water clarifier?

Question

I was recommended to us a water clarifier today by a pet store. I have a new 29 gallon tank with 3 goldfish. I did leave it for 24 hours before I added my fish. I have since read that maybe it should have been longer. Anyways, my tank looked great and the goldfish seemed really happy (small tank before). Today which is 3 days after adding fish I noticed the water was cloudy. I did a water change of 1/4. I do use water conditioner and follow all the directions. I took in a water sample to the pet store today and they checked the water levels. He said everything was fine except the ph level which was low. He said this was normal for a new tank and not to worry and told me I should use a water clarifier, It has been about 3 hours but water is still cloudy. How long should it take? hours? days? thank you

Answer 1

Yeah, just leaving the tank run doesn't really do anything. You need to introduce a source of ammonia for the bacteria to develop; these bacteria are what converts toxic ammonia produced by fish, into less toxic nitrates. This process is called cycling. Because you didn't do it before you put the fish in, the fish are now the "source of ammonia" - and until the bacteria builds up (2-4 weeks) the fish will suffer through an ammonia spike and a nitrite spike, so for the next few weeks, do frequent (2-3 times per week) water changes to keep your fish healthy.

Anyway, now that there is ammonia in the water, the bacteria population has exploded - called a bacterial bloom - which is causing the cloudiness.

Don't use a water clarifier. They don't really work and can cause harm to your biologicial system.

Keep doing small water changes (10-15%) every few days for a couple weeks - then you can just do normal 30% weekly water changes. The cloudiness WILL go away in a few days on its own. No need to use chemicals.

Also, a low pH may not have anything to do with the new tank - or it might. I suggest you get a 30$ master testing kit so you can monitor your own ammonia, nitrite and pH levels. Test your tap water that has been sitting overnight to see what the pH and hardness levels are. If the pH is low out of the tap, you can use baking soda to bring it up. Add 1tsp at a time and test each time, and don't forget to add more each time you replace some of the water.

Answer 2

There are few factors that can lead to cloudy water. I am not exactly sure what tests your pet store did. One of the reasons that you may have cloudy water is due to phosphates in your tap water. A lot water clarifiers use a phosphate remover which would result in your water clearing up if phosphate was the culprit. Wait about a day to see if the water does not clear up using the water clarifier. If it does not help, then unfortunately phosphate is not to blame. If phosphate is to blame, then make sure you use the water clarifier every time you do a water change or your water will become cloudy again.

Also, Goldfish are relatively "dirty" fish. They produce a lot of waste. What you may be seeing is an increase in bacteria (bacteria bloom). This happens when "bad" bacteria over populate in your tank due to the high amount of waste from your fish and over feeding. Do regular water changes and cut back on the feeding. This may help if your water clarifier does not.

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Answer 3

Water being purified for human consumption, is treated with floculation reagents, then sent to the clarifier where removal of the flocculated coagulate occurs producing clarified water. The clarifier works by permitting the heavier and larger particles to settle to the bottom of the clarifier. The particles then form a bottom layer of sludge requiring regular removal and disposal. Replace All Chemicals Using Only NaturAqua All in One and Minimum Chlorine. Perfect for Domestic and Commercial Use. Clarified water then proceeds through several more steps before being sent for storage and use.