Very Cloudy Water And Removing The Gravel

[Fish_Mike]

Well, it seems that i have amazingly finished my cycle, and now i need to know what to do;

My tank is really cloudy. You can't even see half way through the tank. Barely even 5 inches depthwise. So should i do one large water change??

I'm guessing i should, but know i need to know what effect removing the gravel from the tank will be? Will it drastically affect the number of bacterial colonies, or, since so little of the % of bacteria actually live in the gravel, will there be hardly any difference at all?

Also what's the best method of removing the gravel?

 

[Monte20]

if your tank has recently finished the cycle, then i wouldnt do much at all. is the cloud white, green? the only thing i would do is vacuum the gravel and replace the water. the water change might be in order. what were the results of the water tests? did you do one? just be careful what you do because i jumped to conclusions with my last attempt and stalled the cycle.

 

[victor]

If you have finished the cycle and the water is still cloudy then I am thinking your gravel may not have been cleaned enough in the first place...I had the same problem when I did my tank about 9 months ago. I started again and cleaned the gravel through a small sieve a little at a time...hot water then rinsed in cold.....it did the trick....I thought I had really got the stuff 'spotless' but there was still plenty of residue there.

If you just empty the water and refill then I am guessing you would have to start the cycle over again....and if you are adding plants then they would need cycled too!

 

[Monte20]

yup.

 

[Fish_Mike]

Thanks for your replies everyone!

Actually, for the whole three weeks while the tank cycled, it was almost crystal clear. It was only during these past 4 days that it's become more and more cloudy.

As for the water tests, well everything read 0, (ammonia and nitrites) however nitrates read around 160ppm. I suppose a water change is surely in order!

But i don't see how doing a 75 or 100% water change would re-start the cycle?

By the way, the cloud is white.

 

[Monte20]

a white cloud is most likely a bacteria bloom. which may mean that the ammonia shot up a little. a definite 25% water change is due. and vacuum the gravel. other than that, i think its best just to let it run its course. it may take a week for the cloud to go away. i had this same problem a couple weeks ago with my 20 gal.

 

[Fish_Mike]

Alright, i'll leave it alone, but does anyone know what the effect of removing the gravel will have on the cycle?