Cloudiness? Please Help

[craigthomas2010]

hi i have had a 50 litre tank now for 2 days i used that aqua safe stuff in every 10 litres of water i added 5ml of aqua safe

i have a heater in my tank and a filter and a air blowing thing


i have heat on 27 degrees and tank is warmed to that

no plants in tank yet

i have 2 guppies , 2 mollies and 2 pink tetra , i put them all in there today

female molly is fat and maybe pregnant?

since i went out for a few hours and came back the water is looking cloudy

any reason for this?

i have also fed them ones with flake food
many thanks please help

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Craig and to Fishforums.net,

What is happening in your tank sounds like a bacterial bloom and is quite common in new tanks.

However, if you have fish in a tank which is only 2 days old, you will not have enough of the beneficial bacteria which is required in your filter.

Fish produce ammonia through respiration and also through the decomposition of their poo. Ammonia is lethal to fish and must be removed from the tank. If your tank was established, the beneficial bacteria do this job for you, but in your case, I'm afraid you'll need to do it manually by performing water changes. I'd recommend starting by changing 50% of the water in the tank for fresh water every day.

Do you have a test kit which tests for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH etc? If not, you'd be well advised to get one as this will let you keep an eye on the level of toxins in the water whilst your beneficial bacteria become established.

I've tried to cover the most important points here and hopefully you find this helpful.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. That's what we're here for.

Regards

BTT

 

[craigthomas2010]

Hi Craig and to Fishforums.net,

What is happening in your tank sounds like a bacterial bloom and is quite common in new tanks.

However, if you have fish in a tank which is only 2 days old, you will not have enough of the beneficial bacteria which is required in your filter.

Fish produce ammonia through respiration and also through the decomposition of their poo. Ammonia is lethal to fish and must be removed from the tank. If your tank was established, the beneficial bacteria do this job for you, but in your case, I'm afraid you'll need to do it manually by performing water changes. I'd recommend starting by changing 50% of the water in the tank for fresh water every day.

Do you have a test kit which tests for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH etc? If not, you'd be well advised to get one as this will let you keep an eye on the level of toxins in the water whilst your beneficial bacteria become established.

I've tried to cover the most important points here and hopefully you find this helpful.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. That's what we're here for.

Regards

BTT

hi
no i have not got this kit i will get one soon , what will changing 50% of the water daily do?

surly this will just start the hole process again ?

many thanks please message back

what can i do without using a kit to make it better as kits are expensive and don't have much spare cash at the moment

i have live aquatic plants coming soon mid next week

will this help


if not what will ?

thanks very much

 

[backtotropical]

Changing 50% of the water each day won't start the process again, but what it will do is keep the level of ammonia (which is lethal for fish as I said above) down whilst the beneficial bacteria grow.

If you don't keep the level of ammonia under control, your fish will most likely die because of it.

Good news you are going to get a test kit. I'd advise a liquid re-agent based test kit rather than dip strips which often aren't worth the paper they're printed on. Many of the members on here recommend the API Freshwater Master Test Kit. You can pick them up fairly cheap on Ebay.

If you can't afford a test kit at the moment, just keep changing as much water as you can. Don't be afraid of changing too much, you can go to 75% easily and above. Some people will tell you that water changes will be harmful (hopefully nobody on here) but you should take this with a pinch of salt. The benefit of removing ammonia far outweighs any detrimental effect that water changes may have.

 

[craigthomas2010]

hi what will help the beneficial bacteria grow faster ?

or what is this stuff ?

many thanks

and would this be a ok set ,,,and what am i looking out for

http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/TETRA-6-1-AQUARIUM-WATER-TROPICAL-TEST-KIT-25-TESTS-/250761976449?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item3a62941a81#ht_1705wt_1139

 

[backtotropical]

Theres not really much that you can do to make them grow faster. You can buy 'Bacteria in a bottle' products such as Nutrafin Cycle, but their effectiveness is questionable.

Your main concern at the moment needs to be controlling the level of ammonia in your tank, and the bacteria will take care of themselves.

 

[Gazanimal]

Hi Craig.

Have a good read, and I mean a good read of the Beginners Resource section

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/

It covers all the things you need to know about keeping fish. There'll be plenty that you don't understand but the guys & girls on here will help with any questions you have.

As backtotropical has said keep up with the water changes but scrape together as much money as you can to get a test kit (API Freshwater Master Test Kit - Approx £20 on Ebay).


In your situation, read as much about Fish-In cycling as possible.




