Cloudy Water!

[Far2lively]

Had my tank set up for around 6 weeks now and the water has just turned cloudy!! I have no idea why I'm not over feeding or added anything to the water to provoke it, I have recently changed filters though does this matter?? I left the other filter running with the new one for a week then removed it, the new filter is a JBL E900, does anyone have any idea what's going on I'm afraid that my fish will die, Thanks Spence

 

[KittyKat]

The cloudiness is a bacterial bloom which is most often caused by a presence of ammonia in the water. When you replaced the filter, you removed most of the nitrogen cycle bacteria from the aquarium.

What you should do immediately is start with water changes using a dechlorinator which "deals" with ammonia, for example Prime or Stress Coat. If you don't currently do regular water changes, start with 25% ones and work your way up to 95% over the next day or so. You are now in a fish-in cycle situation.

Test your water, you most likely have ammonia and nitrite.

Did you cycle the aquarium originally before adding fish?

If you want to replace a filter, there are two ways to do it:

• Move all old media to the new filter
• Run both filters in parallel for 6 weeks, then remove the first

The first method is best, as the second leaves you with only 50% of the bacteria when you remove the filter. Because you removed the original filter after only one week, you essentially removed around 95% of your filter bacteria. As a general rule of thumb, we usually say that it is safe to remove up to 30% of bacteria from a well established aquarium, where well established means full stock, well cared for and at least some months past it's finish of cycle.

 

[Far2lively]

Yh I did a fishless cycle before but to be honest I didn't actually check nitrate nitrite and ammonia levels which I always do usually , so what your sayin is do a 25% water change then a 50% then 95%?? And add stress coat to the water and dechlorinator?? And over hoew many days do I do this?? What would happen if I just left it?? Thanks Spence

 

[holidayinn]

the filter needs to establish a bacterial colony, as a week side by side isnt really going to cycle the new filter...I would take Kat's advice, and do regular water changes, if you leave it you run the risk of fish dying due to ammonia poisoning.

 

[KittyKat]

Yh I did a fishless cycle before but to be honest I didn't actually check nitrate nitrite and ammonia levels which I always do usually , so what your sayin is do a 25% water change then a 50% then 95%??

For example, yes. Or 25%, 1-2 hours later 25%, 1-3 hours later 50%, , 1-3 hours later 50%, 95% thereafter. The idea is to void shocking your fish in case your tap water is different from your tank water, which is easily possible, especially if your KH is low, which you wouldn't know unless you had KH and GH test kits.

And add stress coat to the water and dechlorinator??

Stress Coat is a dechlorinator. Any dechlorinator which "deals" with ammonia is fine. I recommend you use at least a double dose at every water change.

And over hoew many days do I do this??

Until you never see any ammonia or nitrite reading, which is when your new filter is cycled. This usually takes 6-12 weeks if you start from scratch, but I think it will take 4-6 weeks because your filter was slightly seeded (you ran both filters in parallel for 1 week).

You should do water changes as often as needed to keep ammonia and nitrite as close to 0 ppm as possible and never let either reach 0.25 ppm.

What would happen if I just left it??

Death: ammonia and nitrite poisoning, ammonia burns, suffocation; if they survive, health problems, increased susceptibility to diseases, short life span.

 

[Far2lively]

Ok so this is my plan I'm goin to do all the water changes tomorrow, as I'm at work today, I'm goin to my local lfs to get test kits which are the best ones?? And I'm gettin stress coat, ill keep doing regular water changes until amomonia and nitrites ect are at zero is that right??

 

[fidjet2]

API master LIQUID test kits are good.

 

[KittyKat]

Ok so this is my plan I'm goin to do all the water changes tomorrow, as I'm at work today, I'm goin to my local lfs to get test kits which are the best ones?? And I'm gettin stress coat, ill keep doing regular water changes until amomonia and nitrites ect are at zero is that right??

You should try and do one today, after work, if you can. Yes, water changes until 0 ppm for ammonia and nitrite.

Any liquid test kit which gives you the lowest reading at 0.25 ppm or lower. API master test kit gave the highest number of tests per cost when I got one earlier this year. Strips are not accurate enough, so don't even look at those.

Prime might be a cheaper alternative to Stress Coat as it may be more concentrated, but you'd need to check this.

 

[Far2lively]

Right I have tested the water for everything PH is at 7.5 Ammonia Is At 0.25mg/l Nitrate Is At 12.5mg/l Nitrite Is At <0.3mg/l what action should be taken??

 

[KittyKat]

Water changes using a double dose of dechlorinator which "deals" with ammonia to keep ammonia and nitrite as close to 0 ppm as possible and never let either rise to 0.25 ppm.

Also, test your tap water for ammonia and nitrite after you dechlorinate.

 

[Far2lively]

Glad to know the water is fine now after a lot of water changes and testing thanks for all the advice