I just bought a new 10 gallon fish tank and the water is cloudy. help.?

Question

I bought a new filter to go along with it and I gave it over night to get cleared up but its still foggy and dark, like I haven't changed the water in months! any help? I love my little fishes and I don't want this to harm him. I moved him from a smaller tank to this one and I just that "start right" tablet to clean the water before doing so.. help please?

Answer 1

Tehre could be a number of reasons right now I am going to say it is more due to not washing the gravel properly.

Also, your tank is sufferein g from "New Tank" syndrome. It isn't cycled causing the ammonia to spike. This is not good for your fish.

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/biologicalcycle/a/nitrogencycle.htm


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
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 25% 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.

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.

Good Luck

Answer 2

Your tank needs to cycle.

In the first few after setting up a tank bacteria start to grow THIS IS A GOOD THING. These bacteria break down ammonia, nitrate, and fish poo and help keep the water in your tank safe for your fish.

I Know it's tempting to clean the tank but you do NOT want to do that right now. Leave your filter running, but DO NOT CHANGE THE FILTER MATERIAL for at least the first month unless absolutely necessary.

The only maintenance you need to do right now is a weekly water change. About 20%.

Patience is a virtue right now. Don't do anything drastic in the tank, and stay away from all the chemicals in the beginning, they can actually make the problem worse by limiting the growth of the bacteria.

Good Luck.
E.

Answer 3

All new tanks will have this..its just part of having a tank. I just setup a new 55 gallon tank and have the same effect going on. First just make sure your filters are working properly, also if you have any older tanks setup or know someone that does, get some of their water as it is already cycled and will make yours go through the process faster. even rock, ornaments etc will share the good bacteria that will help your tank through this. get a siphon and try to suck that cloud out floating in the middle and weekly water changes of around 20%. youll be ok..it should only last a week or 2. also get something to speed along the cycle(i use tetra easybalance with nitraban) and GL

Answer 4

There could be a number of causes, but I believe Surfside is on the right track - if the tank is new and there are multiple fish, it is likely you're seeing a bacterial bloom. This is a good thing, despite how it sounds.

The bacteria will convert toxic byproducts from your fishes' metabolism (ammonia and nitrite) into nitrate which is safe in low concentrations. Right now, your bacteria are reproducing. You're natural instinct will be to clean the tank, but this will only prolong the length of time that the cloudiness persists.

I'm providing a link to some causes of cloudy water where the bacterial bloom is discussed (under the link for nitrogen cycling) as well as other possible causes: http://www.fishlore.com/CloudyWater.htm

Answer 5

When you put new water in the new tank did you treat it with chemical removers first? If so, this is part of a tank's natural cycle of removing all the chemicals out of the water. You should move your fish into another chemically treated tank and wait for the cloudiness to receed, which it will once the cycle is over. Otherwise, you fish is in danger.

Answer 6

that happened to me when my dad bought me a new tank. the tank was cloudy n brown. ctaully some of my fishes died because they were infected already with ick coz of the water. but i have two survivors which i keep them in a small quarentined tank.
what i did is i cleaned the whole tank and thoroughly cleaned the rocks( it might be your rocks/ sand thats causing it) and let it sat there for two days with filter cycling the water. then i add new set of fishes.
so the best thing is to keep your fishes in the small tank untill your bigger tank stabilizes its cycle.
=)

Answer 7

you can use that clear start stuff to help clear the tank up ..sometimes the water just clouds and after a few days it clears up ..its a new tank did you put all the water treatment stuff in? just give it a few days i think it will clear up on its own
also from my own experience it will not hurt your fish if its in there as long as you have used the chlorine rid products they should be fine in the tank

Answer 8

ask ur pet store about the bio-bag disposable filter cartidges and see if they have one for ur filter - keep water crystal clean, removes odors, and discoloration- i use this and it works great i had these fishes for 6 months and i havent changed the water *( because i dont know how) and the water looks so clear

Answer 9

google the "nitrogen cycle" understanding this is your first step to having good water quality. Second... did you rinse your gravel super well before putting it in? b/c the dust in the gravel can make your water cloudy.

Answer 10

First, did you rinse the charcoal filter? When I buy a new charcoal filter to go into my air pump, I rinse the filter with plain cool water to rinse off the charcoal dust, then I put it in the air pump.