Help ! I Think I Beeped Up Big Time

[Karybou]

Hi all,
I have the same 20 gal since 2006.
I had to move out of my appartment for business reason for +/- 1 yr and my friend moving in was supposed to take care of the aquarium....when I came back the water was yukky and there were only 2 survivors...1 platty and my window sucker (can't remember the name but looks like jurasic parc beast ).
I was quiyte upset with my friend but we agreed we would take care of it when I came back for good...1 week later.
As I was away my friend emptied the tank, threw away the old gravel and sponge filter and WASHED the tank ( with mild hand soap)
He then replace the gravel and filled out the tank again ...and then put back the fish...
Now the thing is I have a merky (foggy) water but all my reading are A1 according to my test kits, nitrite nitrate amonia PH...all good...
Is the fogging going to go away on its own ? Is it harmful for my fish ?

The "friend" is now swimming with the fish

 

[5teady_2012]

Your best bet would be to do 50% waterchange asap, then the next day another, then keep doing 25% waterchanges for a couple of days after that.

Then 30% waterchanges everyweek, this should sort the tank out.. dont worry about doing loads of waterchanges, it wont harm anything.

 

[OldMan47]

You need to do the water changes that 5teady has suggested and I would go even further. The point is that we never measure soap in our chemistry testing because everyone is careful not to get any into the tank in the first place. The soap can kill your fish so lots of large water changes are definitely in order. The thorough filter cleanings will have killed your nitrogen cycle so you will be starting over with a fish-in cycle. There is a link in my signature to take you to a thread on the subject. I have the link because you are far from the only person that has ever needed it.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

agree with the above, i would go one step even further

drain a bucket of tank water, catch the fish and put them in it, then rinse off the whole tank very very well to make sure you've removed all traces of soap, then re-fill it with 100% new water, allow it to come back up to temp and put the fish back in.

you'll then be experiencing a fish-in cycle because your friend threw away the filter sponges, the cloudiness you're seeing is either the soap or a bacterial bloom where the bacteria are re-growing. If it's a bloom it won't harm anything, if it's soap then the above will take care of it.

When doing the fish-in cycle your ultimate aim is to keep both ammonia and nitrite as close to 0 as possible, 0.25ppm is the maximum you should let it get up to. To do this start with a 50% water change every day, an hr after the water change re-test the water, if the levels aren't low enough then do another 50% change, re-test after an hr and so on. Just keep doing this every day that you get anhy reading for ammonia or nitrite, after a couple of weeks the frequency of water changes will reduce and you'll eventually work back to a normal 30% change once a week.

 

[waterdrop]

Karybou,

I've checked over the advice from MW and since its practically perfect, I agree with it.

Just thought you'd appreciate extra verification, and good luck!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Karybou]

Thanks for the advice...Sad ending unfortunately....
I give up !
I see I don't have the call anymore....Just gave my 2 fish to my local retailer since they were still healthy....The 20 gal tank is in the wash for now and will do a perfect gift for my nephew 10th birthday....It was fun while it lasted but the fun is gone ....for now at least
Thank you all for your help and advice