Cloudy water in fishtank?!?!?!?

Question

I have a 44 gallon tank, 3 goldfish, and extremely cloudy water, you almost cant see the fish! it has been set up for just over 3 weeks. water tests show high pH and high ammonia, i bought every product known to man to fix these, it seemed to go down a little, but is still cloudy? it is a freshwater tank, and i am getting soo frustrated! The petstore told me to stop doing water changes until it settles?! any suggestions?

Answer 1

First off... thank you for putting your goldfish in a proper size tank! Next, it sounds like you're just not giving your tank a chance to cycle. Don't try to buy your water quality. If you do the things you're supposed to do, it will happen naturally. While the cloudy water is a symptom, it should be the high ammonia you should be worried about. If you get your water quality readings in order, your cloudy water will go away. You should be doing 25% water changes once a week, siphoning the gravel, disturbing it as little as possible, and only rinse the filter, decorations and plants in the old water removed from the tank. Don't put in a new filter every time. You can change the carbon or internal media once every couple of weeks, but you should keep the bag as long as possible. It gathers good bacteria. Too good of cleaning doesn't allow the beneficial bacteria to grow. Also, high ph isn't the best for goldfish. Assess what you have in the tank. Any rocks, crushed shells or seashells? They could be making the ph too high. Take these out. If you don't have anything like this, you may just have very hard water. How does the water test coming straight out of your faucet? Is it high there? Add something to the tank that will sweeten the water a little such as a log or use a peat-base media. However, attempting to lower the ph while the tank is still cycling can adversely affect the ammonia and nitrites. Wait until the tank cycles before attempting to adjust the ph. Ph won't drop at first and then will drop quickly, so don't over-adjust it. Obviously, you're testing the water, so keep doing that. Once you understand water changes and tank cleaning and the nitrogen cycle, you'll get the ammonia down and cloudiness will go away. Good luck!

Answer 2

The more water changes you do the worse it is going to get.

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. At this point, you still should have NO FISH in your tank since it is only 3 weeks old. See web page.
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/biolog...

Your biggest issue now isn't the cloudy water; it's the ammonia spike that are occuring, 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
Do you or are you using a gravel siphon to clean the bottom when doing water changes? Did you rinse out your filter and pads prior to installing them?

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.

Since your tank is spiking with ammonia you will HAVE to do water changes to keep this at a safe level. NOT every day. 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.

Do your water change every other day (I know pain in the butt) but if the tank would have been cycled properly in the beginning, this would not be happening now. This should help your fish while your tank finishes cycling. Check your water quality every day. Do a water change ONLY when the levels of Ammonia are elevated.

Good Luck

Answer 3

The pet store told you this because they don't know what to tell you. Don't keep doing water changes. There could be a number of reasons like DanielleZ mentioned as to why your water is "cloudy". Of course if the ammonia levels are above 1 you will need (out of desperation) to do a partial water change. NO more than 20-25%.

Take your filter out and rinse it often. Is your filter the proper size?

Your tank does not sound like it is cycled yet and you will continue to have this problem until it is.

Answer 4

Here are the main causes of cloudy water:

* A poorly cycled aquarium
* Overfeeding
* Poor Filtration
* Over crowding
* Poor water parameters

Corrective measures:

*Change 20% of your water every other day until improved (it is best to use a vacuum to remove as much mulm before it goes thru the nitrogen cycle). Please read this article for more information about proper cleaning methods:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_cleaning.html


*Read this article about cycling and take corrective measures such as adding filter media and/or substrate from a healthy established aquarium: http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Nitrogen_Cycle.html

*Cut back on feeding and improve the quality of food and feeding method.

*Add additional filters or improve your filters such as by adding a Filter Max Pre Filter to your HOB or Canister filter.
Also follow proper aquarium filter cleaning procedures by only changing part of your media and rinsing the rest in non chlorinated water.

*Make sure your ammonia and nitrites are 0, your kH is at least 80 ppm (depending on fish kept) and your Nitrates are below 40 ppm.
Your high ammonia is of concern. However a high pH is NOT for goldfish. Goldfish do best in a pH around 7.8 and a GH and KH of around 200 ppm. In fact in tests I have performed about Aquarium Redox Potential (which a proper KH & GH will help establish, goldfish health improved immensely with these water parameters in check).

Answer 5

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Answer 6

do 50% water change it has completed its cycle and remember that goldfish let off a lot of ammonia it may have to be cleaned more often than once every 30 days. it just takes time for this to pass you may lose some fish it is normal in this time for that to happen

Answer 7

hi,

seems like the filters have not kicked in yet, dont wash it, let it cycle. What you can do is stop feeding the fish, as the filters are not able to break down all the amonia yet. a couple of days without food is ok. should you need to feed, then a little. and remove uneaten food after 10 minutes or so.

Do a 20-30% water change every 1~2 days just to keep the amonia on a safe level, until ur filter kicks in. Gold fish can tolerate higher ph (7.4~8), as long as it does not fluctuate, its good.

gold fish are dirty, make sure your filter is larger than required.

Cheers,

Answer 8

Check the filter, it might be faulty. transfer the goldfish somewhere else for the moment, wash the gravel(if any) and change the water to a definitely suitable type, then transfer the goldfish back.

Keeping the goldfish in little bowls is CRUEL. Don't do it, even temporarily.

Answer 9

forget al these,
1. check your water purification. change it with any 40ltr of water bottle.
2. mix half spoon sal in the water.
3. confirm that your water filter is running.
4. wash the SAND/ROCKS properly or put them into a tub for 2 days. May be your sand is not washed properly.
5. Gold fish moves fastly so may be your sand is not washed and it becomes cloudly. R you using white sand or rocks.
6. petstore are wrong. ( we always put old water in the tank and we can change the water twice in a month).
7. maintain your waterlevel to 6 PH. it will help your fish to grow and to become mumma fish.

All will be fine.,.,.,dont worry.
I am Sunny and i have 6 feet long aquarium.

Last day i have done the same exercie.

otherwise mail me at [e-mail]..

Regards
Sunny

Answer 10

Keep doing water changes, this is a bactirial bloom which is good, but with high ammonia your fish could die. Stop adding chemicals that are supposed to fix high ammonia, they will kill your fish if you keep using them