Why is water still cloudy?

[Barry Tetra]

I change substrate of my discus tank and water is so cloudy, should I net the fishes out?
@Colin_T @seangee

 

[Barry Tetra]

Should I remove the fish?

 

[Ben2522]

Hi. there is a think foam in places at the top which suggests there is something in the water. is it new substrate or just cleaned old substrate. if new, did you rinse it?

I am pretty new to this but I would take fish out then completely drain the water keeping the substrate and re-fill. This should take take all the residue with it and then it should be clean. Fill it back up, if still a little cloudy, do the same again until clear and re-fill, get to correct temp and put fish back in. Make sure water parameters are correct before adding fish.

Oh, clean the tank walls oal and get rid of any foam

 

[Barry Tetra]

@Naughts

 

[seangee]

How long have you had the sand in? It will probably settle after a couple of hours. It looks like suspended dust - so just leave it. No point in stressing the fish.

If / when you add more sand use a plastic water, coke or milk bottle. Make sure its properly cleaned and cut off the bottom. Put the lid on and fill it with sand. then put it in the tank upside down so it is just above the base. Remove the lid to let the sand flow out. This will make much less mess.
(Oh and rinse the sand more first )

 

[Barry Tetra]

How long have you had the sand in? It will probably settle after a couple of hours. It looks like suspended dust - so just leave it. No point in stressing the fish.

If / when you add more sand use a plastic water, coke or milk bottle. Make sure its properly cleaned and cut off the bottom. Put the lid on and fill it with sand. then put it in the tank upside down so it is just above the base. Remove the lid to let the sand flow out. This will make much less mess.
(Oh and rinse the sand more first )

What about the foamy sand thing? What is it? Btw this is a river sand

 

[Lajos_Detari]

I agree with others.
Did you rinse the sand?
It may carry all sort of things(chemical, bacteria, parasites, etc) if the river is polluted.
Usually I rinsed any sand that I bought many times and with hot water.

 

[Barry Tetra]

I just changed the substrate from gravel to sand, I have rinsed it like 50 times before adding it to the tank, and it still cloudy, btw I have removed the fishes. @howard_hopkinson

 

[Colin_T]

Do a 75% water change and wait a day or two. It should settle.

The fish should be fine because this happens in the wild too after it rains a lot. You get sediment washing into the river and it takes a few days to clear.

 

[Barry Tetra]

Do a 75% water change and wait a day or two. It should settle.

The fish should be fine because this happens in the wild too after it rains a lot. You get sediment washing into the river and it takes a few days to clear.

What about the foamy things? What is it?

 

[Colin_T]

Use a paper towel and try to blot it up from the surface. Otherwise do the water change and it should go after a few days.