Oh and don't always believe everything your local aquarium/fish/pet shop tell you either. The less scrupulous amongst them want you to buy things from them when either you don't need it, it doesn't work or it's not right. Just double check on here

 

[craigthomas2010]

Theres not really much that you can do to make them grow faster. You can buy 'Bacteria in a bottle' products such as Nutrafin Cycle, but their effectiveness is questionable.

Your main concern at the moment needs to be controlling the level of ammonia in your tank, and the bacteria will take care of themselves.

would removing the water surely take some bacteria with it


if i left my tank as it is would it be okay ? or if fish died and i took them out and left my tank for 5 days or so would it be safe then?

sorry about the novice questions

 

[Gazanimal]

Theres not really much that you can do to make them grow faster. You can buy 'Bacteria in a bottle' products such as Nutrafin Cycle, but their effectiveness is questionable.

Your main concern at the moment needs to be controlling the level of ammonia in your tank, and the bacteria will take care of themselves.

would removing the water surely take some bacteria with it


if i left my tank as it is would it be okay ? or if fish died and i took them out and left my tank for 5 days or so would it be safe then?

sorry about the novice questions

The bacteria grows/develops in your filter media, not the water itself as such.

Leaving the tank as it is won't be OK & your fish will most probably die, which isn't a good thing.

A tank matures (gains the necessary bacteria) over a few weeks, not just days. I'm into 2 weeks of cycling my tank, but I have no fish in there and my tank still isn't ready for any live stock yet.

Read the resources & ask away.

 

[BigbruiserAl]

Theres not really much that you can do to make them grow faster. You can buy 'Bacteria in a bottle' products such as Nutrafin Cycle, but their effectiveness is questionable.

Your main concern at the moment needs to be controlling the level of ammonia in your tank, and the bacteria will take care of themselves.

would removing the water surely take some bacteria with it


if i left my tank as it is would it be okay ? or if fish died and i took them out and left my tank for 5 days or so would it be safe then?

sorry about the novice questions

The good bacteria live mainly in your filter, there some on rocks and gravel but almost none in the water alone. leaving your tank as is will more then likely kill the fish if not leaving them with slow painfull unhappy life. A fish in cycle can take over 6 weeks mine did. please read the link above abd post any futher questions, hope it helps

 

[craigthomas2010]

hi guys i just got a ammonia testing kit of my dad and its reading 0ppm white

this is good isnt it?

i had to put 5ml of water into tube , add 8 drops of stuff in bottle and shake for 5 seconds and it showed up on chart a 0 ppm

 

[OldMan47]

Indeed a reading of 0 ammonia is a good sign. All of us are unanimous in thinking that a simple bacterial bloom is not a problem for your fish. What are your other chemical signs? Is anything at all out of whack?

 

[craigthomas2010]

Indeed a reading of 0 ammonia is a good sign. All of us are unanimous in thinking that a simple bacterial bloom is not a problem for your fish. What are your other chemical signs? Is anything at all out of whack?

i have also just done a nitrate test and that is also showing up 0ppm

so all levels are good but water is slightly cloudy

fish have been in tank for 8 hours now

water and filter and heater and air bubble thing have been on for 48 hours now

any reason for this?

i have 6 fish in tank

2 gupies's there just staying in a corner not doing much
2 mollies there chasing each other and looking like there having fun
and 2 pink tetra just being ok and normal i guess

worried about guppies i think?

 

[BigbruiserAl]

hi guys i just got a ammonia testing kit of my dad and its reading 0ppm white

this is good isnt it?

i had to put 5ml of water into tube , add 8 drops of stuff in bottle and shake for 5 seconds and it showed up on chart a 0 ppm

If it the API test it 5ml in the vile then 8 drops of one and 8 of another for ammonia?

 

[Skins]

Indeed a reading of 0 ammonia is a good sign. All of us are unanimous in thinking that a simple bacterial bloom is not a problem for your fish. What are your other chemical signs? Is anything at all out of whack?

i have also just done a nitrate test and that is also showing up 0ppm

so all levels are good but water is slightly cloudy

fish have been in tank for 8 hours now

water and filter and heater and air bubble thing have been on for 48 hours now

any reason for this?

i have 6 fish in tank

2 gupies's there just staying in a corner not doing much
2 mollies there chasing each other and looking like there having fun
and 2 pink tetra just being ok and normal i guess

worried about guppies i think?

You are in what we call a fish-in-cycle going by what you said in your first post. With your tank/filter only being setup for such a short period of time, no beneficial bacterias will have established themselves to remove the toxins(ammonia,nitrite)from your tank water. At the bottom of this post you will see a link to an article on fish-in-cycling.

Hope this helps, Keith.