Cloudy Water

[weary01]

hi,
now i know this isn't a tropical fish tank inquiry, but, my brother has a small 16L fish tank with a few gold fish in it and it was the same tank i had used previously and the water has gone all cloudy, kinda slightly milky, and he changed the water (half half) and still cloudy. the lid to the tank has been broken and he hasn't been bothered to replace it so the tank is wide open, could there be something growing in it? and if so how would i remove it?

cheers

 

[Truck]

16 litres is not big enough for goldfish, if theres 2, 40 gallon minimum with massive filtration

 

[matchstickman47]

16 litres is not big enough for goldfish, if theres 2, 40 gallon minimum with massive filtration

BACK TO THE QUESTION ....... in hand .....

your water maby cloudy because of somthing you have added to the tank eg ornaments

to get rid of cloudy water all i suggest is literaly changing the water again and again every two days or so...
also how big is filtration in th tank an how big are the goldfish ?
as truck said you will need a bigger tank for two goldfish lol but if there as small as mine they wont for a while

seeing that i can see any in the tank im guna expect they are realy small

 

[Syphoniera]

I'm sorry to be a downer - and that is a lovely-looking tank - but goldfish are VERY messy, even when small, and a bacterial bloom is the least that can be expected in a tank that size.
(Edit: sorry, I guess the tank shown is yours, not a shot of the tank your brother's now keeping.)
The toxic ammonia and nitrites won't be visible, and if he's planning on keeping them in there any length of time, even the short-term prognosis is not good.
Even if they manage to survive several years, (out of a potential of decades) their lives will still be nasty, brutish and short - and if your brother had any idea of what he was doing to those goldfish with the best of intentions, he'd be horrified.
Goldfish get enormous and they need at least 30 gallons for a single fish, and at least an additional 10 gallons per each further fish, although I've heard many say 20 - this includes massive, regular water changes, of course.
The hassle alone is tremendous.
He probably should be doing daily water changes on that tank while they're in there...
He could trade them in on some nice male Endlers/wild guppies, which would be active, colourful, and have a low bioload - that's about a four gallon tank and it's really not suitable for much except a few small fish (considering adult size, if they're expected to pass their lives in there and keep them very long,) or a single betta.
There are a number of spectacular nanofish sometimes available now, although they tend to be a little more expensive - and an active tank with small, colourful fish is, IMO, much more interestng than a small tank with several larger and growing fish able to move less and less freely.
Especially if you have any idea of what they're going through.

 

[weary01]

yeh there only small an theres 3 of em, i tihnk they may be comets or something. i used it as a tropical fish tank wen i first started but realised that it wasnt a very good tank, even with an added filter stuck to the side. all its got is a gravel filter an 5cm of gravel (wat was recomeneded), it has kept gold fish in it before as i was a kid didn seem to have much trouble. an the jebo tank u can see in the pic is mine, its a very good tank, but i have to be careful with the fish i put in it an have to make sure there only small ones.

but i will tell hime to water change more often an hopefully it solves the water issue, an may remove the ornaments as well.

cheers

 

[Truck]

yeh there only small an theres 3 of em, i tihnk they may be comets or something. i used it as a tropical fish tank wen i first started but realised that it wasnt a very good tank, even with an added filter stuck to the side. all its got is a gravel filter an 5cm of gravel (wat was recomeneded), it has kept gold fish in it before as i was a kid didn seem to have much trouble. an the jebo tank u can see in the pic is mine, its a very good tank, but i have to be careful with the fish i put in it an have to make sure there only small ones.

but i will tell hime to water change more often an hopefully it solves the water issue, an may remove the ornaments as well.

cheers

comets can reach 12" easily in a pond, but in a tank they will become stunted, the body releases a hormone, which stops the spine growing but not the organs, the swim bladder will then become brushed resulting in a dead goldfish

 

[backtotropical]

the body releases a hormone, which stops the spine growing but not the organs, the swim bladder will then become brushed resulting in a dead goldfish

Sorry Truck. That's just not true.

Goldfish will become stunted and it will potentially cause health issues as you will imagine, but the body stopping growing and the organs carrying on thing is a myth. No truth in it whatsoever.

Weary, please listen to the others. Although you may not have seemed to have any problems previously, keeping goldies in a tank that size is cruel. They need much bigger. Unfortunately, goldfish are probably amongst the most mis-treated animals in the world, and we only try to provide the best advice we can.

If they don't die, that doesn't necessarily mean everything is ok.

Cheers

BTT

 

[matchstickman47]

i think the amount of oxgen in the tank can also be an issue somthing i read about them thinking they are in a pond if ther is too much oxygen and then growing because of it