cloudy, foamy tank?

Question

I just got a 10 gallon tank about a month ago. The filter seems to be working fine. I haven't changed the water yet. 3 fish have died and the water is looking very cloudy and foam collects on the top. What should I do? If your suggestion is to change the water then how do I go about this? Don't they need to have some of the old water put in with the new or something? Thanks so much, I am clueless!

Answer 1

You should be doing partial water changes on a weekly basis.

This is what's happening in your tank. I'd guess you probably got the tank and fish fairly close together. You got the tank set up, added water, gravel, and some decorations, and put in the fish. You feed the fish, they poo in the water. If your fish were in a stream, the water would wash away the poo and any food they didn't eat. Evenually, these would be broken down by bacteria. But in your tank, there's nowhere to "wash away" to, and you don't have enough bacteria to break down the food, poo, and other wastes your fish produce (mainly ammonia). Ammonia is toxic to your fish, and without the bacteria to get rid of it (or the water being changed by you), the ammonia is building up in the tank.

Now, you get some of the bacteria you need in the fish's poo. One type of bacteria uses ammonia as a source of energy. They use it and it's converted to nitrite, which is also toxic to your fish. Another type of bacteria takes over and uses the nitrite, turning it into nitrate. Nitrate is something your fish can handle as long as the concentration doesn't get too high (another reason to do water changes). As long as there is more ammonia and nitrite in the water than the bacteria can use for food, they will multiply. You see this rapid reproduction as a cloudiness in the water. This is perfectly natural in a new tank. This is what others here are referring to when they talk about cycling. The foam on the water is the result of having too much of these compounds and organic wastes in your tank.

Your tank right now is somewhere in the middle of this process. If you were to test your water, you might find ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate all present. The tank isn't totally cycled until the ammonia and nitrite (the stuff that's toxic to the fish) are being converted to nitrate so fast they aren't detectable. So right now, all this is still in your tank and your fish are being stressed by the water quality.

While you want to get rid of some of these to help your fish, you don't want to get rid of too much of the bacteria that will help you to get rid of these in the future. What you want to do is use a gravel vacuum (siphon) to do a partial water change. First, wipe off (or scrape) the inside of the glass if there's any algae. Clean the surface of the gravel and area in front of the glass during each cleaning. Then clean 1/3 of the gravel well (push the tip of the gravel vac down into the gravel and lift up - this will remove any uneaten food and fish poo). While you're doing this, siphon out about 1/4 of the total water into a bucket you can dump (or use the water for houseplants, they like it!). This is something to do every week. Since you only disturb 1/3 of the gravel, the bacteria in the rest can reproduce and repopulate the 1/3 you disturbed. This lets your bacteria population increase so your ammonia and nitrite are removed and the cloudiness will go away (and it really will!) on its own.

So start doing some water changes, don't add any new fish until your tank is completely cycled (you can have your pet store do water tests for you if you take a sample of your water in a clean container), and be sure you aren't overfeeding your fish - only give them what they will eat in 2-3 minutes, twice a day.

See the links below for more info on cycling and tank maintenance. Good luck with your tank.

Answer 2

No doubt your fish died due to the initial cycling period. This is where the ammonia and nitrites spike. your water is getting cloudy for other reasons. A gravel siphon to clean the tank will help!

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? (Sorry forgot it is only a month old) 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.
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.

Answer 3

It sounds like your tank is experiencing problems with the Nitrite levels in the water.
For a start in the first 6 weeks of the tank being set up with fish in it you should be doing a 20% water change once a week and feeding the fish once every other day and just enough that they will eat in two minutes or so, so it's pretty overdue for a water change by now!
Firstly i'd start on with your water changes and then get a sample of your water whipped down to a specialist aquatic store and get it tested to see how the "land lies" in how all your water parameters are doing.
Since you should be only changing 20% of the water (you shuold never change all the water in your tank at once) you won't have to worry about the old water as you'll have plenty still in the tank. The best thing to use for doing water changes is a gravel cleaner. This is a siphon which goes into the tank and will sift through the gravel and remove any trapped debris at the same time. They work via gravity (no electrics apart from on some models) and they're also a very handy way of doing a quick water change.
You should get the new water to go back into the tank to around the same temperature as the water already in your tank and make sure you've used a dechlorinator before it goes back in.
When you take your sample of water to be tested if it's really bad they may suggest doing larger water changes (although I recommend taking no more than 50% out at any one time) or doing them more frequently just to bring your Nitrite and Ammonia levels down. If you've experienced a problem with very high Nitrite levels now you may find it takes longer than the 6 weeks for the tank to settle down because it will have had a bit of a set back.
Once the tank has reached 6 weeks old and the water parameters have settled down the tank is deemed mature. Once it's reached this stage the fish can be fed once a day and have a 20% water change done every 3 weeks or so - it's always better to do lots of small water changes than one or two very big one's every now and again.
When your filters need cleaning out they should be cleaned in water from the tank itself, never under tap water - cleaning them under tap water can affect the beneficial bacteria that break down the fishes waste.
Hope this helps :)

Answer 4

You should change about 25% of the water weekly. Use a gravel vac (you can pick up one at wal-mart--cheap). Suction out about 1/4 of the tank by sticking the vacuum in the gravel (the only thing to go up through the hose will be the gunky stuff- your gravel is to heavy and will fall back ), go along the bottom of the tank in this manner. Do not change more water then this at one time. Your fish can stay right in the tank as you do this. Remember to treat your replacement water with aquaplus or similar product Before putting in the tank!!
You need to start testing your water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate frequently-especially as your tank is cycling.High ammonia levels cause cloudy water & Ammonia poisioning is most likely why your your fish died.Check out these sites to help you understand what is happening in your tank.

http://www.bestfish.com/breakin.html
http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html

Answer 5

Well first off how many fish do you have in there??? Too many could cause a problem....as far as the cloudyness and foam I would get a sample of your water and take it into PetSmart for a free water test. Their pet care specialist and/or PetCare manager can tell you from there what you should do. GOOD LUCK!

Answer 6

change half the water every other day and do as amanda says get your water tested

Did u just fill the tank and add fish cos that could cause problem

Answer 7

u should probably change about half of the water at a time. let it sit out for at least 24 hours to get the chlorine and any other chemical out and so its room tempiture. they have treatments for fish water that clears it up. in either tablets or liquid form. good luck.