Tips on taking care of a new fish tank?

Question

We just got a new 10g tank with 7 fish. The water keeps getting cloudy and I can't figure out why. We asked at the pet store and they recommended something caled cycle every other day but it doesn't seem to be helping. Can anyone give me some good advice?

Thanks!

Answer 1

If you are feeding the fish flake fish food, it can cloud the water especially if you are over feeding them. If there is still food floating in the top of the tank after about a minute you are feeding them too much. Depending what kind of fish they are, you can also change to pellet food instead of flake. Overfeeding is usually the most common cause of cloudy water.

Answer 2

The best piece of equipment in the world for a new tank is your brain and a little bit of education. I see you know this because you are asking questions instead of just blindly following the pet shop people, who by the way don't always know what they are doing at all.

I would recommend you arm yourself with a decent aquarium book. Excellent resource for a hobbyist new or knowledgeable.

For your tank and right now though.....

You need to be doing regular water changes. Early on in the life of the tank like this there is no beneficial bacteria to handle the ammonia your fish produce. That is the cloudiness you see, the bacteria "blooming". This in and of itself is good in that you are getting bacteria, but bad in that there is too much, which in turn means too much ammonia. The ammonia level will rise to the point that it will kill the fish without intervention.

Stop using the chemicals and start removing the ammonia. The best way to get that done is changing water. new tank with 7 fish, I would recommend you change about 25-40% of the tank every other day for the next two weeks. After that the bacteria should be balancing out and everything under control. From that point on change 25% of the water once a week and clean the filter media when you do so. You will need a few basic sullies to do this including a gravel vacuum, a mop bucket you use for nothing else, a thermometer and dechlorinator. There are lots of websites that give the few details you will need and that subject is well covered in any decent aquarium book, but basically you just siphon out the old water while cleaning the gravel and add back water that is of the same temperature (within 4-5 degrees) and has been dechlorinated. That's all there really is too it. Doing this one basic thing will almost guarantee success with your tank. it is the single most important thing to do and should be done on a regular basis. Well.... I guess feeding them is just as important, but you get the picture.

Answer 3

I feel your pain, I just went through the exact same thing for months until eventually all but 2 fish died. Here's the deal, do you have a filter? an air pump and areator? If not, get those, the filter is a mechanical cleaner (it will clean it so it's pretty to look at) but you need the air pump and areator for the biological filter (so the water is safe for the fish). Direct Light and Over feeding are the two biggest reasons why cloudy water happens. Get it out of direct sunlight if it is not already. Feed less, fish can live days without food so if some don't get food one day, they'll get it the next. Overfeeding mean a lot of food sinks to the bottom, as the food sits there it create nitrates in the water which is not good for the fish (which is where the air pump and areator come in handy).
Do 10% water changes everyother day until the cloudyness goes away...it is not good to do more than 10% water changes. Try to stay away from the chemicals that you can buy at the pet store, if you can. Good luck.

Answer 4

What you have is called "New Tank Syndrome" - and it's very common! In nature, water flushes all fish waste away and bacteria break it down. In a new tank, there's nowhere for it to go and you don't have any bacteria built up yet.

The main problem you will be facing in the next few weeks is high amounts of ammonia from fish waste and any uneaten food. Ammonia is toxic to fish, so the more there are in the tank, the faster ammonia will build up. And seven fish are quite a few for a 10 gallon tank just starting up.

Your natural reaction is going to be to want to take everything out of the tank and scrub it out - DON'T! This will only lengthen the time it will take to properly build up your bacteria population. Do 25% water changes about 1-2 times a week. This will clear on its own in about 30-45 days. In the meantime, you will need a water test kit to watch the ammonia, nitrite (also toxic), and nitrate levels. You may want to consider taking a few fish back to where you purchased them (at least temporarily, till the tank is fully cycled).

Here's more info about new tanks and maintenance:
http://www.fishlore.com/Beginners.htm
http://www.totallyfish.com/tips/newtank.html
http://www.firsttankguide.net/

Good luck with the new tank!

Answer 5

It relies upon on what length tank you have. be sure to have an aerater, a filter out, and a heater. while commencing a tank, permit it cycle for some days, then only by a million-2 mollys. do not go away the lights fixtures on all day. save the tank out of direct solar. save the temp at seventy two-seventy 8 levels. A water exchange of 10-20% as quickly as each 2 mos or so is suggested, yet not needed in case you reside in a dry climate, simply by fact the evaporation is speedy and only filling the tank up lower back is okay. Feed in basic terms small quantities that your fish will consume in a million-2 minutes 2-thrice an afternoon. Get the corect nutrition for the form of fish you have. upload, I in no way do ph assessments in my tank, my fish are not that choosy.

Answer 6

Alot of new tanks have cloudy water. You pretty much need to let it stabalize. You probably added your fish too soon. Do water changes every 3 days or so. There are also some chemicals at your local pet store if you want to help speed it up.

Answer 7

cloudy water is usually bacteria going crazy and normal. you should only use cycle as directed on the bottle -- i think that is once a week? if you have an ammonia testing kit you want to make sure the cloudy bacteria doesn't make the ammonia go crazy. if you don't keep smelling it and if it smells like uck than do a partial water change. you don't want to do this more than every couple of days or you will never get rid of the cloudy water as the bacteria loves the fresh water you keep giving it.

Answer 8

what type of fish are you keeping and is there any direct sunlight getting at the tank? how long does it take to get cloudy?

i keep a few fish and their tank got really cloudy for a few reasons:

1) they were in direct morning sunlight.. i never noticed as they weren't infront of the window until one morning when the sun was so low in the sky that it shone onto their tank

2) the filter kept getting blocked up and therefore wasnt cleaning properly

3) i came home and my sis had broken the old tank and got me a new one with an extra fish.. the tank wasnt big enough and clouded over within 2 days!

Answer 9

Stop using the cycle bottle and look up how to do he beneficial bacteria in the bottle is dead, so it isn't going to help anything. Get a test kit for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. As soon as any level of ammonia or nitrites show, do a water change. Soon enough live bacteria will grow and take care of those toxins for you.

Answer 10

cloudy water is a sign of a new tank its perfectly natural. try doing a 25% water change if you want. i reccomend against buying fish until you are sure its ok. good luck (^.^)v