Cloudy Tank

[Spanerman]

would it be worth cleaning my filter out in tank water to see if theres alot of sediment build up?

 

[Fisses]

ive just put sand in my tank (for a second time) and the best thing i found was water change water change and water change, and also some polyester filters which are ultra fine, but save your money and go to wilko's who do filter floss for 69p, use it to clear out the silt, then just bin it.

but when its cleared up, get your hand in and just ruffle the sand with your fingers which will make it go cloudy again but will soon clear again, and just keep doing this till eventually there is no silt

see my thread for how mine went with putting sand in

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=273198

 

[Spanerman]

so i should stop the cycle or just keep the filter in water and when im done just raise amonia back up to 4-5ppm?

 

[Fisses]

TBH im not sure as im not really clued up about the fishless cycle, but PERSONALLY i'd leave it all settle then start the cycle so you can actually see it go cloudy then go clear and stuff

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Ignore the cloudiness, it will sttle in tiem, you don't need to do anything, just start the cycle as normal

 

[RedeyesUK]

If you're in the middle of a fishless cycle, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Whatever it is, it'll more than likely settle in a few days. If it is silt, then it may clog up your filter a bit, but I wouldn't disturb the filter at the moment unless the flow starts to drop because of it.

 

[TheguppyKing]

u should not clean the filter until a few month because believe it or not the cycle is actually done in the fillter

 

[OldMan47]

The cycle will proceed fine whether or not the water is a bit cloudy, as MW said. The bacteria you are trying to culture in a fishless cycle live on surfaces with a good flow of oxygenated water. The largest such surfaces in an average tank are in the filter. The cloudy water lasting a day or two is not unusual for a sandy bottom. When I set up my 55 gallon with sand, it took almost 4 days to look clear and that was in summer when I was able to very thoroughly wash the sand. There should not be a need to clean the filter for several weeks in a new cycling tank. Until the filter starts to show decreased flow, the filter is fine.
Looking at your setup, I see that the tank is in a spot likely to get a fair amount of light. That could end up causing algae control problems if you don't have enough fast growing plants to remove all of the plant nutrients from the water. With high light, algae is a tough thing to control sometimes. There are also schools of thought that advocate some direct sunlight, like the El Natural method of working with plants. In that system you would be using potting soil under a layer of sand or gravel rather than using straight sand as a substrate. It is generally not a plant beginner's best bet but I have a tank running that way with some success and I am no expert on plants.