Cloudy Water - Help

[Conkiewonky]

Hi

I have recently bought a 125 litre tank as am upgrading my current tropical fish tank. I cleaned the gravel well, filled with water and have switched pump and heater on yesterday but now the water is very cloudy- is this normal? How do I help the water to clear again. The fish I currently have are still in there old tank and will not be put into the new one until I know that everything is okay.

Thanks

 

[Byron]

There is the cycle to deal with here, but first to answer the cloudy water question...yes, that is normal and not a problem. Tap water contains quite a lot of dissolved organics, and there are species of bacteria (not the nitrifying bacteria here) that consume organics. These bacteria can multiply very rapidly and create what we term a bacterial bloom. In new tanks this is almost always the cause of hazy or cloudy water. Sediment in the gravel/sand can also bee a factor but primarily it is the bacterial bloom you are seeing. It will clear, sometimes in hours, sometimes days, sometimes even longer. But it is not in itself harmful to fish.

Now the cycling...how are you cycling this new tank? There are articles explaining cycling and some methods in the "Cycle Your Tank" section. You cannot add fish to the new tank until you somehow cycle it. The articles explain methods. Live plants, especially floating species, also help immensely.

 

[Conkiewonky]

I understand the need to cycle the tank before transferring my fish but didn’t want to do anything until I knew if cloudy water was okay.

I need to do a bit more research but thought I would transfer some water / gravel / plants from my existing tank into my new tank. Would this help? I also have been told you can buy some aquarium starter solution from an a aquatic centre that may help speed up the process?

I have been successfully running my current fish tank for over a year now and have only lost one fish but want to make sure that the transfer to the bigger tank goes well without too much stress to the fish

 

[Essjay]

Do you intend to run both tanks, or are you moving everything to the new one? If you are not going to use the smaller tank, you can transfer all the media as well as decor; if it doesn't fit it can usually persuaded, eg sponges can be cut to make them fit.

 

[Conkiewonky]

I am intending to move all my fish to new tank so am happy to transfer plants and decor when I know it will be okay to put the fish in there. The filter in my current tank isn’t sponges just a carbon insert type thing (not sure how to explain it sorry) so couldn’t transfer that. Going from 21 litre tank to 125 litre so it’s a big jump in size but I am definitely up for the challenge- just want to make sure I am doing everything right

 

[Byron]

I need to do a bit more research but thought I would transfer some water / gravel / plants from my existing tank into my new tank. Would this help? I also have been told you can buy some aquarium starter solution from an a aquatic centre that may help speed up the process?

Following up what essjay posted...using existing substrate, decor, filter media will "seed" the new tank with nitrifying bacteria (and many other types necessary too). Water does not, and can be detrimental. The only time I use "old" water is if there will be significant variation in GH or pH. That should not be the case normally if you do regular partial water changes in the existing aquarium.

Now, a word on the substrate as you mention gravel. This is the time to change to sand in the new tank, depending upon the intended fish. Most substrate fish (cories, loaches, loricariids, dwarf cichlids) do better with sand.

Plants were mentioned...these need nitrogen and prefer it as ammonia/ammonium. The faster growing plants (and here floating plants are ideal) can take up a lot of ammonia/ammonium so they alone can often bypass the need to artificially cycle. But in combination with decor and filter media, this will ensure no problems.

Biological supplements do speed up the cycle, but with live plants I never bother with this, and especially if you move over the plants and decor.