Cloudy Water Problems.

[Jpat82]

So I have had my tank for about month. And since the first week I had it up and running the water has been cloudy. I will admit I only did a 24 hour fish less cycle, got the advise from my mom who when I was a child bred angel fish ( she had 12 20 gallons tanks). The water parameters are fine, the temp stays at 76 degrees and I do weekly water changes, changing 30% at a time and it's a ten gallon tank. And now my quarnetee tank is the same way, I moved a plant from one into the other. All my plants are plastic, and I only have one fish in main tank. She is a silver mollie and seems to be doing fine, though slightly pregnant. Is there any way to clear up the water? And is it doing this? My mom said it is because we have soft water, and the lady at my lfs said it will clear up on it's own. Please help me. Thank you..

 

[nmonks]

Cloudy water typically means the aquarium is unstable some how. Water chemistry changes are often an explanation, and if you have soft water, the pH will indeed go down between water changes unless you do something to stabilise it (typically, by either understocking the tank, by doing frequent small water changes, or by using a commercial pH buffer).

Water quality is another problem, and a "24 hour cycle" isn't a cycle at all -- by definition, a cycle means some process has gone from start to finish. What you've done is filled the tank for water and left it empty for 24 hours. Not a bad thing to do, and as good a way as any to check for leaks and to make sure the electrical accessories (like filters and heaters) are all working. But it still means the biological filter is virtually non-existent, so what you're doing is cycling the tank with a fish in it. Yes, that can cause water to go cloudy as bacteria in the water multiply rapidly ("blooming") and then die back. Can take several weeks to settle down. Algae can bloom too, and this is most common in tanks without live plants.

I must ask why you're keeping a Molly in an aquarium with soft water. Mollies quickly sicken in soft water. At the very least they need very hard freshwater, and to be truly easy fish, they do best in slightly brackish water. Adding 2-3 gram/litre marine aquarium salt mix (rather than tonic or aquarium salt) would not only fix your water hardness issue but also make your Molly very much more resistant to disease. It would, however, limit your choices of tankmates. Since Mollies do best on their own and aren't really community fish, this isn't necessarily a problem.

Cheers, Neale

 

[Jpat82]

I'm new to this. When I got her I will admit I didn't knowing anything but I am quickly picking up on stuff by reading people's posts on here. I was trying to find water hardener for her. When I thought I had an outbreak of ich, lost everyone put her, then it looked like velvet. Now I see white threads coming off of herand a white ball of fuzy looking thing on her side. I'm trying, feeling like a failure currently. So can I use sea salt? Or does she need marine salt? I have read so many different things my head is spinning. I read salt will help get rid of worms (which is what I am assuming she has). As of right now she is the only one in the tank, and I am bound and determend not to lose her. Any advise will help.

 

[DreamertK]

Since mollies love brackish waters, salt will do just fine as long as its not table salt. Sounds more like fungus with the fuzzy stuff. "Whitish tufts of cotton-like material found on the fin, tail, and body at sites of injury. Fish has true body, mouth, and eye fungus." or "greyish-white stringy material covering most of the body; white or grey patches. Fish has Columnaris (bacterial) body fungus."

You're not a failiure!

 

[Jpat82]

Thank you for all the advise. She ended up passing away last night.