Why does my fish tank keep getting cloudy?
by Aquaboy on Saturday, April 17th, 2010 | 7 Comments
I got my kids a five gallon fish tank for Christmas. I have had fish before and never had a problem, but for some reason this time the water keeps getting cloudy within a day or two. I have tried tap water, bottled water, clorine removing drops, Ick treatment and changing all the filters and I just can’t figure out what is wrong. I’m not over-feeding them. The fish also keep kicking the bucket and the inside of the tank was REALLY slimy when i cleaned it out yesterday (and it’s cloudy again already today). Any ideas?? I really have no clue what I’m doing here… I have African Dwarf Frogs in a seperate tank and they’re fine, but I have a Betta in another bowl that I lost too yesterday (it was all slimy too).
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Sounds like you are suffering from new tank syndrome, and in addition, a bacterial bloom.
When you set up a brand new tank and add fish, the aquarium will go through the process called cycling. Basically, you are establishing colonies of nitrifying bacteria. BUT, during this process, the aquarium experiences spikes of ammonia, and then nitrite. Both are highly toxic compounds, and would be the reason for fish deaths and illness. You’ll need a liquid test kit that measures ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates.
Below are some links on cycling and new tank syndrome. I hope they help.
I would suggest doing a water change ASAP. Do not change 100% of the water, however, or you will loose what progress you have made in the cycle, starting it over. I would suggest replacing 25% of the water with clean, dechlorinated water of the same temperature. This will, for the time being, reduce some of the either ammonia or nitrite in the tank (depending on what stage you are in the cycle). Also, changing the filter media is the LAST thing you want to do. All the good bacteria are growing there. Remove it, and the ammonia and nitrite will again spike. The most you ever want to do is rinse it out in some used tank water, very gently, during a water change.
what kind of gravel are you using? Make sure it’s got NO coral in it. Some will say it’s safe for fresh water fish, but it’s not!.No direct sunlight! This will cause stuff to grow in the water. Maybe buy a chemical kit to test the water or take a sample to the pet store to test for you. Make sure you clean the gravel extra well.
u need a kick ass filter man, go to petco, they’ll help u find a top-notch one
As simple as it is
It’s just the cycling process
when you set up your tank, it takes abour 3-5 days for all the debris to settle, which is caused from gravel addition
later on, about 2-4 weeks time you will experience another cloudy period, which means your tank is establishing healthy bacteria
All you have to do, is putting tapwater which is conditioned into your tank
put the filter in and all the gravel and decorations you might have
Turn it on and let it run
If you have already fish for this tank, you need to check your parameters for ammonia and nitrites every 4 days, to check how high they’re or you will loose your fish to the nitrite or ammonia poisening
when doing cycle with fish, it’s recommended doing partial waterchanges of 10% every 3-5 days, depending on the parameters
once your nitrites and ammonia have gone down, and you have nitrAte readings, you only need to do 25% weekly partial waterchanges with a gravelsiphon
Feel free to email me or follow the link in my profile for more info needed and Q’s you have, be happy to help you out
Hope that helps
Good luck
EB
This could result in bacterial bloom and if this is the case you simply need to relax, do water changes once or twice per week, and ride it out – it can take a week or two to clear up.
Are you sure you are not overfeeding? It doesn’t take much rotting food to foul a tank, so make sure all food is getting eaten, and that all the fish don’t need to be stuffed to the gills at every feeding. If this is the case, fast the fish for a couple of days, do water changes every couple of days until it clears and cut back on the feeding in the future.
Have you added anything to the water recently? Perhaps some additives for some reason, or filter media? If this is the case make sure you added it with good reason – tanks really don’t need anything except dechlorinator and good care to stay healthy. Stop using it (unless you are sure you absolutely need it) and do water changes to help clear it up.
What kind of fish are in the tank? My guess is that they’re producing quite a bit of waste for the size of the tank. Like was suggested, doing several small water changes until the tank cycles is the best way to alleviate this issue.
u need a kick *** filter man, go to petco, they’ll help u find a top-notch one
I agree, none of the water changing or cycling will do any good inf you don’t have an adequate biological filter. Go to your PS and get a marinland penguin mini biowheel…the work great for small tanks….and….One small fish for the first month!
After rereading this I would ask you to update how many fish you have what kind of filter and where did you buy it.