fish tanks?

Question

i have a small fish tank for my son 2.5 gallons and every time i clean it and sterilize the water and everything, in a few day the water look merky again, a have a a filter and i'v tried that clear water drops and every thing else. what else can i do to keep it clear?

Answer 1

you need to change the filter medium in your filter ( usually activated charcoal) once a month, keep the tank out of sunlight, feed your fish only what they can eat in 5 minutes, you can do this twice a day. you need to clean the tank & do a 20-40 percent water exchange, vaccuum the gravel with a syphon gravel vaccuum to clean the poop out of the gravel, make sure you add the de-chlorinazing solution to the tank before you put the fish back in the tank. wipe down the inside of the tank with a magnetic tank cleaner, make sure it is the right one( dont use one made for glass tanks on acrylic tanks or it will scratch it) or use a soft cotton cloth to wipe down the inside. Some times if you change out too much of the water at once you will get what is known as a "Bacterial bloom" and that will cause cloudy water... that means that alot of bacteria are growing to help break down all of the fishs waste... they are benificial bacteria, and are necessary for a healthy tank. eventually the growth will settle into the gravel, and the cloudy water will clear up on it's own.

Answer 2

The problem is probably you are changing all the water when you clean it. When you do this you get rid of all the good bacteria.

When you add new water there is not any good bacteria in it. The fish make it grow rapidly (because they need it to survive) and the rapid growth is visible as cloudy or murky water.

It's actually dangerous to change all the water for your fish. So I recommend only change 25% - 50% of the water once a month only.

The water clarifies work for like a day or so and then just make it worse. Don't waste your money on this.

How many fish do you have and what kind? If you have goldfish you should only have one. Any other fish there really shouldn't be any more then 2 fish in the tank. You may have too many fish in this small aquarium which means the water is becoming contaminated extremely fast because there are so many fish yet so little water.

An algea eater will not fix your problem. They do not clean dirty water, they only eat algea growth on the walls and ornaments. Do not get a plecostomus, thet grow very large quite fast.

If you have a filter, the correct amount of fish in a tank and only change 25% of the water monthly then the water shoud remain clear.

The best thing you can do now is leave it alone and let it work itself out. It can take up to a month to regulate and clear up.

Answer 3

You're not suppose to clean your tank to the point of it being sterilized. There is suppose to be a bacteria cycle which will help break down the ammonia produced by the fish.

Do some partial water changes. (espically if fish are swimming only near the top of the tank). Make sure water is treated for chlorine (sitting out doesn't cut it) with product from pet store.
Add some "Cycle" (or other type product).
Left over food will produce waste too ... feed only what they can eat in 2 minutes.
Clean once a week (at least) only with a gravel vacuum and/or an algae scrub brush too (gently) if need be.

For now ... let the murky be. It has to go through this harsh cycle to become it's own eco-system.

Answer 4

You really shouldn't be sterilizing it. This kills off the good bacteria that keep the water clean. You are better off using a cheap gravel vacuum to clean the gravel. Are you sure you aren't over feeding them?

Did you do something like put a piece of wood in the tank. (Some woods leach tannins into the tank and brown the water.) What sort of fish do you have? How many? For most fish you should have 1 inch of fish per gallon. For gold fish you should have one inch per 2 a gallons. (Of course a 2.5 gallon tank is going to be to enough for even a single goldfish long term.) Make sure you have changed your filters as recommended.

PS- A common Pleco will grow far to big for this tank. Plus any bottom feed will make the issue worse. It's just one more fish polluting the tank.

Answer 5

Only feed the fish what the can eat in about two minutes. also try doing the in between water changes, and depending on the type of fish you should have a water conditioner, nitrite and nitrate reducer and a rock.sponge.carbon filter.

Answer 6

I think your killing all the nitrating bacteria.I would recommend just changing 10 % of the water once a week and don't over clean

Answer 7

It sounds like you are overfeeding your fish. Try feeding them less and you may want to purchase a pleco (sucker fish)

Answer 8

you may have too many fish, or if it is in direct sunlight this can cause the water to green.

Answer 9

get rid of the fish

Answer 10

blo