my water should get clearer is it?

I was worried about constant water changes because it sets bavk the maturing of the tank?

I appreciate you advising me by the way

Dunno how that smiley got there pmsl!

 

[Corleone]

Generally, .25 is the highest level of ammonia and nitrite it's recommended you allow with fish. .3 isn't a disaster (yet), but prolonged exposure even to lower readings can cause permanent gill damage.

Do at least a 50% water change - you don't just want it at .25, you want to make sure it doesn't get over .25 before the next water change.

Bacterial blooms can be hard to clear - the bacteria grow very quickly. They may be back to where they are now within 20 minutes to an hour of the water change. Don't worry about the bacteria, though - the bloom itself is harmless. Worry about the ammonia and nitrite levels. Once they're resolved, the bloom will resolve itself.

 

[gothikhaz]

Generally, .25 is the highest level of ammonia and nitrite it's recommended you allow with fish. .3 isn't a disaster (yet), but prolonged exposure even to lower readings can cause permanent gill damage.

Do at least a 50% water change - you don't just want it at .25, you want to make sure it doesn't get over .25 before the next water change.

Bacterial blooms can be hard to clear - the bacteria grow very quickly. They may be back to where they are now within 20 minutes to an hour of the water change. Don't worry about the bacteria, though - the bloom itself is harmless. Worry about the ammonia and nitrite levels. Once they're resolved, the bloom will resolve itself.

Okey doke,will do a 50% change when I get back from doing my horses,how often should I do it? Every other day?

 

[Davo86]

No, not badly high but still too high for the fish to live comfortably, as said above even a 0.1 value can be harmful to them and will cause them stress

So what would you recommend then please? A 25 - 30% water change,add the tap safe stuff as well? Then my water should get clearer is it?

I was worried about constant water changes because it sets bavk the maturing of the tank?

yep continue with the water changes, TBH i wouldn't bother worrying about the cloudiness, as corleone says once the parameters are fine the cloud will clear on its own

As long as your not touching your filter then your not going to set back the maturing of the tank as the bacteria will be in the filter and not in the water, whereas if you don't water change the ammonia will kill of the bacteria which will indeed set it back

 

[gothikhaz]

No, not badly high but still too high for the fish to live comfortably, as said above even a 0.1 value can be harmful to them and will cause them stress

So what would you recommend then please? A 25 - 30% water change,add the tap safe stuff as well? Then my water should get clearer is it?

I was worried about constant water changes because it sets bavk the maturing of the tank?

yep continue with the water changes, TBH i wouldn't bother worrying about the cloudiness, as corleone says once the parameters are fine the cloud will clear on its own

As long as your not touching your filter then your not going to set back the maturing of the tank as the bacteria will be in the filter and not in the water, whereas if you don't water change the ammonia will kill of the bacteria which will indeed set it back

Right,many thanks for your time and advice. My filter seems to be spitting at times,is that something to worry bout? Makes like a squirty,miss a beat sound.

 

[Corleone]

Could be the hose or pipe isn't fully seated and it's either sucking air or not getting quite enough water suction.

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with the advice you've been given by Corleone and Davo - water changes will be the order of the day until the filter can get the ammonia to zero for two days running without you doing a water change.. generally that takes about 4 weeks and is a lot of water changes.

A 4 ft. 127 liter tank, that's unusual! Is it very long and skinny?

~~waterdrop~~