Tank Cloudy

[mjtefc9]

Hi all,

Bought my daughter a 25ltr tank for some neon tetra. Before the fish went in we added aqua safe, easy balance and bacteria..

This is the 2nd week now and the water is cloudy/milky and has stringy algae?

What have I done wrong?


Thanks Mark

 

[Rocky998]

Hi all,

Bought my daughter a 25ltr tank for some neon tetra. Before the fish went in we added aqua safe, easy balance and bacteria..

This is the 2nd week now and the water is cloudy/milky and has stringy algae?

What have I done wrong?


Thanks Mark

Hello! Welcome to the hobby and forum...

I see you got a 5 gallon tank. 5 gallons is a but small for any fish, especially neon tetras or any shoaling fish. These fish should be kept in a densely planted 20 gallon tank. 10 gallons is an absolute minimum but 20 gallons is ideal.

The reason your tank is clouded is due to the fact that you did not cycled most likely. What you have to do is test the water parameters with a liquid test kit like the API master kit and test for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. I would also recommend researching more on the nitrogen cycle because that is what is going on. To put the nitrogen cycle in a very short way, what happens is basically a fish or fish food produces ammonia which is highly toxic to fish and then turns into nitrite which is still very toxic to fish... After ammonia turns into nitrite, the nitrite turns into nitrAte, which is less toxic but should always be kept below 20ppm. A good amount to keep it at is 10ppm, but lower is better... I would do a large water change of about 75% and keep doing this until you stop seeing ammonia.

If you have a filter where you keep changing out a cartridge, I would recommend not changing out the filter media until it is literally starting to fall apart. When you get rid of filter media, you are also getting rid of ANY bacteria in there...

Please do not think I am trying to point out every thing you are doing wrong and putting you down. I understand how it can feel when someone keeps bringing up things youve done wrong but I am sincerely just trying to help in the kindest way I can...

 

[mjtefc9]

Hello! Welcome to the hobby and forum...

I see you got a 5 gallon tank. 5 gallons is a but small for any fish, especially neon tetras or any shoaling fish. These fish should be kept in a densely planted 20 gallon tank. 10 gallons is an absolute minimum but 20 gallons is ideal.

The reason your tank is clouded is due to the fact that you did not cycled most likely. What you have to do is test the water parameters with a liquid test kit like the API master kit and test for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. I would also recommend researching more on the nitrogen cycle because that is what is going on. To put the nitrogen cycle in a very short way, what happens is basically a fish or fish food produces ammonia which is highly toxic to fish and then turns into nitrite which is still very toxic to fish... After ammonia turns into nitrite, the nitrite turns into nitrAte, which is less toxic but should always be kept below 20ppm. A good amount to keep it at is 10ppm, but lower is better... I would do a large water change of about 75% and keep doing this until you stop seeing ammonia.

If you have a filter where you keep changing out a cartridge, I would recommend not changing out the filter media until it is literally starting to fall apart. When you get rid of filter media, you are also getting rid of ANY bacteria in there...

Please do not think I am trying to point out every thing you are doing wrong and putting you down. I understand how it can feel when someone keeps bringing up things youve done wrong but I am sincerely just trying to help in the kindest way I can...

That's great.. no thanks for the advice!

Thought adding the bacteria and and water balance would stop that

 

[Rocky998]

That's great.. no thanks for the advice!

Thought adding the bacteria and and water balance would stop that

Yah, the companies say that it "instantly cycles" the tank, but in reality it only kinda helps a cycle along. Dont worry though! Just do the testing and water changes and the tank should eventually stabalise. I would definitely get a larger tank in the near future set up for them though

 

[Rocky998]

Hello! Welcome to the hobby and forum...

I see you got a 5 gallon tank. 5 gallons is a but small for any fish, especially neon tetras or any shoaling fish. These fish should be kept in a densely planted 20 gallon tank. 10 gallons is an absolute minimum but 20 gallons is ideal.

The reason your tank is clouded is due to the fact that you did not cycled most likely. What you have to do is test the water parameters with a liquid test kit like the API master kit and test for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. I would also recommend researching more on the nitrogen cycle because that is what is going on. To put the nitrogen cycle in a very short way, what happens is basically a fish or fish food produces ammonia which is highly toxic to fish and then turns into nitrite which is still very toxic to fish... After ammonia turns into nitrite, the nitrite turns into nitrAte, which is less toxic but should always be kept below 20ppm. A good amount to keep it at is 10ppm, but lower is better... I would do a large water change of about 75% and keep doing this until you stop seeing ammonia.

If you have a filter where you keep changing out a cartridge, I would recommend not changing out the filter media until it is literally starting to fall apart. When you get rid of filter media, you are also getting rid of ANY bacteria in there...

Please do not think I am trying to point out every thing you are doing wrong and putting you down. I understand how it can feel when someone keeps bringing up things youve done wrong but I am sincerely just trying to help in the kindest way I can...

I just re read the first two paragraphs and wow I chopled up my grammar

 

[Oblio]

Welcome to TFF

As @Rocky998 stated, you probably have not cycled yet and should get an API test kit.

What type of filter do you have?

I'd eventually replace the cartridges with foam, and add a pre-filter now. Keep the cartridge for now (do not replace with new ones) until your tank is cycled with foam, you don't want to throw away any beneficial bacteria (BB) that is starting to grow. You may be able to fit both the foam and cartridge in the filter for now. If not, a pre-filter will eventually harbor BB and after your tank is cycled you can pitch the cartridge and add new foam inside the filter. When the foam is dirty, simply rinse and reuse, this will save many $$.

 

[Rocky998]

When the foam is dirty, simply rinse and reuse, this will save many $$.

Rinse with OLD tank water though! Not tap

 

[Essjay]

Once you have the test kit, test every day for ammonia and nitrite. Whenever either of them read more than zero, you need to do a water change. And it needs to be big enough to get the readings down to zero.

Once they stay at zero, you can then start doing weekly 50% maintenance water changes.

 

[mjtefc9]

Aquael ASAP Filter 300 | from Aquacadabra

Aquael ASAP Filter 300 is a 300 lph internal filtration system.

www.aquacadabra.com

That's the filter.. should it be fully submerged?

Also should I hold of cleaning it then for the bacteria?

 

[Oblio]

Rinse with OLD tank water though! Not tap

There is some evidence that a quick rinse with tap will not have a significant effect on BB in the filter media, and even if it did cause some die off the remaining BB not in the filter will be sufficient while the filter BB recover.

That being said, there is no harm in using tank water to be safe, I do it myself.

 

[Oblio]

Aquael ASAP Filter 300 | from Aquacadabra

Aquael ASAP Filter 300 is a 300 lph internal filtration system.

www.aquacadabra.com

That's the filter.. should it be fully submerged?

Also should I hold of cleaning it then for the bacteria?

Yes and yes
Once tank is cycled, just remove the sponge once it becomes dirty, give it a squeeze in water until reasonably cleaned. You are looking to remove gunk, not super clean.

 

[mjtefc9]

Yes and yes
Once tank is cycled, just remove the sponge once it becomes dirty give it a squeeze in water until reasonably cleaned. You are looking to remove gunk, not super clean.

Thank you!