Cloudy Water in New Tank!

[Sasha]

I was just wondering if cloudy water could be harmful to fish? My 29 gallon tank just finsihed cycling with the "Fishless Cycle" and the water is so cloudy that I can hardly see the back of the tank! It's been like that for a few weeks and I did do a 75% water change before releasing a fish but the water continued to remain cloudy. I'm hesistant to release anymore fish into the tank, even though the water is stable and safe. I know that a new tank is supposed to have cloudy water due to the bacteria multiplying, but is it normal for it to remain cloudy for weeks?

 

[buggyboutbettas]

no it's not normal for it to be cloudy for so long. did you clean the substrate really well before you put it in the tank?

 

[tstenback]

What are your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings. It sounds like a bacteria bloom. Is it white or green in color?

 

[Sasha]

I cleaned the gravel several times before putting it in the aqaurium. The tank is just really cloudy, like a grey color and I never had it last so long before. The one fish in the tank doesn't seem affected by it, but I'm worried to add anymore fish in.

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - between 5.0 - 10
pH - 6.8
Temperature is at 78 F

I'm going to try to release another young guppy and see how she does.

 

[tstenback]

To check if your gravel is clean enough just take the end of your net or something like that and move it through some of the gravel. If the cloudiness increases then it is likely due to the gravel. The only other time that i have seen this happen after a large water change is when there is a bacterial bloom and with those readings there is no bacterial bloom. So give that a try if you get more cloud then you need to clean the gravel more. If you get no cloud then do another large water change tomorrow. HTH

 

[Sasha]

I took your advice and stirred the net handle through the gravel, but the cloudiness did not increase. I'm surprised that the filter didn't clear the water if the probelm wasn't related to bacteria. I guess that the bacteria are multipling so I would do another change. My only concern is the fish's health, so would a large water change stress them too much? The tank currently has two young female guppies (considered fry), which I released to "test" the tank before I add more juvenile fish.

 

[nightlife20]

have u tried cleanin the inside of the glass??? after a cycle isnt it normal to have some form of algea build up?

 

[The Red Stripe Warrior]

Hey Up Dawn, Nath here, havnt Seen u on UKS for a while

Just had my fist bunch of Fry by the way ,

 

[nightlife20]

hey up nathg

congrats what fry are they?


pm me with the link hun i lost it ages ago thats why i havnt been on


iv now got me 4ft set up, sold me 3ft and had me 2ft back.... might be gettin another 3ft tho lmao... what can i say im nuts

 

[Sasha]

When I emptyed the tank out (before cycling), I scrubbed the glass with water to remove the dried algae. I second fish that I released seemed uneffected about the cloudy water, so I'm going to add 3 more and see what happens. The cloudiness is starting to clear up a bit, but it's still not clear.

( I have no clue what they're talking about in the last two posts)

 

[Sky042]

I have 2 out of 4 tanks that have done this. One has a high bioload but perfect water test results and has been running about 5 months. The other is still in a fishless cycle. ammonia has zeroed but nitrites are still high. Been cloudy for 2.5 weeks now. I have no idea what it is either.

 

[Dwarfs]

Benificial bacterial bloom, most likely.