my fish tank got all foggy and smells bad...?

Question

i changed the filter, but nothing changed.
do i need to change the water or is their somthing i need to put in it to make it stop...please help..

if you work at a pet store, please tell me what to do.

its a 10gal tank

2 Red wags
2 neons
1 male betta

Answer 1

Definately don't brake the whole tank down
The smell is ammonia, and means that you need to do a 50% waterchange with a gravelsiphon right away, and keep doing partial waterchanges of 25% every 3 days until your ammonia levels are at "0"
The cloudiness is because your tank is not cycled yet
Here is a link
http://www.firsttankguide.net/cloudywater.php

Please don't use any chemicals, they usually do more harm then good
When your tank is finally cycled, do weekly partial waterchanges of 25% with a gravel siphon


Hope that helps
Good luck


EB

P.S.: Feel free to email me

Answer 2

It can take up to 6 months to fully cycle your tank. As far as the smell goes... It really shouldn't stink. You might want to do a water change of about 40% and see how that works. I don't know if you're using water conditioner, but you should be. If you get one with "beneficial bacteria" in it, you might get your tank cycled quicker. By the way, 10 Gallons isn't huge, it's one of the smallest aquariums you can buy that will actually support fish without being cruel. I've got a 150 gallon tank. THAT'S huge. 10 is very small. My first aquarium ever was 20 gallons and that was still small. On a 10 gallon tank you need to do a water change MINIMUM of once a week. I can get away with it for over a month because of my large tank but the smaller the tank, the more often it's necessary to change the water.

Answer 3

I agree with what has been said about changing 30% of the water everyday for a week. This will dilute the foul smell (which I suspect is ammonia) and help to stop the fish becoming stressed from a complete new set up.

What fish do you have?? Goldfish produce TONNES of waste and need regular water changes to dilute ammonia. Ask your store to test your water to see if this is a problem.

Feed your fish less (just a pinch and just enough for your fish to consume in two minutes and no more) and make sure you remove any uneaten food. This can rot and contribute to the foul smell and cause ammonia spikes.

Remember to rinse your filter out in water from the fish tank (I use the water I've removed for changing) and to clean the gravel (but not at the same time as rinsing your filter as you could remove too much good bacteria).

I hope this helps, regular maintenance is the key to keeping fish. Prevention is better than cure. And costs far less!!

Answer 4

You don't need to change all of the water. I would recommend changing 30% of the water, every day until it clears up a little and stops smelling. Continue to change 30% of the water once a week so the poor conditions do not return. What kind of fish do you have and how big is the tank? You shouldn't change all of the filter media out at once. It contains live bacteria that your tank need to stay healthy(same reason you should change all the water and scrub everything down). I would just rinse the gunk out of the filter material in old tank water(chlorine in tap water will kill your bacteria). After a few days/weeks of regular water changes your tank should be looking much better.

Answer 5

yeap I think you should change 30 to 40% of your water and also use a siphon to take all the dirty your fish tank hass at the bottom. i dont really reacomend to do it every day fish can be very sensitive to water change in my opinion you should do it once a week, besides this you can find at the pet stores some liquids that helps you remove amonia and nitrates from your water quick. You should be sure that your filter has a sponge and charcoal, you say you changed your filter if you have the old one you should put it work too this could make the cleaning process faster. It also will need ventilation to let the smell come out instead of stayin in there

That happened once to my fish tank because someone overfeed them, once a day is enough and you give them only what they can eat in 3 or 4 min pellets are easier to take out if they didnt eat them.

Good luck

Answer 6

Did you use a gravel syphon to clean the food out of the bottom? If not, it will stay dirty even if you have a new filter and change some water. If you changed TOO much water you may also have caused cycling to start again, although that doesnt usually smell bad... Make sure you use a gravel vac to clean the bottom, and only do 50 percent changes if it is cycling, do them every other day at at least 20 percent to ensure your fish arent getting sick. Take the water to a pet store or buy your own test kit to check to make sure the water isnt gettin gout of control.

Answer 7

A short term solution is to add some Activated Carbon into your filter and do partial water change with more % volume (40%~50%) more frequently. If possible reduce feeding for awhile. The bad smell coming from your tank is probably from your ammonia.

Anyway the foggy water is because your tank hasn't completed it's cycling process. The cloudy water is due to a bacterial bloom. Search the web for cycling of a new tank and nitrogen cycle.

Start here : http://www.totallyfish.com/reference/newtank.shtml and here http://www.totallyfish.com/reference/cloudywater.shtml

More advance info here
http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html

Answer 8

Change all the water and later for weekly maintanece change 25% of the water every week so it doesn't get foggy and smell bad. the fog and smell are part of the bacteria cycle

Answer 9

I would change the filter and the water and clean it... just put the fish in a different container. maybe a pitcher or something and then clean it all out!!! yucky though

Answer 10

change your water, clean the rocks in the bottom and wash the tank out