What is making my tank water smoggy?

Question

I do not have any fish yet and over night it got smoggy. It was clear and watta boom it was smoggy.....

Answer 1

This is common in new tanks, just let it run it will clear up! Let it clear up before you get any fish and you could also test the water! Sometimes you don't get all the dust out of the gravel, that could be your problem!

Answer 2

By "smoggy" I take it you mean the water became cloudy? Do you have a filter and air pump? Do you have an actu water pump or an air lift type to filter the water? The air lift type sometimes is hard to get started if the filter media is packed too tightly. Since this is a new tank, did you treat the water to remove flouride or chlorine? Sometimes the chemicals used to adjust the pH of the water reacts with either flouride or chlorine to make the water cloudy. In the case of the new tank, simply filling the tank with things like new gravel and such can turn the water cloudy, especially if you did not wash the gravel and sand before putting it in the tank. It could be sediment from the sand and gravel which will clear up as the filter takes it out, or it could be bacteria, which will be taken out by the filter, but not very fast until you get fish into the tank and you get the ecosystem up and running. Since this is a new tank, it is unlikely it is algae since algae takes days to weeks to form in significant amounts in most cases, but in the future, it could be so look into algae treatment. Until then, just make sure the filter is working and let it circulate and it should clear the water in a day or so, depending on the tank volume.

Answer 3

Simple question but....is the tank and substrate and filter and decorations all brand new? Yes..if everything is new..it could be excess dust from your gravel if not rinsed, rinsed, rinsed and rinsed again through a collander.
But...the first tank I ever set up was a 2nd hand tank, new filter, new gravel, new heater....but the tank was used and 2 holey rocks were used. I didn't add fish and just let it sit for about a week. Next thing I knew...rising up from the tank was a fog! Couldn't understand it at all.
I added one betta after it cleared it up. And then started testing for ammonia. None. Tested for nitrites. None. Never did get an ammonia reading after adding 5 danios, 2 gouramis with the betta. Turns out that there was still some living bacteria on the holey rock and tank sides. My cycling was jumpstarted and I never really had to cycle the tank!

Answer 4

What you are seeing is a bacterial bloom. It's very common in new tanks but also happens sometimes in established tanks as well if something in the tank changes quickly. The best thing to do is make sure there are no dead fish in the tank and no old food or fish waste collecting on the bottom. Also check the ammonia levels in the tank and if they are high do a water change to get them back into a safe range for your fish.

Other than that do nothing. Any cleaning you do will only remove more bacteria and make the bloom worse. As more bacteria grow on the surfaces in the tank, the less there will be in the water and it will clear up.

MM

Answer 5

New tank? Looks "smoky" kind of? The filter system takes a day or so to clear things up.

Answer 6

How many nights? Get a filter.U might have put to much water cleaner liquid.

Answer 7

make sure not to leave your light on all the time or have you tank near a window. get some algea drops and put it in and you should see the difference over night.

Answer 8

i would just wait it out....it's most likely from the new gravel so just wait till it is filtered out or replace the water