New Cloudy Tank

[Puddles92]

Hi. I am completely new to looking after fish of any sort apart from sea monkeys when I was very little.
My boyfriend got me a 25l fluval chi tank for my birthday which is beautiful even without the fish and makes a really nice bubbling water sound from the waterfall.
We are doing a fish cycle which we started on Tuesday. We rinsed all the gravel several times set up the tank added the water conditioner and the bacteria stuff as the directions said and turned everything on. It was fine and the water was clear. We added a heater yesterday after it had been running a day to bring the temperature up, followed the instructions etc and added more bacteria as the nutrafin stuff says to do on day 2 but now on day 3 the water is beginning to go cloudy. The water isn't quite up to temperature at 23 degrees but have turned the thermostat up. I have tested the water and it all seems ok apart from the ph is a little acidic. We were planning on getting a platty on Monday but is it safe to put it in when the tank is cloudy and how do we clear the water without using a whole load of expensive chemicals. It says to add more bacteria today, should I still do this or leave it to clear

Also we were thinking of stocking the tank with a few male guppies and a small shoal of tetras as well as a cherry shrimp or other small shrimp and a snail, do you think they would get on ok? Are there any small bottom feeders that only grow to 4/5 cm or are they all bigger.

Thank you for any help in advance.

 

[fluttermoth]

to the forum, Puddles (great name, btw!)

Ok, first things first. I'm afraid your tank isn't going to be ready for fish by Monday. I've tried Nutrafin Cycle myself (I got it free, so thought I'd give it go) and it did absolutely nothing to help the tank cycle.

You have two choices; a proper fishless cycle using household cleaning ammonia, which is the method we always recommend, or a fish in cycle, where the actual fish provide the ammonia. Fish in cycles mean a lot of hard work for you, with daily, or even twice daily water changes and even then possible sickness, or even death, for the fish.

If you click on the link in my sig, you'll find good articles on both methods.

The cloudiness you're experiencing is a bacterial bloom (not the same kind of bacteria as we want in our filters, unfortunately) and will clear up on it's own.

Platies are not suitable for such a small tank, as they're quite a chunky fish when mature, and there aren't really any bottom feeders either; they all either grow too big or need to be in groups. In a tank of that size, you want fish that stay very small; less than an inch fully grown, I would say.

Fish you could look at are; one male betta OR four or five male guppies or Endlers (no females; you don't have room for fry) OR five or six ember tetras, chilli rasboras, dwarf emerald rasboras or celestial pearl danios. You could always have a few cherry shrimps as well, as they don't create much waste.

Hope that helps; do post again if you need more help

 

[SandraNewbie]

Sorry to say this but you haven't started a cycle yet. Without a source of ammonia all you're doing is puring in bacteria who will die and make the water go cloudy. lease see this article on fishless cycling.

The tank is 25cm by 25cm and 40cm deep if I remember correctly?

Platy's will get too big for that footprint IMHO, as will guppys.

Endlers (sometimes called endler's guppies) might be alright, and they go well with cherry shrimp.

With that size of tank, it's probably best as a betta tank but unless the filter's really good, you'll be struggling to keep the water fresh.

 

[Puddles92]

Ok thanks. How long do blooms normally take to clear up?
I will go and get some ammonia or fish food tomorrow. Which is the best way of cycling the tank as I have read good and bad on both.
Also what plants would you recommend that wont completely fill the tank.

 

[fluttermoth]

Blooms usually clear up in a few days, it's nothing to worry about.

I would go with the household ammonia method; using fish food is very tricky and imprecise.

A really good plant for you to look for would be Anubias barteria v. nana which is very tough, grows attached to a piece of wood or rock, so it's easy to move about and clean around (very important in small tanks!) and stays small.

Let us know how you get on; there's always someone about here able to help

 

[sputnick]

i had this cloudyness also, i suggest 25-50% water changes everyday or everyother day, mine cleared up after a week and only two water changes. for a 45 gal tank i dont think thats too bad! lol considering i couldn't even see the back of the tank..

 

[Murrayjane]

i had this cloudyness also, i suggest 25-50% water changes everyday or everyother day, mine cleared up after a week and only two water changes. for a 45 gal tank i dont think thats too bad! lol considering i couldn't even see the back of the tank..

I think puddles has only a 5 gallon tank, 25 liters, in which case you could definitely use either method that has been suggested above. The water changes won't be that laborious, but buying the house hold ammonia cleaning product will be easier.

As for the stocking, I would definitely try the guppies, but not sure if you could fit even a small shoal of tetra within a tank of that size (unless they are neon). The cherry shrimp should be alright, and if you get a snail I recommend getting a Tiger snail (won't multiply in freshwater).

 

[Puddles92]

Ok thanks. I like the tiger snail idea but are you sure it won't grow too big? And yes it was neons I was thinking of.
How long do you think it will take to cycle a 5 gallon tank or is it the same for all tanks?

 

[sputnick]

i do belive its about the same fir all tanks 4-6 weeks i think. im sure somrone else will give you a better answer. minr just finished a few days ago actually so it was around 5 weeks for mine