Help! Cloudy Water

[heatherwright88]

I am new to this I upgraded from a 1 1/2 gallon fish tank to a 10 gallon thinking it would fix my cloudy water issue. I use spring water plus safe start. I have had the 10 gallon for about 3 weeks now with 2 25% water changes and 1 50%. I also quit feeding daily just everyother day. It was cloudy by the next morning after upgrading to the 10 gallon.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

[fluttermoth]

Welcome to the forum.

Could you give us some more details of your set up, please?

What fish (and how many) do you have? Do you have a filter? Have you got water tests, or have you had the water tested at all?

 

[marnold00]

Given the timeframe and no mentioning of cycling and the fish just about visible i think in the pictures I would say youre right in the middle of a fish in cycle. This will be a bacterial bloom.

Fish waste produces ammonia which is toxic to fish. Ammonia is essentially eaten and pooped out by a type of bacteria. The by product of this is nitrite which is also toxic. Another type of bacteria does the same with this and poops out nitrate which is less toxic. Once you have enough of this bacteria built up you should always have zero ammonia and zero nitrite levels. Nitrate should be kept below 20ppm. This is maintained by our regular water changes. Live plants (especially floating) also help. Byron once posted issues associated with nitrates on a post of mine but i cant find it... Pity. Basically keep em low for your fish to live to their fullest!

The mixture of fish plus safe start will have caused a bacterial bloom. Id say your tank wont be cycled yet either. You need to do a 50% water change once a day for now. The good bacteria lives on the surfaces and not in the water itself.

Get yourself the API Master test kit. Its one which the majority of users here use. Its easy to use and will last aaaaaaages (it seems quite expensive but has a lot of use in it and will save you the cost of replenishing fish)

 

[heatherwright88]

Thank you for your reply so. My tank has an Aqua-Tech 5-15 gallon filter and My tank consists of 4 glo fish, 1 algae eater, and 1 goldfish looking fish... it looks a littler clearer today but some water has evaporated. I'm not sure if I should just top it off or do another water change being as it is getting clearer. I don't want to mess up the cycle.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

[marnold00]

Ok so you need to take some tank water to your fish store and ask them to test for ammonia and nitrite. Ask for the exact figures.

Whilst youre there ask for the exact figures for GH KH and PH and then post another question in a different thread regarding fish suitable for your water

If your ammonia/nitrite are elevated then this is toxic to your fish! Water changes are an absolute must otherwise the fish will at best have a stunted lifespan and internal damage will be done.

Cloudiness going isnt a sign of the cycle ending. That can only be done with water testing. Also the beneficial bacteria live on the surfaces - mainly in the filter and substrate ' and not in the water itself. Water changes shouldnt harm them more than no water changes harming the fish. The ideal situation would be to ask the fish store to hold your fish whilst the tank cycles.

I would advise a post on your fish though. Not every fish is good with another. Some require groups of atleast 6 of their own, others are pretty violent. If your algae eater is a chinese algae eater then it will probably end in the death of all of your other fish.

Also some fish prefer soft acidic water, others hard alkaline water which is why i suggested you get the GH KH and pH. you could take the 'i dont care I'll stock what i like' but in the long run it will cost more due to replenishing fish and is essentially cruel to the fish. If you do this properly, these guys should be lasting years rather than months