Gravel Cleaning... Now Water Is Cloudy...

[DannyBlackbourn]

The title says it all really...

I have just recently Used my gravel vacuum and now the water is really cloudy.

Is this normal?

Should I preform a water change?

Sorry I feel really stupid asking, but this is my first time with a tropical tank lol.

 

[Whitester]

I normally vacuum the gravel when I am doing a water change. Sometimes my water gets cloudy too. But because I am doing a water change with the vacuuming, I just add the water after vacuuming. It sometimes takes a few hours for the debris to settle. I am a newb so take my advice accordingly. haha

 

[DannyBlackbourn]

I normally vacuum the gravel when I am doing a water change. Sometimes my water gets cloudy too. But because I am doing a water change with the vacuuming, I just add the water after vacuuming. It sometimes takes a few hours for the debris to settle. I am a newb so take my advice accordingly. haha

I am going to test my water,

Then do another Water change I think...

It's still rather cloudy...

 

[VespertineStar]

If it hasn't cleared after a few hours you may have left it too long between gravel vacs.

 

[mztattoo]

In my experience, I have found that pushing the vaccum too deep into the gravel causes alot of stuff to rise up. I have read that its only necessary to do a surface vaccum for large food particles or debris. There are bacteria that develop under your gravel that actually help keep the tanks levels where they should be.

Is your tank fully cycled?

 

[DannyBlackbourn]

In my experience, I have found that pushing the vaccum too deep into the gravel causes alot of stuff to rise up. I have read that its only necessary to do a surface vaccum for large food particles or debris. There are bacteria that develop under your gravel that actually help keep the tanks levels where they should be.

Is your tank fully cycled?

I was going as deep in the gravel as I could... Maybe that is why.

No my tank is not fully cycled.

I am currently underway of trying to get my Nitrite level down from 2.0ppm to 0ppm

This is my Topic on this matter;

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=297461

I have just performed a 50% water change.

will do another test later.

Every time I do a water change, my fish seem to get super happy and swim really fast everywhere in the tank... like its a new tank or something lol!

 

[mztattoo]

You're doing what you should be! It takes a little while for the tank to cycle - it was VERY frustrating waiting to get to that point, but once you do - the tank looks better then you could ever imagine!
Talk about happy fish!

 

[DannyBlackbourn]

Well the Nitrites decided to finally decrease earlier by a whole 1ppm so something must be working...

I will test my water in an hour or so...

And yes My Guppies seem rather lively,

They love it when I change the water, they tend to attack and swim about the pump... they aint scared at all lol!

But from being in a tank previous with Parrot fish, I'm not surprised...

(my cousin obviously doesn't know fish compatibility lol...)

 

[mztattoo]

Do you have bubbles? My guys LOVE playing in the bubbles. It's really cute to watch! Let me know how it goes for you - and post some pics when the water clears!

 

[DannyBlackbourn]

Do you have bubbles? My guys LOVE playing in the bubbles. It's really cute to watch! Let me know how it goes for you - and post some pics when the water clears!

Yeah I have bubbles

Here is a few pictures of the process of my tank...

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=297486

The last pic is how the tank looks now.

Another thing I have noticed is my female Guppy,

When I feed her, or she knows I'm around... She will come to the glass and swim up and down it
Looks like she does a back flip it's really cute!

 

[mztattoo]

It's great that you can have interaction with fish, people really don't believe it could happen. My 9in Pleco and 3 female swordtails actually eat from my fingers - it so cool. I use the freeze dried brine shrimp, which comes in like a cube shape if you're not familiar, and they come right to the surface. My cories, beta sharks and mini pleco haven't done it yet, but I'm hoping.

 

[DannyBlackbourn]

I have fed my Guppies from hand, but because the flakes were too big they didn't eat it until it became soggy lol...
But at least they took it from me

But yes I agree with the interaction

People who don't believe it, well they are... dumb? lol... couldn't think of anything decent to write.

I can't wait to add more to the tank... as well as some shrimp!

 

[waterdrop]

When feeding flakes to a community tank you can drop some larger flakes on the surface and then, while your fingers are still dry you take some more flakes and grind them to smaller sizes between your fingers and drop some of those on the surface and then grind the rest between your fingers *beneath* the surface so that that bunch will drop through the water providing better access to fish that don't like to surface feed as much. Its handy to have a "tank towel" in your cabinet for feeding time and other things.

~~waterdrop~~
edit: ps. agree that debris and cloudiness is quite common after gravel cleaning and usually your tank will be clearer than ever by the next morning... all totally normal. In a gravel typical beginner tank its ideal that you are indeed cleaning the gravel deeply. You may not be able to deep clean the entire substrate on a particular cleaning but you can keep track and do a different section next time.

 

[DannyBlackbourn]

Feedings fine now

Thank you Waterdrop!

Have you seen my Nitrite updates?

 

[arobinson1984]

Agree with waterdrop here,

You should do deep gravel cleans, the amount of bacteria in the gravel isnt that beneficial to warrant only cleaning the gravel surface. Food can make its way below your substrate, epspecially on gravel (not so much on sand) so a good deep clean is required to ensure all waste and debris is removed.

The tank can become cloudy after a gravel clean, it may indicate that you arent cleaning the gravel regularly enough. I'd recommend a good deep clean every week and you'll soon notice that the amount you remove from the gravel each week will soon drop.

Andy