Why is my fish tank cloudy?

Question

I have a large fish tank (bought from Wal Mart - about the size of a large Microwave - sorry don't know exact size). I have had it set up for about 2 years. The last 4 months the water has been really cloudy/murky. I have one large goldfish, algae eater, 2 sharks and a few tetras. They are all happy (alive!) and I have had the water tested and there is nothing wrong with it. Any suggestions? I feed them twice a day with regular fish food. Thanks, sorry don't have anymore exact specifics!!

Answer 1

Its new tank syndrome. The cloudyness in the water is nitrifying bacteria breeding to take care of the ammonia in the water from the fish. It will go away in 3 to 6 weeks.
You need to remove the goldfish, take them back to the store. Goldfish should NEVER be mixed with tropicals, or take back the tetras, sharks, and algae eater back to the store.
THe rule for goldfish is 20 gallons PER long bodied baby to juvenile fancy goldfish, 10 gallons PER baby-juvenile fancy goldfish. Adults need 50 gallons PER fish. They excrete too much ammonia for tropicals to handle and they have different dietary preferences and need the water to be colder then what tropical fish need. Either way your tank sounds like a 10-15 gallons maybe even a 20 gallon high, its too small for all those fish. Also depending on the kinds of sharks you have, ive seen walmart sell irridescent sharks wich grow to be 4 ft long, and tricolor sharks (aka bala sharks) wich grow to be 13 inches long and common plecos need alot of algae to live aswell as supplementation with real veggies like cucumbers and zuccinis and algae pellets otherwise they eat your fish or starve to death. They also get huge like 2 ft and they poop alot, they might clean up one mess (ie: algae) but they make another mess.

Answer 2

You feeding them so much is the problem. The extra food is hiding and making it dirty. Fish only need to be fed once or twice a week. I have a 75 gallon full of fish and they live on two feedings a week. But don't change suddenly. Start at once a day then remove one feeding day and keep removing a day until you are down to two. Tuesday and Sunday is a good schedule but you can do it every 3-4 days.

Answer 3

feed once a day and only what they will eat in 30 seconds. any more is just polluting the tank. Goldfish are filthy fish anyway, so this should help.

Answer 4

You probably need to clean out the tank. You should get one of those aquarium vacs, and try to get in and out of every little nook and crany. You should also clean the filter. The whole entire unit to. After that, just try to keep an eye on it for a couple of days. Good Luck. :]

Answer 5

could be you need a real good tank clean out as goldfish pick up the gravel and it may be real filthly and when he drop it it keeps you tank dirty..try moving some gravel around and see if it gets cloudy when you do it.. you can also buy clear aid but i think you need to fix the problem first try gravel...

Answer 6

first off they buy what they call scrubber filters at wallmart were you got the tank get one it saves you time from changing the water, 2 howe often do you klean the tank out drain it give fish clean water sounds like your lazy get oof rear end change water ever 2 weeks lazy bones!! thats why its clody idioot get a ; life idiott1

Answer 7

Talk to the Pet Boys at Wal*Mart, I don't know why it gets cloudy (they might not know either) but they have products to correct it.

Answer 8

well my water was like that too and i bought mine 1 month ago! just go back up to wal-mart and buy water clearer! very simple

Answer 9

Clean the tank - change the water.

Answer 10

siphon out the poop laying in the bottom of the tank, and about 1/3 of the water replace it with room temperature water.....do this every few months, also clean your filter sponge in clean hot water...no soap or cleaners tho.