how can i clear up the water in my aquarium. it is a new one or new to the fish i have now . previousoly occup

Question

i cleaned it after i took out the goldfish added new gravel and new fish and they are dying

Answer 1

Getting an aquarium just right takes time. You're supposed to set it up and let it run WITHOUT fish for at least a week. A new tank with new gravel and new filters is stressful for fish, even with water additives. It took me forever to get it just right. My fish were dying, too, and the water always seemed cloudy. Don't buy that water clearing stuff, or algae-be-gone type stuff; it's very harmful to the fish no matter what the bottle says. This worked for me: When you change the water and do a complete tank clean, just vacuum the gravel but don't take it out. It has helpful bacteria or stuff that help the fish thrive. Also, don't use soap to clean ANYTHING having to do with your fish. You could possibly be overfeeding. This can also cause cloudiness. Good luck!

Answer 2

Hopefully you didn't use soap or any other chemical to clean it. You haven't said what size your tank is or how many and types of fish you have, which can affect all of this. Otherwise, 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 ammonia, nitrites and nitrates you should be worried about. You need a master test kit and test all of this during the entire nitrogen cycle process. If you get your water quality readings in order, your cloudy water will go away. You should be doing 25% water changes anywhere from once a week to every day depending on your water test readings, 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. 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 3

Sounds like you have ammonia built up in the tank. The fish eat and produce ammonia (among other things). This is normally converted to nitrite (toxic, as is ammonia in high enough concentrations), then to nitrate by beneficial bacteria in the tank. In a new tank, you don't have the bacteria built up yet, so the toxic products build up, killing the fish. This is also the time that you'll get cloudy water - this is normal! Your initial instinct is to change all the water, but this will only remove the bacteria you have.

What you should do is change about 20% of the tank water every other day for the next few days. Match the temperature of the new water to the water in the tank as best you can and use a conditioner to remove chlorine/chloramine. If you have a gravel vac, just clean the surface of the gravel - don't dig down in - this is where most of the bacteria are. If you clean the filter pads, do so in a container of water from the tank - this is another place where bacteria are taking up residence and if you rinse the filter pads under tap water the chlorine will kill them.

Read the info in the following websites for information on cycling your tank - this is what you need to do to build the bacteria up and keep the fish healthy!

http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm
http://freshwater.fanatics.googlepages.com/cyclinganaquarium

Answer 4

Hope you did not use any kind of cleaner. Also, did you put them in chlorinated water? Not suppose to. Really need more information from you to answer question fully. In the future, to clear cloudy water or dirty water you should only replace 10% of the water at a time. Every few days do a partial 10% replacement of the water. You will not need to add any chemicals if you only replace that amount. If you use city water it should keep your PH pretty balanced. Fish water most always turns acid and city tap water is most always alkaline. The 2 combine are perfect for most freshwater fish.

Answer 5

did u clean the new gravel??? clean the tank with 25 percent more water and run a hellacios filter..should straighten up within 72 hours.get ick meds.. and biozyme..should work..gl..and get a water test kit...goldfish have a LOT of AMMONIA

Answer 6

Did you rinse the gravel before you put it in? What kind of gravel is it? If you are using crushed coral then it needs a really good rinse before you use it. It will cloud your tank until it settles or is pulled out into the filter. A good filter is important too! Good luck, having fish is fun!

Answer 7

Hi! I would say if they are dying take out the ones that are still alive and put them in a different container. Than dump out all of the water and get new water that you boiled for about twenty minutes, After that let it sit out for a day/night and once it has cooled down put it in the tank. By boiling water you get rid of all the bad stuff And you will have clean water that your fish will be healthy in! I hope that helped and good luck! *guppylover*

Answer 8

Could be any number of things. Check the pH level and the chlorine (too much chlorine in the water kills fish). What did you use to clean the tank? Using chemicals to clean your tank can kill the fish too. Ask your local pet store too.

Answer 9

there is some kind of bottle that you can use to clean the water they sell in Wal-mart or you can dump all the water into a larger container then you can add new clean water then catch the fish from the larger container and quickly put the fish back

Answer 10

1 way to clear up the tank is to put tap water dechlorinator iside of the tank,or get a better filter,and make sure to clean your tank atleast once every month.