Cloudy Water After Cleaning?

[DavidPenniall]

Cleaned tank and replaced filter pads etc. and water has gone cloudy. Is this normal?

 

[minxfishy]

Did you replace all the filter pads? If so, this is not a good idea, as you will have lost all the good bacteria in them that converts and ammonia and nitrIte and you will now be experiencing another cycle.

Ideally, you shouldnt need to replace the pads/media at all, they just need a quick swish around in tank water (never tap water) once a month or so, depending on your stocking levels, you only need to replace the sponges once they are almost falling apart and when you do change them, only one at a time.

What size tank is it and what is your stocking?

 

[DavidPenniall]

Did you replace all the filter pads? If so, this is not a good idea, as you will have lost all the good bacteria in them that converts and ammonia and nitrIte and you will now be experiencing another cycle.

Ideally, you shouldnt need to replace the pads/media at all, they just need a quick swish around in tank water (never tap water) once a month or so, depending on your stocking levels, you only need to replace the sponges once they are almost falling apart and when you do change them, only one at a time.

What size tank is it and what is your stocking?

I got the Elite 60 and I got 8 neon tetra, 5 zebra danio’s, 1 betta, 2 black lyretail/sailfin.

What I gotta do now then?

Are fish worth this much hassle?

 

[minxfishy]

Do you have a test kit? If so, test the water and tell us your stats for ammonia & nitrIte.

If you dont, then you will need to daily 50% (sometimes 2/3x) until the water is stable again and the bacteria has built up enough bacteria to cope with the fish waste again.

There is a link in my signature for fish in cycling (its in green), click on that and it will guide you thru the process.

Alternatively, do you know anyone with a mature tank that you could use some of their filter sponges/bio rings from to place in your filter, this will help speed up the cycle.

Fish are worth it, it just takes time to get to grips with things, unfortunately the shops and manufacturers dont help by telling you to change the media every few weeks, this is just so they make more profit from the sales.

 

[DavidPenniall]

Do you have a test kit? If so, test the water and tell us your stats for ammonia & nitrIte.

If you dont, then you will need to daily 50% (sometimes 2/3x) until the water is stable again and the bacteria has built up enough bacteria to cope with the fish waste again.

There is a link in my signature for fish in cycling (its in green), click on that and it will guide you thru the process.

Alternatively, do you know anyone with a mature tank that you could use some of their filter sponges/bio rings from to place in your filter, this will help speed up the cycle.

Fish are worth it, it just takes time to get to grips with things, unfortunately the shops and manufacturers dont help by telling you to change the media every few weeks, this is just so they make more profit from the sales.

I've still got the old ones but they been in tap water thats why I brought new ones, should i put these back in??

Edit: Will go shop which tests water to get water tested.

 

[minxfishy]

If they have been in tap water not a lot of point, the chlorine and chloramines in tap water will have killed the bacteria off, hence why you dont wash them in tap water and dechlorinator is added to the water when water changes take place.

 

[OldMan47]

If you get lucky, the old filter pads may still hold some live bacteria. It is worth a try to place them back into the tank's filter somewhere. The new filter elements are certain to have no bacteria at all so any on the old media is better than nothing.

 

[DavidPenniall]

PH = 7
Nitrite = 0
GH = 10
Nitrate = No Result Given
Ammonia = 0
Copper = No Result Given
Specific Gravity = No Result Given

Is this ok?

 

[minxfishy]

Looking good so far, test the water daily for ammonia and nitrIte as these are the harmful ones, if they rise above 0.25ppm, then you need to do a water change to get them down. It will probably take a day or so for the ammonia to start rising, then another few days for the nitrIte to start rising.

Usually can take up to 4 weeks with no bacteria to the end of the cycle, if you use the old pads as oldman suggested you may have some bacteria left and its always worth a shot.

Just remember with all these water changes to dechlor the water and temperature match the water going back into the tank to that of the water already in the tank so as not to stress the fish too much.

Any problems, there are plenty of people around this forum who can advise if you need it