need advice?

Question

i recnely added a few to many new fish and now in my saltwater tank its clouldy water i think its goin thourgh a mini-cycle i cant seems to lower the nitrite and amminonia i change the water now every other day is there anthing else i can do also the fish seem to be breathing harder and getting a smell from it what else i can i do but how much water changes it too much b4 i kill my fish and mess up everything i change about five gallons every change what can i do

its a 55 gallon tank

Answer 1

You say you change 5 gallons per day, but how large is the tank? Five gallons is a major amount if it's a 20 gallon, but won't do much if it's a 100 gallon.

I think you're correct in your assessment of this being a "mini-cycle". New fish means additional ammonia produced, so it will take a while for the bacteria to catch up with the wastes. Until then, water changes are the best option, but I would recommend 10-15% of the volume twice a week. But you may need to do more to bring the level down first. Do you have a way of testing your ammonia/nitrite? Both should be kept below 0.5 ppm, so if you have an idea what your levels are, you can get an idea of how far you have to go to reduce to this amount.

Another thing to consider is that with the addition of new fish (without quarantine), you may introduce a disease or parasite that can affect the gills, thus their ability to breathe, which is another cause for heavy respiration. So it increased temperature in the tank - warmer water holds less oxygen. But neither of these in itself should cause the water to be cloudy.

Even with what I mentioned above about warmer water holding less dissolved oxygen, turning up the water temperature may benefit your fish - the increased temperature also encourages faster bacterial reproduction, so the cycle progresses faster. Just be sure you maintain adequate water movement so keep up the amount of dissolved oxygen.

If you know anyone with a saltwater tank that's disease, algae, and pest free, you may ask if you can get some of their filter media (keep this wet) or some of their substrate, as this will have additional bacteria which can be added to reproduce in your tank.

Answer 2

ok get a 10 ga;llon tank make it 1.024 salt then wat you do is make the heat 82 to kill bactiria and while doing this clean your tank filter and your problem is taking water out because if you take out water you take out some salt wich if not perfectly put back in will make a pefect tank **** in 1 water change i think thats where your messing up

Answer 3

Do an almost full water change, and see if you can take any of the fish back. you obviously have too many

Answer 4

You need to call an expert right away! They will be able to suggest solutions that may help you save all your fish!