Just got a new fish tank, water very cloudy,done two water changes, still cloudy also plants have died fish ok

Answer 1

Cloudy water is a natural part of the nitrogen cycle in a newly setup aquarium. Just do your 25-30% weekly water changes until the bacteria multiply enough to clear it. You do have a filter, don't you?

The reason most plants die off is because they don't get enough light. You must leave your tank lights on for at least 10 hours a day for the plants to survive. You do have a hood with a light in it, don't you?

The nitrogen cycle starts with an ammonia spike due to the uneaten food and fish waste (poo) decaying. The "good" bacteria actually eat the ammonia and turn it into nitrates. A secondary good bacteria then eats the nitrates and turns them into nitrites. Alll three of these chemicals are toxic to your fish and will kill them if allowed to remain in the tank and build up.

The bacteria cannot eat all of the ammonia and therefore you must do water changes regularly (weekly). 25-30% of the water should be removed and replaced with fresh every week. This will keep the toxicity levels at 0. Your fish will be healthy and happy. Once a tank is set up and running, you should never remove all the water and start over. Regular vaccuuming of the gravel is all the other maintenance you should need to do.

If you want to, you can add a product called "Cycle" to the tank. It is bacteria in a bottle. It will cut down the time it takes to cycle in the tank by about a week to 10 days. Normally it takes 3-4 weeks to completely cycle a tank. If you overcrowd it right away, it will take longer and you will lose fish to what is commonly called "new tank syndrome".

Answer 2

If its a new tank set up the cloudy water is usually caused by the dust coming off the new gravel. It can take a day to settle. I rinse mine now before I put it in.

That shouldn't be killing off your plants though. If its just a basic cold water set up all that should be in there is tap water, gravel, plants, maybe a decoration, fiah (obviously) and a small amount of declorinater and 'anti-poo' stuff that stops the fish getting poisoned by their own number twos. There's nothing in any of that to kill plants.

If you're trying to grow your own plants, rather than buy established ones from the shop, they're really difficult to grow and tend to die quickly anyway.

Personally I'd take a tank water sample along to where you bought the fish and ask them to check. If they're a good fish supplier they'll do it no problem.

Hope things get sorted for you and the fish stay okay.

Answer 3

ok here goes. I had this problem but got it sussed.Firstly is your tank one with a filter and pump, if so once a week/fortnight take out 10% of the water and replace with treated water that has been left to get to room temp(if it's coldwater tank and fish) use Aquasafe to treat the water it gets rid of clorines and other additives harmful to fish. With the 10% water you have taken out use this to rinse out the filter sponge because it will put back in the good bacteria that helps to keep the water clear, dont use fresh tap water to clean the filter sponge.also use a good algae sponge to clean the inside of the tank glass. Like I say I had this problem but the biggest thing I noticed that made a difference was letting the water get to room temp usually for about 24 hours and now the water is lovely and clear. Don't overfeed this does'nt help if you've got goldfish they can be very greedy little blighters so be careful with feeding.Good luck.

Answer 4

A did you put the plants and fish in right away
Mistake nr 1 the water needs to settle first (1-2 weeks depending size of the tank)
B Check the PH of the water when you put it in(usually the bacterial product has a ph tester and instructions what to do
C use a bacterial product tap water doesn't have the necessary bacterias for fish to live in
D Put your fish in 1-2 weeks after preparing your water
E you need a filter to keep the water clean of course

Answer 5

Are you using gravel? It's quite powdery and tends to cloud the water even if you give it a good rinsing. I'm assuming you've got a decent pump and filter but I would expect it to take a while for the water to clear. I don't know how good the water conditioners are that you can get now, but we always used to leave the tank empty for a while to make sure we had the right PH levels for the fish and plants before introducing them.

Answer 6

Don't worry about cloudy water.
You don't say whether your tank is cold or tropical.
The plants could have died from lack of light.
If the fish are healthy, not distressed, and otherwise thriving, don't worry, the cloudyness will clear.
Beware of overfeeding - the biggest source of problems, as the excess can allow bacteria to thrive.
Green water is quite healthy - lots of algae growing on the nitrogen in the water.
Just watch your fish, they will tell you if things aren't right.

Answer 7

Hi - are you checking the water for nitrogen levels? Keep changing the water but not too much. Also have you added some new tank bacteria stuff (can't recall what it's known as). There are loads of websites on fish keeping. It does take a few weeks for it all to stabilise. Good luck.

Answer 8

if its a new tank and set up have you cleaned the gravel , have you got a filter in if not you need one , a new tank should be set up and run for at least a week without fish in i cant understand why plants have died though. the best thing you can do is go to a good pet shop and ask there advice .

Answer 9

hiya, I'm not an expert or anything but this is my experience.

Maybe you haven't cleaned the gravel well!!! but when getting a new tank you should let the water settle and clear for about a week maybe longer!!! then once this period is done take a sample of the water to your local pet store and ask for a pH (something like this) test, this will let you know if the water is ready for fish.

Answer 10

You don't say weather It's tropical or not. Water in this country has all sorts of additives. You should set up your tank with filter running and let It run for a week before adding plants and then a week later your fish.