how to keep fish tanks from clouding?

Question

I have a fish tank and in it i have 3 fish. 1 full grown goldfish, 1 baby goldfish, 1 black moor. The water in my fish tank seems to get cloudy quick, i have to clean it once a week is there any way to keep the water from clouding? And also, is purified water safe to use in the fish tank with tropical fish?

Answer 1

Not to be gross but goldfish poop... A LOT. A filter is your best bet. There are cheap ones for small tanks, I have one, and I think it was about $6, and I have had it for years.

Answer 2

There are more then one reason it could be happening.

1. If the tank is newly set up or had a detailed cleaning recently. If this is a case bacterial bloom is the reason. Just maintain normally, don't touch the filter for a few weeks, and it will clear up on its own.

2. Make sure you don't throw out or clean your filter media all at once - this will destroy the bacteria. Do it in portions, no more then once per month.

3. Overfeeding. Uneaten food quickly clouds water. Feed in small portions and make sure it all gets eaten.

4. Too small a tank, or not enough filtration. Goldfish are very messy. Your three, fully grown, would need a 100 gallon tank. I doubt your gold fish is full grown because common goldies grow all of their lives, and in a big enough tank or pond and kept for enough years, will reach a fair bit over a foot long.

5. Just use de-chlorinated tap water - it has the nutrients and minerals fish need for long term health, while distilled type waters don't.

Please don't wory about PH - it has nothing to do with cloudiness (people keep tanks of ph ranging from under 6 to over 8 without issues) and messing with it will only cause you grief.

Answer 3

Using tap water with a water conditioner to remove chlorines and chloramines is much better for your fish. Also, the cloudiness is probably overfeeding.. when you clean the tank do you wash out the rocks? You should be doing a water change at LEAST once a week with the goldfish... what size tank do you have the fish in... if it is less than 20-30 gallons you are going to want to do 25% water changes even more frequently, using a gravel vacuum to get the crap (waste and food) off the sruface of the rocks. Don't do a full cleaning though because you kill the beneficial bacteria in the tank and you are going to have a continual build up of ammonia and nitrates. nitrates turn to nitrites which are toxic to your fishy friends. Hope this helps, if you have any questions, just contact me. Good luck

Answer 4

If you mean a kind of milky cloudiness, that's from a bacterial bloom in the water and is usually from too much fish waste or over feeding the fish. Be careful not to feed mnore than they can finish in about 3-4 minutes.

Also, when you clean your tank, do so by making a 25% water change. Remove this water while cleaning the gravel with a gravel siphon.

Doing these two things and keeping the filter running and reasonably clean will keep the water from becoming cloudy.

Purified water is safe for your fish, but not needed. In almost every case dechlorinated tap water is pefectly ok.

MM

Answer 5

The first and easiest solution would be an effective undergravel and power-filtration system.

The next thing you should look at is whether you have too many fish for the size of tank. A good rule of thumb in these cases is 1 inch of fish per gallon. This rule obviously gets skewed a little if you are keeping especially large fish, as a 10 inch fish would not be comfortable in a 10 gallon tank.

Thirdly, you might have a problem with Ph or other chemical levels that not only threaten the clarity of your water, but also the health and well-being of your fish. Both testing kits and water-additives to fix any problems are available at your local pet store.

Also, you might have an algae problem. If so, you might want to get a small plecostomas. They are comfortable in both warmed and cold water, but make sure they are accustomed to the temperature before introducing them to the tank. Always float any new fish in the bag of water it came in for about 20 minutes before adding the fish to the tank.

Answer 6

When purchasing a filter make sure to get one which is meant for a larger tank. Because of your fish you need extra filtration. I recommend buying an aqua clear filter because you can regulate the speed of the water being pushed out and also because you can easily customize the filtration media.
I hate to tell you this but,...the larger the tank the less cleaning you will have to do. I recommend getting them into at least a 30 gallon preferably 40 gallon. The eclipse systems work really well, a friend of mine purchased the 40 gallon a couple of years ago and it is still doing fine.
don't believe that you have to purchase the gallons of "aquarium water". Most tap water mixed with the right amount of stress coat will be fine.
If you don't already have one you need to purchase an aquarium vacuum. When you use it make sure to get all the stuff under the gravel, that's where the bacteria grows.

Answer 7

I have two answers to your question.
Number 1, What sort of decorations do you have in your water? I recently cleared up my dads cloudy tank, by simply suggesting he remove a large chuck of driftwood from the bottom. Within days, the water cleared. (he has about 8 large goldfish)
Number 2, Purified (or bottled) water should be avoided at all cost, especially if it is a Freshwater Aquarium. If you used tapwater to fill the tank originally, then use tap water to change the water, or add more from evaporation.
Purified or Bottled water has been stripped of all essentail nutrients and minerals essential to keeping a healthy Freshwater Aquarium, so it should be avoided whenever possible.
Goodluck! :)

Answer 8

I do not know about tropical fish. I have a tank with about 20 guppies and I only clean it about once a month. I use a liquid that you can buy for outdoor ponds. I can't think of the name but it is to reduce the scum in the pond and really I don' t have to clean my tank often.

Answer 9

try cleaning it once or twice a week and i would also invest in a filter, they help a lot. there is also some kind of fish, i forget the name you can ask a pet store, but they skim the bottom of the tank and pretty much clean it for you.

Answer 10

you are overfeeding your fish. Clean out with 25 percent water change each week.