My tank is so cloudy that I cant see inside the tank! It happend over night! I dont have any test strips or anything to test it with! When the fish come to the glass they look normal and they are doing everything normal. I changed the filters and rinsed off the bio wheel just like the fish guy told me to! Its a 55 gallon tank with 7 african cichlids and 2 plecos in it.
2007-07-07 08:40:56 · 9 answers · asked by Amanda 2 in Pets ➔ Fish
Cloudy water is one of two things.
If the water is green then it is an algae bloom. Algae blooms are caused by too much light and too many nutrients in the water. They are relatively easily cleared up by reducing the lighting, especially direct sunlight, and by lower the nutrients in the water. Reducing the lighting is easy. Simply shut off the light on the tank and only run it for 8-10 hours a day. You should also ensure that your tank isn't getting any direct sunlight as this will cause you algae problems, either as a green bloom or simply algae on the tank and ornaments. You lower the nutrients by doing more frequent and larger water changes and by feeding less. Fish should be fed only what they can eat entirely in 5-10 seconds. Any uneaten food should be netted out of the tank to prevent it from breaking down.
If the water is white then it is a bacterial bloom. These are caused exclusively by too many nutrients in the tank. To clear the water you will need to increase the frequency and size of your water changes, and decrease the feeding. Fish should be fed only what they can eat entirely in 5-10 seconds. Any uneaten food should be netted out of the tank to prevent it from breaking down.
Neither cloudy water situation is particularly harmful to your fish but are a symptom of a greater underlying problem that must be resolved.
One way to clear the cloudy water immediately is through the use of a micron or diatom filter. This will pull out the particles that cause the cloudiness, but it WILL NOT resolve the problem that caused the particles to be there. This is a short term fix and needs to be used in conjuction with the above fixes.
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NOTE: you should never rinse off your biowheel. The only thing you should do with the biowheel is gently swish it in the tank water BEFORE you do a water change. The goal is to simply knock off some of the gunk from it. The biowheel should never be rinsed in tap water, scrubbed, or otherwise cleaned. This is where the good bacteria needed to keep your tank healthly live.
2007-07-07 10:22:23 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are seeing a bacterial bloom and it's nothing very serious to worry about.
This is caused by the same bacteria that convert the ammonia in the tank to less poisonous compounds and are in fact bacteria you want in the tank, just not in the water. Normally these bacteria grow on the surfaces on the tank and especially in the filter. When you cleaned the filter and replaced the cartridges, you removes quite a bit of the bacteria and it's now replacing itself in the water. As more and more of the bacteria grow in the filter and on the biowheel, it will die off from the water column and the water will clear.
To avoid the problem in the future, change the cartridges one week and clean the biowheel the next. Also, when you clean the biowheel it would be best to do so in tank water to preserve as much of the bacteria as possible.
MM
2007-07-07 08:47:36 · answer #2 · answered by magicman116 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You over cleaned and your tank is cycling again give a few days and if its still cloudy use Acurel F you can find it at any big pet chain its a red liquid and I bet my life after using this product your tank will be so clear it will look fake I've had the same problem its safe to the fish to your fish will be fine but you should get a test kit but therre over priced and over rated use this product you will be amazed I was and I have tried it all
2007-07-07 08:59:16 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
By rincing all the filter media you destroyed all the good bacteria and now there is a bacteria bloom, Its nothing to worry about and will clear in 2-4 days, Next time rince the filter media in Tank water, Put some tank water in a bucket then rince the sponges in there, Pet shops dont have a clue what there talking about.
2007-07-07 08:45:35 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You may have a problem with algae. Don't over-feed the fish or keep the tank in a place of long-term direct sunlight. And control the amount of time that the aquarium light is on.
If it is algae, and not ammonia build-up, there are additives like Algae-Fix that work well.
2007-07-07 08:58:06 · answer #5 · answered by RAY R 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
TSS poisonous marvel syndrome you ought to take it out and use pads, as a results of fact your physique is having a allergic like reaction to the tampon you ought to submit to in ideas that the physique isn't ment to maintain this bloody tissue in the vag so it somewhat is why this occurs.
2016-10-01 02:25:06 · answer #6 · answered by millie 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
its probly time to do 50% water change! you should do that once a month! also they sell cloudy water cleaner @ pet stores
2007-07-07 08:51:50 · answer #7 · answered by ma 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In 3 days it should clear just do what the first guy above said, he is right.
2007-07-07 08:48:41 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
it honestly sounds like a PH disaster I would remove fish and put them somewhere else like a pitcher. then dump out water and substrate and clean tank
2007-07-07 08:48:02 · answer #9 · answered by pie 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