How do you keep the water in an indoor fishtank clear?

Question

my son's fishtank-water goes cloudy in a matter of weeks. It has a good filter and it's not in direct sunlight. Why?

Answer 1

Many people ask for a goldfish bowl as an easy option for their childs
first pet. This could not be further from the truth! Buy a bowl fill it
with tap water put in a goldfish and feed it several times a day as it
says on most packs of fish food and the fish will not last very long.

If the fish lasts more than 24 hours the bowl will quickly become a
cloudy smelly dish of stagnant water. Keeping fish is really keeping
water for the fish to live in! It should be filtered to keep it clean
and any tap water used should have the chlorine removed before the fish
comes in contact with it. Fish are quite delicate animals and should be
treated as if they were the most precious thing ever and not as a cheap
pet.

First thing you should decide is where you are going to situate your
new aquarium, this could be any tank or bowl you want. Find a place
that is not in direct sunlight, away from all sources of heat and is
big enough to house the size of aquarium that you want. Please do not
put it in the kitchen as vapours from cooking may adversley affect it.


When setting up a tank for the first time choose the biggest you
can afford and the biggest you can fit in the place you have chosen,
often I hear customers saying they wish they had got a larger tank.
Make sure that the surface it is going on to is solid enough to take
the weight. Water weighs 10lbs per gallon, a 36" x 15" x12" tank holds
20 gallons so this tank weighs over 200lbs with water and glass.
Perhaps a purpose built stand might be an advantage. Place it near to
an electrical supply, long trailing cables are not the safest of
things. Remember you will have to do water changes so think about how
you are going to get the water to and away from the tank. Plan
thing before you go out and buy!

When you get you aquarium home clean it well with clean water and no detergents.

Place it in the position you have chosen and make sure this is where
you want it before you do anything else. Happy? Then take you gravel or
substrate and wash it well with clean water, making sure that there is
no dirt left in it before putting it in the tank.

If you are using an undergavel filter place this in the tank first then
put the gravel on top of it, making sure all the uplift holes are not
covered with gravel.Then place all the electrical equipment in to the
tank,ie. heaters & filters. Next put in the decoration you have
chosen, plants, rocks or bogwoods etc. Put in a dechrorinator,
then place a dish or plate in the bottom of the tank. This is so that
when you are filling the tank with water from a hose or bucket nothing
gets moved by the flow of water. Aim the hose into the dish and
everything will remain in place. When the tank is full make sure all
the plugs are dry before plugging them into the electricity supply.
When this is all done switch on the electricity and check that all is
running corectly. If this is a tropical tank leave it to heat up and
check the temperature the next day.

PLEASE DO NOT RUSH TO PUT ANY FISH IN YET!

Leave the tank with every thing running for at least a week
putting a very small amount of food in the water every day.This is to
start a natural proces of maturation. First you need to create ammonia
in the tank then this is comsumed by natural bacteria and nitrates are
produced, this is what your plants feed off. When the ammonia is first
produced the water looks like a little milk has been added to it
making it very cloudy but not dirty. This will gradually dissapear and
the tank will become gin clear.Then find a frendly aquatics shop that
will do basic tests on your water for you, many like us will not charge
for this service. First test is the ph or acidity level, this
should be as near to 7 or neutral as possible for fresh water community
fish or gold fish. The second test is for ammonia, this need to be as
near to zero as possible. The third test is for nitrate, again this
needs to be as near to zero as possible. If you water passes all these
tests then you will be able to take a few fish home with you. Don't
rush to stock your tank to capacity a too many fish at the start will
over load the nitrifying bacteria with too much ammonia and you will
loose all your fish. Wait and see how these first few do for a week or
two before adding a few more. Allways ask advice on what sort of fish
are compatable or which fish need to be kept with only one specimen ie
fighters. The same process can be applied to any size of aquarium and
maintenance is usually the same. I recommend cleaning the glass weekly.
the filters fotnightly and a 25% water change monthly. This is for an
average tank with low stocking levels, if your stocking levels are
higher then this will have to be done more frequently. Feeding should
be with small amounts once a day in the morning so that the fish have
all day to comsume it and it is not left in the tank to cause problems.
Over feeding is a common problem and will lead to high ammonia and
nitrates which are deadly to all fish.

Answer 2

You restarted the nitrogen cycle via buying a new filter and cleaning the tank. Optimistically you do not have fish but because your tank goes via a micro organism bloom and most fish are not able to survive the ammonia spike that occurs when your new filter builds up important bacteria once more, which is able to take weeks. It will take weeks to cycle now and when you do purchase fish, under no circumstances change the entire filter approach without delay. Readily change the cartridges when they falling aside, but under no circumstances replace all the cartridges at once or you are going to kill off any fish on your tank. When a cartridge is slimy, that's when it is doing what it can be imagined to, which is harvest useful bacteria that converts fish waste for you. It can be a number of weeks earlier than the tank is fish-risk-free and should you do have fish, do 10-20% partial water alterations daily to preserve the ammonia levels semi-reliable for the fish. Expectantly you wouldn't have fish in it although. Just right good fortune.

Answer 3

Clean the filter foam every 10-14 days.Always
use the tank water.Take out a small amount to
do this in a jug.Every three weeks do a third of the tank water change.Use Filter Aid ,it really helps your filter do it's job,use Green Algae control,When using hands with tank water
always use gloves(washing up type)but only use
them for tank.Chemicals used in Safe Water etc
is damaging to your bones long term.

Answer 4

change 10% of the water weekly change the charcoal filter once a month and feed once to twice a day in small amounts over feeding will make the water cloudy

Answer 5

Don't have any fish in it, they are polluting the water faster than ur filter can clean it! Maybe you live in a hard water area and the water is calcified or perhaps some of the pebbles in the tank are emitting dust particles when the fish move them around...

Answer 6

make shure the filter is always working, it may be the fish food. uneaten fish food that isnt sucked up can cause bacteria blooms and cloudy water. Get a gravler cleaner to prevent this. sometimes you can buy items at stores to help too.

Answer 7

Take a samle of your water (about half a cup ful) to your local pet/fish shop and have it tested. They normally have a kit that will test the ph, clorine, etc in your water and sell you some chemicals to make it right.

Answer 8

you may be feeding to much food for the amount of fish you have.Or you could try different food or type of fish.My moms tank was same,i changed the food,fed them less and the tank looks great! But then again the fish have grown old and died..the only fish left are a couple guppie..

Answer 9

well get a better filter, even with a filter you still need 2 clean out about once a fortnight

Answer 10

when you do water change.save the water .and clean filter from water you saved . if you clean filter with tap water. you will kill the bacteria in the filter. this may be your problem to.good luck.