Cloudy Water For 5 Weeks

[RENDOG]

I've been cycling my 40 gallon for 4 weeks with cloudy water. Ammonia is present at about 2 but I've never seen any nitrite or nitrate readings. Is this normal to have cloudy water for so long? The white haze that you see in the picture is the cloudiness.

original post [URL="http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=266858"]http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=266858[/URL]

 

[JenCliBee]

is the ammonia level in the tank 2 with fish actually in it ....ask becasue i see fish in that pic and if so how are u actually cycling ur tank ? ie bottled ammonia or another way?

 

[RENDOG]

yes it's 2 with the fish in it. I didn't have another tank to keep them in while the new tank is cycling.

 

[backtotropical]

You need to do large water changes now to get rid of that ammonia. That level will easily kill a fish.

Are you adding bottled ammonia to the tank?

 

[RENDOG]

no I didn't add ammonia at all.....ok so a couple of 50% changes then?

 

[MHunt]

Yikes, ok, do a large water change now. Then do a water test. If the ammonia is still high then do another one. Try and make sure the temp is similar if you change that much water so you don't stress the fish even more.

 

[backtotropical]

Agree with MHunt. Do maybe a 75% change, then another around 1 hour later. You are aiming for both ammonia and nitrite to stay below 0.25 at all times.

Try to match the temp, but the deadly ammonia is the main concern at the moment.

Good luck!

 

[saz326]

do you have a small tank that you could temporarily home the fish in?

Reason I ask is that a 75% water change in a tank that big is likely to take a while. If you could house the fish in a smaller tank and do a 75 change in the small tank (easier to do, plus can match temperatures)to take care of their needs first , and then do the water change on th emain tank with no need for matching water temperatures.

Might be best for the fish unless the capture is a "chase them" netting situation. That will just stress them further.

 

[RENDOG]

Thanks for the replies...I read them after i did the following:

I performed a 50% water change with RO water from Walmart and the temperature did drop 4 degrees. So far the fish "seem" ok and I will conduct a water test shortly.

 

[RENDOG]

After the water change my Ammonia is now .50 Water clarity has improved but it is still somewhat cloudy. Most importantly, all fish are still alive.

 

[RENDOG]

It's been almost 5 weeks now and no signs of Nitrites or Nitrates just ammonia.....should I be concerned??

 

[saz326]

Yep. There is something wrong here. By now, the ammonia should be being converted into nitrites and nitrates....

what kind of filter do you have? - Infact give as many details as you can about the setup. Number of litres in the tank. Type of gravel, temperature, filter type, how fast is the flow, what media are you using in the filter, any plants? What is the lighting like?... There has to be something not quite right that we can help you straighten out.

Are you adding ammonia to cycle the tank?

You seem to be doing a "fish in" cycle which means you can get away with not adding ammonia. They will naturally produce ammonia so no need to add more.

I would personally stop adding the ammonia for a while. Do a water change to reduce the quantity of ammonia and leave it alone for a while.

The fish (in that huge tank) will not produce ammonia too quickly, so the bit that they produce should get the cycle going. Just keep doing water checks like you have been, and change water when the ammonia reading goes above 0.5.

Dont loose faith - it will happen eventually.

No more fish though please. There are plenty there for a fish in cycle. Best not to overwhelm an unhappy system.

 

[Schmill]

Are you adding ammonia to cycle the tank?

You seem to be doing a "fish in" cycle which means you can get away with not adding ammonia. They will naturally produce ammonia so no need to add more.

I would personally stop adding the ammonia for a while. Do a water change to reduce the quantity of ammonia and leave it alone for a while.

Eh? I would hope that if a "Fish IN" cycle is being performed then no ammonia is being added to the tank anyway? I HOPE....

 

[saz326]

Eh? I would hope that if a "Fish IN" cycle is being performed then no ammonia is being added to the tank anyway? I HOPE....

Indeed. Maybe RENDOG got a bit confused.

I have heard that people have added ammonia on a microscale (raising the ammonia level in the water by 0.25-ish or less) so that their filter medias can grow - this is done when a new tank is being used and fish stocks are being moved from one tank to the other in a rush. They dont have time to put fish in slowly etc.

 

[Schmill]

Aha, I always wondered if that was possible, if you wanted to quickly move between a small tank stocking and a large tank stocking, but generally figured that unless you drip fed the ammonia it would be too much