Need urgent help with fish tank!!!?

Question

I have a 30 gallon with 1 male betta, 3 glass cats, 2 albino corys, and 1 platy. Other two platys just died, which is a big part of my concern.
My water has recently gotten very, very cloudy! Why, and how can I fix it?!? Also, there might be a little bit of a smell...

I have just recently did a partial water change. Before it, my Ammonia level read .25 ppm. Now, suddenly, after a water change, (less than 5 days between!) I check my ammonia again, and it is 3 ppm!! Why is this???

Need urgent help with fixing my fish tank, before my fish all die!! Is it my partial water changes? Possible chlorine??
Am I experiencing an algal bloom??

Help please! Thank you!

Answer 1

you had a cycle crash. change a lot of water everyday until those levels go down.

The amount of water you change is of little harm if you treat the water, since the bacteria live in the FILTER not the water.

Did you use dechlorinator? Did you change the filter elements or rinse them out?

Always use dechlorinator, and never change out your filter media, rinse them out in tap water, or rinse them harshly in tank/treated water. The filter media holds your bacteria that eats the baddies.

I know people that change 50% of their water a couple times a week because they have large messy fish in just big enough of a tank. It doesn't creat ammonia spikes. It does stress the fish a bit, but not the filter system. Remove any carbon from your filter unless you change it every 2-4 weeks. It will do more harm than good if you leave it too long.

Algae bloom would have a color to it, usually green or brown, and wouldn't hurt the fish much, it bothers us visually more than affect the fish.

It does sound like either not enough dechlorinator was used, possibly a chlorine spike in your tap water if you did use a recommended amount.

I hope the best for you.

Go to one of these forums, they have people that can walk you through it and explain in great detail. The first one listed is usually quite responsive and both are kind.

Answer 2

Was the tank just set up recently? All new tanks will go through a cycle in the beginning where the ammonia will go up until good bacteria build up and convert them.
The cloudiness is normal in a new tank, you just need to keep only a few fish so the levels do not go real high in the mean time.
That said, the number of fish you had should have been ok, however if there is ever any extra food in the tank, flakes that hit the bottom, that also will increase the ammonia in the tank. I would guess this would have to be the reason seeing you don't have a real heavy load. Run your hand through the gravel, especially in a new tank none or hardly any debris should come out.
Chlorine can harm the fish, but it does not add ammonia. Many cities are putting chloramines in water now. When many dechlorinators are used on chloramines, it breaks a chemical bond and does release come ammonia, but a very small amount.
Determine if there is food in the gravel. If so buy a siphon with gravel cleaner, and clean the gravel well to get rid of it.
Noramally though at this time a water change can actually porlong the problem, you might be diluting te ammonia, but you also will remove some of the bacteria that you are waiting for.
Couple side notes- glass cats are pretty sensitive to ammonia, so definatly keep an eye on them.
There are many products that say they remove ammonia and nitrites. If it actually removes them, this will just delay problems, you need some ammonia for the bacteria to build up.
Some things, like ammo lock, detoxify the ammonia, but it is still there for biological build up. If you do this, try to get a product that also detoxifies nitrites, otherwise you will just end up with problems when you hit that part of the cycle.
There is also products such as Cycle or Biozyme that are the bacteria you are waiting to build up. Seems hard to believe something could be alive in thesebottles/containers, but I definatly have seem a decrease in the time it takes a tank to cycle with them.
You can read on the nitrogen cycle here.
http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin-cycling.html

Answer 3

You need to do a 1/2 water change. Also, make sure you don't have any dead plants or fish in the tank because will make your ammonia spike (dead fish) or throw off your pH (dead plants).

When you do your changes, try not to push the syphon all the way through your rocks (or whatever is at the bottom of your tank) because that's where your bacteria lives and you'll remove them.

Also, if your filter has a biowheel, NEVER change it!!! That supports your bacteria and you can remove all of it if you put in a new one.

You should do a 50% water change now and for the next few days, do partial water changes daily (I know it sucks, but it works). If your ammonia levels aren't going down, go to your local fish store and see if you can get live bacteria. It should be refridgerated, so if they try to sell you something directly off the shelf, it's not what you need. Most pet stores have it in the back because they use it when they start up a new tank.

In addition, if you get the live bacteria, don't get ammonia remover because that's what your bacteria is eating and you'll starve them and they'll die off. It will take a few days after you add the bacteria for your ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite levels to even out, but you should be safe.

Good luck!! I hope it works out. If you have any more questions, just email me because I know how frustrating it can be.

Answer 4

The rising ammonia is probably due to you tank cycling.If you did not de-chlorinate the water you used for the change you killed the bacteria that were removing the ammonia.You must have a dechlorinating solution that acts on Chloramine as well as plain Chlorine,most municipalities now use Chloramine,a much more stable form,that doesn't dissipate as easily as pure Chlorine. Water changes should be done every week.The fact that the ammonia read.25 ppm showed that the bacteria were already dead or hadn't developed in the first place,it takes 5 weeks or more to grow the bacteria colonies,so you should test for ammonia every day or two,and keep it in the safe range for your fish. It will take a lot of work.----Good luck.---PeeTee

Answer 5

Hm. jogs my memory once I placed something new in my tank that doesnt trust the water and variations its shade. Did you happen to place something new in it? additionally, it is in basic terms merely my opinion, doesnt actual count possibly, yet isnt that an poor lot of stuff to put in a tank at as quickly as? I recommend, what if all of it mixed mutually in a foul way? yet you say you have finished it a mutually as, so possibly it extremely is merely me? I completely disagree with Rainbow baby. maximum of individuals have reported with a view to have a Crowntail Betta you like a minimum of a 10 gallon tank. Ive had 2 -one in a 5 gallon and one in a one million gallon- and that they have been thoroughly content fabric. If the fish have been in there that long it shouldnt worry them what the size is (except they are nonetheless becoming great)

Answer 6

How much water did you remove? Sounds to me like did to big of a water change. A good rule is to never change more than 25 percent of the water at a given time. In most cases a 10 percent water change weekly is plenty.

Answer 7

you need a good filtering system and some algae eaters...let water set over night before adding to tank