Cloudy Water

[LoachLover]

A gentleman that's been coming into the store has had his 10 gallon tank set up for around 3 weeks. I can't remember what kind of fish he has in there, but it's around 5. He's been complaining that his water has been cloudy for probably the last two weeks. I thought it might be associated with the tank cycling, but since he wanted somewhat of a solution other than waiting and doing water changes, I sold him a product that's supposed to clear up the water. He says he treated it for around a week, and it's still just as cloudy as before. There is some ammonia in his tank (He couldn't remember how much, but it was on the low side). Any thoughts? Suggestions I can give him? Oh, and it is "white" cloudy, I did make sure of that haha.

 

[Caprichoso]

Sounds like he's lazy. Water changes are the single best way of solving any water quality issue. If he can't even remember how much ammonia is in his tank, can he really be trusted with his "low ammonia" reading, lol...he has to do more water changes! Plus also make sure he isn't over feeding(would he know if he was, that is the question). The biggest problem I think is the fact that the tank is only 3 weeks old. This would clearly indicate that it's from a ammonia spike from a tank that isn't cycled properly. Tell him that if he wants those fish to live, he better do some huge water changes! Also, we can't assume he knows anything, so make sure he's using a de-chlorinator. The gravel might not have been rinsed properly too. Has he rinsed out his filter? Is he using tank water to rinse out the filter? Blah, blah, I could go on and on...

Nice of you to care enough to ask for him

 

[LoachLover]

He's using stress coat to treat his water, and I have him doing 25% water changes weekly. I recently also got him to purchase a siphon in order to do his water changes (which he was very happy with after he used it for the first time). I don't think that he's overfeeding, assuming that he actually is putting in as much as he says he is. As far as the gravel being properly rinsed, I explained the best way to do it when he originally purchased the tank, so that should be fine as well. I'm pretty sure it's just from it being a new tank that needs to be properly cycled, but I wanted to find out if there was something I may have been overlooking. At least now I can tell him I did some research on the subject, so I have some backing to my claims that he needs to be patient, and keep doing water changes. He's a really nice guy, who comes in pretty often for advice, so I really want to provide him the best information I can. Him and everybody else for that matter haha.

 

[Rogue4Fish]

New tanks are normally cloudy...should settle down over time.

If it's a new tank and he's got fish in it, more than likely he's suffering with ammonia, which isn't going to help.

I had the same issue, it just goes with time. To be honest, I don't think you can do much about it.

 

[LoachLover]

Alright, thanks for the advice

 

[waterdrop]

Whitish/grayish milky haze in a new tank (three weeks from setup is a new tank) is a bacterial bloom. Bacterial blooms are quite a normal thing in new tanks. They are harmless and go away on their own. Water changing and chemicals don't help them.

What -is- important are any spikes in ammonia or nitrite above 0.25ppm as measured by a good liquid-reagent based water chemistry test kit. Most of us like and use the API Freshwater Master Test Kit but there are others that are ok too. Paper strip tests are worse than useless, they lead to wrong decisions. During a Fish-In cycling situation, it is important to be a detective and figure out the percentage and frequency of water changes (with good technique.. conditioner and temperature matching) that will keep the poison spikes under control. 50 to 75% water changes via gravel-cleaning may sometimes be needed.

Bacterial blooms in new tanks are quite independent of ammonia. It can be the chemicals used to glue the glass of the new tank. Heterotrophic bacteria will eat the substances from the gluing process and "bloom" into visibility. Bacterial blooms in -OLD- tanks are a different story. Blooms in mature tanks can happen due to excess debris that is being consumed by heterotrophs and it can mean that a large ammonia spike is about to occur, so in these cases a proactive water change may indeed be in order.

We'd welcome your gentleman into our beginners forum if you gave him the URL. And thanks for seeking the advice.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Miles_hot]

Would a UV steriliser help if he's too impatient to wait for nature to take it's course?
Miles

 

[waterdrop]

Theoretically, I suppose the UV could kill the heterotrophs involved but it would just seem a waste of energy to me. By the time you located a UV unit, figured out how to install it and got it going the bloom would probably be gone! WD