Cloudy Water

[Pepperony9]

I've had a 3 gallon tank with two platties for about 6 weeks. The water was clear for about 3 weeks and the last couple of weeks it's been very cloudy. I tried replacing a portion of the water and I use a water conditioner solution. I have changed the filter a couple of times and then replaced more water and started using AccuClear. The water is still cloudy. I also tried to absorb some oily buildup on the surface with paper towels as I have read and that didn't do a thing. Any suggestions that don't involve completely draining the tank and starting over?

 

[outofwater]

Welcome! When you say you changed the filter, you mean you replaced the media in them with brand new cartridges?

What do you treat the water with for the changes?

What and how often do you feed the fish with?

 

[Pepperony9]

Yes, I changed th cartridge. I have only changed 15%-20% of the water at a time. Do I need to change it more often? I changed the cartridge because I was looking for a dead fish.

I use a water conditioner when I change portions of the water and I have used AccuClear to clear the water which isn't helping.

We feed the fish once a day.

 

[outofwater]

Did you cycle the tank? Putting new cartridges might have thrown away any beneficial bacteria you might have had at that point. The cloudy water might be bacterial blooming, but that's just a guess at this point.

As for the film, assuming you're not overfeeding then maybe those decorations might be leeching something off? What's the substrate? Look like colored pebbles, did you rinse them when you set up the tank? How long do you leave the light on?

 

[Pepperony9]

I know nothing about fish. This is a first pet for my son who lost interest after the first day and now I am stuck with it!

What is cycling the tank? What is substrate?
I took out the decorations 3 days ago and rinsed them and wiped them with a paper towel because they were collecting green stuff.

Yes, I rinsed the pebbles and let the water sit for a day before adding the fish in.

I normally leave the light on all day and turn it off at night.

 

[outofwater]

Buckle up Dorothy, Kansas is going bye bye.

I'm not an expert by any stretch but the cycle in short is what happens when ammonia (fish piss and poop, plus any leftover food) is converted to nitrites, then to nitrates. Even with daily changes the ammonia builds up because, well, fish pee and poop. Bacteria grows that moves the cycle along, (ammonia > nitrites > nitrates) and it collects on hard surfaces (gravel, plants, decorations, and your filter) throwing away the filter cartridges is an effective way to "break" the cycle.
Fear not, you can restore the balance with the fish in, you'll just have to put a bit extra work. See here: https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycle-your-tank-a-complete-guide-for-beginners.475055/

Light and nutrition (,food leftovers) play a role on algae growth. you mentioned having that. Reduce the light by an hour from whatever you have it on now for a week or two and if you still see algae building up go from there in 45 minutes increments until you find the "right" length to enjoy your fish but not promoting algae growth, and again keep in mind that the beneficial bacteria grows on all surfaces, so scrubbing decorations isn't what you want to do on an ongoing basis.

I'm still a loss for the oily buildup. What food do you feed them?

 

[Pepperony9]

Thanks, I will do some reading on cycling.
A picture of the food is attached.

 

[Pepperony9]

I just read about the cycling which is far more complicated and time consuming than I can handle right now. Are there any other options?

 

[outofwater]

I just read about the cycling which is far more complicated and time consuming than I can handle right now. Are there any other options?

well, the platy is a hardy fish. let's put it this way: with the filter running, you making sure to clean up as much excess food as possible (if any is left over after a couple of minutes) and keeping regular water changes and general cleanup (the 25% water change every couple of days) you'll basically be going thru the cycle itself, just a "slow version". so don't dwell too much on the details of the cycle I just provided or whatever else you might read that makes it look like a daunting task. Main thing is do NOT throw away the cartridges, rinse them in the aquarium water you take out, and put the same cartridge back on, so the "good" bacteria stays.

FWIW, the fact that your fish are alive at this point is a testament that conditions are somewhat OK, but long term the best I can offer is comparing this situation to you moving to a city with lots of smog in the air. will you die right away? no, of course; but breathing and life in general would be miserable and you migth develop long-term conditions down the road that will diminish your quality of life.

if you plan on keeping these guys, they do live around 3 years, but the tank should be cycled in another month or so assuming you keep up wiht the maintenance as I mentioned above, so the options are to go with it, or just return them or re-house them if you don't want to do it, because otherwise they're not in the best conditions, and hardy as they are they might in fact die on you earlier than they would.

 

[Pepperony9]

well, the platy is a hardy fish. let's put it this way: with the filter running, you making sure to clean up as much excess food as possible (if any is left over after a couple of minutes) and keeping regular water changes and general cleanup (the 25% water change every couple of days) you'll basically be going thru the cycle itself, just a "slow version". so don't dwell too much on the details of the cycle I just provided or whatever else you might read that makes it look like a daunting task. Main thing is do NOT throw away the cartridges, rinse them in the aquarium water you take out, and put the same cartridge back on, so the "good" bacteria stays.

FWIW, the fact that your fish are alive at this point is a testament that conditions are somewhat OK, but long term the best I can offer is comparing this situation to you moving to a city with lots of smog in the air. will you die right away? no, of course; but breathing and life in general would be miserable and you migth develop long-term conditions down the road that will diminish your quality of life.

if you plan on keeping these guys, they do live around 3 years, but the tank should be cycled in another month or so assuming you keep up wiht the maintenance as I mentioned above, so the options are to go with it, or just return them or re-house them if you don't want to do it, because otherwise they're not in the best conditions, and hardy as they are they might in fact die on you earlier than they would.

