Not really an emergency ...

[jay_]

But how do i get rid of cloudy water? this is the first time i've ever had this problem ever, and really have no idea how to get rid of it.
All i'm doing is changing the water daily and hopefully it will dilute it, will that work?
I'm almost positive it's from overfeeding when my friends son dumped about half a container of food in the tank and i didn't find it till about 4-5 hours later at least
The 55 is the one thats cloudy.

 

[freshwatergal]

This is probably a dumb question, but did you look to see if there was anything dead in the tank? I know it sounds horrible, but that might be causing it. My mom is currently having the same problem with her 55 gal tank. I think her problem is because some of the rocks she brought in from outside weren't cleaned properly, but so far she hasn't had any casualty's, which is a good thing. That was just a thought...HTH

Tiff

 

[Mamaschild]

Hi Jay. I can at least throw an idea out for ya

Since your friend's son dumped the food in, it's decaying and causing a lot of ammonia to be released into the tank. This will cause a bacterial bloom, as the bacteria need to multiply in order to take care of the excess waste. As the tank settles back to the normal perameters, the tank should clear up.

Just keep up with the water changes and be SURE to gravel vac VERY well everytime. This will help you get rid of the food, and get your tank back to normal. I would remove (or just move around) the decorations and plants for the next few times you vac, so you can clean under everything.

Good luck and let us know how it's going.