Cloudy Tank

[hairyhaggler]

Hi there.

firstly i apologise for being a little stupid on fish stuff, being new to this sort of stuff i need to ask stupid questions so please bare with me.

I have recently set up my tank. Its a 95x45x50cm (213litre) tank. I have got natural coloured gravel , two corals (not live) some plants and 1 air bar and a small air stone.

I am running a interpet PF4 pump and it has got the original filters in it.

I used a ph down chemical for two days to help the ph come down , although i now realise i needent have worried as the ph was only 7.7 anyway, and to be honest the ph down hasnt really done anything , the ph is now only 7.68 so it hasnt really affected it.

i last used it yesterday (30th march) in the morning and the tank is still cloudy , not overly cloudy but not clear.
I have got a pair of 2 mollies in the tank (sailfin mollies) , they are very nice. hehehe...

I did re plant my plants from there little baskets into the gravel, used some plant weights to hold them down, so i know this disturbed the gravel causing some cloudyness , but i didnt expect it to stay this cloudy so long.

Am i worrying over a trivial thing and it will clear eventually , or could there be another prob maybe.

can i add any pics here..? if so i will add a couple to show you.

Thanks for listening , and sorry again for being over dumb...

 

[Dany]

do a couple of water changes, it looks like you got a bacterial bloom or high nitrates , a good few water changes will do it
dany

 

[hairyhaggler]

Ok, i will go for the water changes. i will take any advice at the moment.

i have tested for any nitrites and its practically 0 , its at 0.1 and the ammonia is 0.3 which is fine.
I havent got a nitrate test kit , i didnt think it neccesary as nitrate wasnt harmful to fish.. ?.. is it..?

i have got a cheapy litmus test kit which i have just used and the NO3 (is this nitrate) is at about 40(mg/l) , being new to this i dont know really if this is bad or not.

also i have tested the ph level again , and it seems to be on the rise , its now 8.16 as opposed to the 7.16 earlier. so something is not right somewhere.


there is 3 little squares for the GH test , not sure what this is , but the top one is showing below .6od the next one is less than .10od and the third one is less than .16od , i dont know if you need all these readings or just one of them..?? (newbie)

the KH is around the 15od mark.

and the PH is 8.16

any help here would be great as to the explinations of these tests.
Thanks again .


oh , and also , update on fish... my two sailfin Moliies have grown to 3...!! just noticed a baby in the tank , the mother didnt look fat at all when i bought her , so she must have been at the end of her birthing , so i have a new addition to the tank now...

hehehe.

 

[Dany]

nitrate wasnt harmful to fish.. ?.. is it..?

oh yes

 

[guppy_man]

just set up my tank the other day saturday i think it was quite cloudy, now its fully clear because i done a couple of water changes heres some before and after pics



edit- forgot to add pics so heres 2 links

before
http/putfile.com/pic.php?pic=3/8613443183.jpg&s=x11
after
http/putfile.com/pic.php?pic=3/8712535634.jpg&s=x11

adding plants rocks and fish next week i think

 

[hairyhaggler]

nitrate wasnt harmful to fish.. ?.. is it..?

oh yes

ahhh.... i dont know that , i thought it was the nitrite that was the harmfull stuff.
glad i asked , best i go get a nitrate kit tomorrow then .

thanks.

here is a couple of pics to show you how cloudy it is..

first pic is without water just so you can compare the full tank and cloudyness..

second pic with water , notice how the back and pump are not very visible...

 

[guppy_man]

yes i see, quite cloudy, just keep doin 10% water changes every day or so that should do it.

nice tv by the way

 

[hairyhaggler]

yes i see, quite cloudy, just keep doin 10% water changes every day or so that should do it.

nice tv by the way

I will def do the water changes for a few days , and update , i just found another baby , making 2 babies now... hehehe.

oh , and thanks for the compliment on the tv. it looks well good with the tank under it.

 

[ambie]

I just looked at your pictures, and it just looks like a bacterial bloom to me. When I first set up my tanks, that happened too, and it totally freaked me out. I researched it a little bit and found out what it was. I just kept up with the water changes, and it cleared up by itself in a couple of days.