Thanks! I will skip a feeding tomorrow, reduce the light time and change 25% of the water every few days and see what happens.
Any thoughts on live plants in the tank?

 

[outofwater]

Thanks! I will skip a feeding tomorrow, reduce the light time and change 25% of the water every few days and see what happens.
Any thoughts on live plants in the tank?

they would greatlly benefit the fish and the cycle itself, most plants do consume some of the ammonia, as any other plant they generate oxygen, and serve as a surface for the bacteria to establish itself on, so yeah, go for it.
easiest to keep in my experience would be amazon sword, which is a rooted one, or wysteria, which you can have either planted or as a floater. some fish do have a taste for it though, if these fish take a liking to it they might decimate it and well, you just have to find another one they won't bite. another good and easy to care for is ludwigia.

since the tank is small, a single amazon sword would be OK, as would be a small bunch of either wisteria or ludwigia. either option shouldn't run more than $8 or $10. you don't want to overcrowd your tank, the fish do like their space to swim after all. If you go for a plant, I'd suggest removing one of the decorations you have there.

substrate is the "formal" word for the surface you have in the tank, pebbles in your case. if you go for plants, the light definitely shouldn't be on for more than 6 to 8 hours per day, the algae would also start growing on them if there's an imbalance.

good luck, the hobby (whether you go for it or as is your case, you're thrusted into it) may seem daunting at some points, but one quickly realizes it that it's no different than caring for any other animal, you have to ensure their needs are met, and they'll be there for you when you just want to look at them go on about their life in the little slice of habitat you create for them

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

I know nothing about fish. This is a first pet for my son who lost interest after the first day and now I am stuck with it!

LOL, I've heard that story plenty of times before. It's not always fish, it can be birds, cats, dogs, guinea pigs, etc.

Milky cloudy water is a bacterial bloom usually caused by fish food breaking down in the water and a filter that hasn't cycled.

Green cloudy water is an algae bloom caused by too much light, too many nutrients, or no live plants to use the light and nutrients.

-------------------
You can do a fish in cycle. This is where the fish stay in the tank while the filters develop colonies of beneficial bacteria.

Just reduce the feeding to 2-3 times a week and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate (sand or gravel on the bottom of the tank) 4-8 hours after feeding. When the filter has finished cycling (developing the colonies of good bacteria), you can feed the fish more often and do a water change and gravel clean once a week. Don't worry, the fish won't starve during that time.

Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank. Get a couple of new buckets and use a permanent marker to write 'FISH ONLY" on them. Use those buckets for the fish and nothing else.

Before you do a water change, add enough dechlorinator to the bucket to treat that bucket of water. then fill it with tap water. Stir it up or aerate it for at least 5 (preferably 30) minutes and then use that water to fill the tank up after you have removed some of the dirty water.

You can buy a gravel cleaner from any pet shop and use it to syphon some water out of the tank, and to clean the gunk out of the gravel. The fish and gravel stay in the tank and you simply use the gravel cleaner to suck the gunk out of the tank and into a bucket. Take the bucket of dirty water outside and pour it on the lawn or garden.

-------------------
Try not to clean the filter for the first 6-8 weeks. This gives the good bacteria a chance to stick to the filter media/ materials. After that you can clean it once a month.

When you do clean the filter, wash/ squeeze the filter media out in a bucket of tank water. Then re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the lawn or garden.

Filter materials should only be replaced when they start to fall apart. If that happens, replace them with a sponge for another brand of filter. You can sue a pair of scissors to cut the sponge so it fits in your filter. Sponges get cleaned the same way and last for years.

If you have carbon (black granulated substance) in the filter, you can remove this and don't bother replacing it. The same with Ammogon/ Zeolite (white granules). This stuff removes ammonia from the water and stops the filter bacteria from growing.

The filter case can be washed out under tap water, as can the impellor and impellor assembly. The impellor is the black magnet with 3 or 4 plastic blades on one end and sits inside the motor of the power filter. Check the instruction book for directions about cleaning the impellor.

If you have any concerns, just post questions and pictures here and we can help you work it out.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Welcome to TFF

Good advice above.

Get a good quality water conditioner, either Seachem Prime or API Tap Water conditioner.

You are going to need a good quality test kit...most of us use this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000255NCI/?tag=ff0d01-20

If you are going to keep the fish, follow the "fish in" cycling instructions on the link provided above.
If you can return the fish, a fishless cycle is the way to go.

But frankly, a 3G tank is too small for platys, and most other fish

 

[Rocky998]

I agree with @Slaphppy7, a 3 gallon is really really small for platys and really any fish... Id do 10 gallons at minimum for them. You could do a betta in a 5g but again, 10g would be better. I would try to return the fish if possible or re home to a larger tank...

 

[Ava]

A 3 gallon tank is too small for platys i would recommend getting a bigger tank, or if you don’t want to keep the fish you may be able to return them from where you got them or sell them to someone who has the proper stuff to take care of them but in the mean time, take out half of the water and clean the substrate (don’t clean the filter with tap water) scrub off any algae in the tank, refill the tank and make sure you are using the correct amount of water dechlorinator, hope this helps!