Why is my fish tank cloudy.?

Question

HELP ME PLEASE!!!!
I have a round fish tank, about a foot and a half accross and the same deep, it had 2 goldfish and some minnows. I would clean the tank, and within 2 days it went cloudy. I have tried moving the fish into different containers as I thought it may be too many fish, I have tried leaving out the water purifying chemicals, I have changed the gravel 3 times and even tried it with no gravel. A few weeks ago I bought a fire bellied newt. I bought him a sperate 2 litre tank and had water in it for 2 weeks before I introduced the newt. It stayed clear the whole 2 weeks, as soon as i introduced the minnows and the newt, it went cloudy. I am currently cleaning both my tanks every other day to keep them clear and it's really frustrating. WHY are my tanks going cloudy, and HOW can I keep them clear!!!

Answer 1

nothing wrong its just bad weather in there there likely to be some sunny spells here and there

Answer 2

There are a number of problems leading to your tank being cloudy and smelly.

All too often too many new fish owners make the same common mistakes. Did you wash your tank out properly prior to installing? Did you wash your gravel thru a strainer (and I don't mean just rinse it off)? These are the two leading cause for cloudy water.

Your tank is not cycled properly. See web page.
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/biolog...

Your biggest issue now isn't the cloudy water; it's the ammonia spike that will soon occur (if it hasn't already), followed by elevated nitrites. Both could result in the loss of some or all of your fish. I'd strongly recommend that you become familiar with the Nitrogen cycle, so you are aware of what will be happening in the upcoming weeks.
You should begin testing your water right away for ammonia and take appropriate steps to keep it below lethal levels. Hang in there; once you get your tank through the initial cycle the cloudy water problem will clear up. If you follow the links under Related Resources, you'll find all the info you need about the Nitrogen cycle, and how to deal with problems that occur.

Do you or are you using a gravel siphon to clean the bottom when doing water changes? how often? Did you rinse out your filter and pads prior to installing them? Realize more water changes can lead to a more cloudy tank. Let the tank cycle properly and the murky water should clear. If it does not clear with a month, even after bi monthly cleanings, it could be your tap water that is the cause of the problem.

Also, over feeding your fish will make the water murky as well as the type of fish food you are using.

If you did not rinse the gravel well enough you can do one of two things, stir up the gravel in the tank really well. This will cause all the "dirt" particles to float in your tank. Keep the filter running and do a 20% water change. As long as your water "quality" is fine, do this every other day until the water is clear. Each time, be sure to rinse your filter out as well.

Adding an air your bubble want does nothing for the fish or the water. Dissolved O2 comes from the water itself moving. Bubblers move very little water there for add very little to no Dissolved O2 to your tank.

Good Luck

Answer 3

You need a better filter with activated charcol in it and dont change the water so often and get rid of the goldfish. Goldfish have very strong urine and will dirty a tank real quick unless you have a really good filtering system. And the minnows are dirty fish too. Unless you are talking about guppies. Once you get the filtering going you shouldnt have any more problem. Even if the water is cloudy for a couple of days as long as the filter is going it will clear up and wont cloud up again. Also you need to leave the gravel in the tank. You dont need all kinds of chemicals if you have charcol in the filter and keep it clean. Remember to give the tank time to stablize. Once the tanks stablize get one of those manuel suction vacuums which consists of a hose and a slighly larger plastic piece and uses gravity to suck the crap out of the gravel . Use that once a month and only replace the water that is sucked out while cleaning the gravel. Other then that dont change the water. Goldfish will throw the ph way off in a small tank so find an nice home for your goldfish or like i said get a really good filter and some really good activated charcol

Answer 4

When you washed and cleaned it the first time. You may have used a cloth that had some content of soap or something like that left on it. Or the water was already cloudy and now it has settled. Try washing the pebbles or whatever as well as just changing the water. Also buy a filter. I have always had goldfish. My first ones died and the next one did and so on. But now I have added my filter I have these fish for about 3 years now which is a long time when others only live for a month. So a filter really does help. You can get them from fish shops. Or go to your local fish shop/ aquarium shop and ask. Also after you have washed the tank again add some stress coat flora liquid gives you all the instructions and helps keep the water right.
Good Luck.

Answer 5

You may be over feeding. Left over food causes harmful bacteria that consumes oxygen. Oder also is caused by bacteria. (not to be confused with beneficial bacteria) therefore skip that chemical. Increase your filter size. Feeder fish nor any fish are necessary to start algae. Light is (the more light the more & faster algae growth). You also may have introduced to many fish to quickly IF they are gold fish feeders as they tend to be "dirty" by nature. Also general rule 1" of fish per gal. of water. I take you mean DE-CHLORINATOR not chlorine chemicals as chlorine kills fish. If the water were left as long as you stated chlorine remover would not be necessary. Chlorine would dissipate within 48 hours at normal room temperature. In new tanks because no beneficial bacterial have yet developed a sudden intro of that many fish could easily start clouding with little filtration. The aeration is help full keep it going. Given about 5days with less food the tank should clear up. You could use a chemical like "CLEAR" that causes "dirt" molecules to bond and be filtered out more easily or sink to the bottom, but it should clear without it. Cut back to 1 or 2 pinches a day and make sure they consume it in less than 5 minutes. Put your money into a better filter and buy chemicals only when nessary. Don't clean the tank & filter at the same time. If you do your getting rid of all the beneficial bacteria at once and you will have to start the process over once more. Clean one or the other wait 5-7days and then clean the other. You won't need to buy starter em-zines. Do use declorinator when doing water changes or addind fish before 48 hrs. unless you have well water.

Answer 6

OK... it sounds to me like you are actually cleaning the tank too much. To have good clear water you need a good bacteria growth in the tank. This is usually in the gravel and the filter. What is causing the cloudiness is a imbalance between the fish load and the bacteria. The bacteria can't quite keep up with the waste the fish are producing. The best thing to do at this point is to wait it out. It will clear back up on it's own as the bacteria settle out of the water and begin to live in the filter and gravel again.

MM

Answer 7

Have you got a good filter?, once the tank is up and running it will take a few days to settle, do a part water change every 2 weeks never take the gravel out and don`t use raw tap water, never over feed as this will make the water cloudy

Answer 8

Too much food, too many fish and no filter.
Fish don't have stomachs and don't need feeding three times a day, they only poo it out if they do eat it and then have to live in it, hence the cloudy water.
I have been in the fish business for YEARS. It is ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS too much food. One REALLY teeny bit with about three flakes in it is fine. It is so concentrated that a tiny bit will suffice.
Crap food will make it cloudy too. Buy Tetra but don't follow the feeding guidelines.

Answer 9

I'm not sure why the water goes cloudy but ours did too. My boyfriends mum brought us some water snails from her school pond and they kept the water really clear for over a week. they were really tiny little snails but they did the trick!!!

Answer 10

if u get one of those sucker fish that eat all the bacterria of the sides of he tanks and make sure when you clean the tank u really srub the sides down and get a filter it sucks up all the crap in the tank. or it maybe your tap water

Answer 11

wow where shall i start, 1st do you have a filter pump under gravel or cartridge type if not get one 2nd where do you live are you in the uk ? do you have hard water or soft ? 3rd what type of food are you feeding them ? the list is endless,