Cloudy Water

[sic0198]

I have a 2.5 minibow aquarium. In it is one betta, a piece of bogwood, artificial plants. The substrate is gravel. It has a sponge filter in it too. My tankwater is yucky looking ya know cloudy. It looks a little brownish too, like the brown stuff from the wood is mixing with the cloudiness. I did a 10% waterchange the other day and I will do a bigger one tomorrow. Can I get some tips on how to fix this?

I think maybe it is cycling. I've read that if the tank is cycling, it is not a good Idea to mess with the water.

 

[metromyers]

I don't have any driftwood, but my tank gets cloudy too. I don't know if it's right or not but I also did water changes in the hopes of clearing thing up. Even my water test came back ok. I hope some one knows what to do.

 

[5teady_2012]

When i first setup my betta tank, this happened to me, i just did 50% waterchanges everyday on the tank until it stopped, even with my filters fully cycled now, i still do a 30% waterchange on the betta tanks every 2 days..

It worked for me, but everyone experiences things diffrent, but worth a try i guess

 

[Netty]

Also did you soak or boil the bogwood before putting it in. We had that problem at first because we didn't know to boil it and the tanin was still coming out of the wood when it was put in the tank.

 

[modaz]

if it is a new tank set up , say least than 1 month then dont worry about it, it will clear on its own, keep up with water changes, it wont harm your betta at all, the tanning should eventually go but i would remove the bogwood and continue to soak it in water for about 3 weeks to remove the tanning. and then put it back into your betta tank.

 

[liz2]

I never have any problems with any of my betta tanks unless I put bogwood, or real plants in them. The water gets yucky quickly. I use the glass pebbles and silk artificial plants, and no filters.

 

[sic0198]

if it is a new tank set up , say least than 1 month then dont worry about it, it will clear on its own, keep up with water changes, it wont harm your betta at all, the tanning should eventually go but i would remove the bogwood and continue to soak it in water for about 3 weeks to remove the tanning. and then put it back into your betta tank.

I didn't know to soak it, I thought the tannins were good for the fish. I thought I was killing the fish, I'm glad though that it's not harmful. I will take it out and soak it.

 

[dusky]

I always boil new bogwood for hour, change water then boil for another hour ever since my first attempt with it turned my water so yellow the fish were begging for goggles. Couldn't clear it after few weeks so i abandoned the bogwood,, then soaked for ages but when i put it back soon as warm water hit it then the yellow started again,, hence the boiling of it. good luck with yours

 

[yorkshiretyker]

I think maybe it is cycling. I've read that if the tank is cycling, it is not a good Idea to mess with the water.

I always thought that when you cycle a tank, you are actually cycling the filter - however I am almost at the point where I have decided to do away with the filter and air and stick to the 50% water changes every other day - so if I'm right in thinking this about the water cycle, then the water changes shouldn't be a problem.

At the moment I'm changing my betta tank water around 70% every other day and adding melafix and salt in to heal some fin damage that he had when I bought him - things seem to be doing pretty good.

I never have any problems with any of my betta tanks unless I put bogwood, or real plants in them. The water gets yucky quickly. I use the glass pebbles and silk artificial plants, and no filters.

At the moment I'm using real plants, gravel. and am still undecided about the filter yet - I think I'm going to go with the non filter set up, but it's interesting that you use glass pebbles rather than gravel - could it be the gravel causing you the problem sic0198? - I'm actually wanting to change to sand, but not sure if my Betta will appreciate a total new start - but then I guess I could always keep back 50% of the old water to add to the fresh set up with sand.

Good luck sic0198

 

[LosC519]

driftwood doesn't give a yucky look to the water. It gives it a light yellow/brownish tint to the water and you should have no problem seeing through it. If you're experiencing cloudy water then this may be a sign of a bacterial bloom or a cycle. Get a master test kit and check your water levels for ammonia and nitrite. I would highly recommend moving the fish out and doing a fishless cycle with pure ammonia. Your Betta will be sitting in toxic water levels until your cycle is finished, no matter how many water changes you do. It's a horrible thing to put a fish through.

 

[tibby25731]

Also i ahve read that there is something you can add to the water when it is cloudy that makes the tiny particles stick together so it filters out quicker.... not sure what it is called though?

 

[sic0198]

Also i ahve read that there is something you can add to the water when it is cloudy that makes the tiny particles stick together so it filters out quicker.... not sure what it is called though?

I know what you're talking about, it's called "clear" I believe. I buy it sometimes, canes in a white bottle with blue kettering.