Cloudy Water

[jrnm75]

Help, I just put my fish in a 10 gallon tank and the water is starting to get cloudy. I have three goldfish, two comets and one black one with big eyes. and one algae eater. What could be causing my cloudy water? what can i use to help this clear up?

 

[Sharkey G]

Firsty, have you done a water change recently ?

Secondly, How many hours per day is you're light on for ?

Thirdly, are you growing real plants, or just artificial ?

Let us know mate, as these are probably your main causes !!

 

[reef3]

use your gravel vacuum and vacumm out all the dirt i the gravel, as this does this, dont suck out more than 50% of your water, and then add more in using aqua safe

 

[hellstorm]

if u cant get rid of the cloudiness then theres always chemicals at the lfs to clear things up

 

[Sharkey G]

if u cant get rid of the cloudiness then theres always chemicals at the lfs to clear things up

That may be, but sometimes that just makes things even worse. I'm guessing a water change of about 40% as it's only a small tank and less lighting. Thats the trouble with coldwater, they can be v. messy .

 

[hellstorm]

i got this polyester pad thingys for my filter and it says that not even the tinyest of the tiny particales will ever get through it. maybe give that a try?

 

[Danny - the lost soul---]

few questions first:
How long was the tank set up for ?
New set up or existing one ?
Filtration ?
Chemicals used if any ?


these are all things that can contribute to cloudy water. Now, it does sound like alot of fish for a 10g tank. If these fish are small for the time bieng you should be okay, But keep in mind Goldfish produce alot of waster and need clean water.

If you recently did a water change prior to the cloudy water it is normal. What you did was loose soma of your biological bacteria. This is best corrected with some GOOD fresh carbon and cut back on feedings till water starts to clear. Any added waste, stirring of the water, additional water changes will continue to proplong this cloudy water.

Alot of hobbiest would suggest continue to do water changes. I prefer not to becasue this just makes it harder for the bacteria to re-colonize.

Check your water quality to assure there is no spikes of amonia. this can be a problem cauyse if you really distroyed the bacteria the amonia will spike off the chart. (in some cases )

DO NOT , DO NOT, add chemicals to try and clear this up. As someone else mentioned already this WILL only make matters WORSE. And adding chemicals will just make test readings incorrect.


Let us know alittle more info to better help find a good course of action. For now I would just add new carbon to the filter if you have a filter that holds carbon. If you have already done a water change I would not mess with the water just YET.

Now, if there has not been a water change prior to this cloudy water I would suggest a 25% water change followed with some GOOD grade carbon. as long as your bacteria is NOT to damaged in the tank this should take between 4-7 days to clear up. (Roughtly ) this all depends on what has been done and what caused the tank to go cloudy.
good Luck, and keep us posted.
Danny

 

[Rose]

I have to agree with Dany boy on this one. Sit back and wait it out.

As for the fish. That is way too many Goldfish in a 10g tank. 1 Goldie requires a minimum of 5g alone due to them being nasty mess makers. You need a very good filter as well. Your heading for trouble with this many goldies in that small of a tank. What you need is a minimum of 30g for your 3 goldies to keep them happy and very frequent water changes. Rose

 

[jrnm75]

this is a new set up, I recently moved for the holidays to my mom's and set up a new tank for my fish. I put the artifical plants from the old tank and some water from the old tank in the new tank. I have not added any chemicals to the water yet. I usually wait about a month before I do the first water change after I set up a new tank. I don't seem to know much information about goldfish, I had them for over 3 months now and I have not lost a fish, My mom just doesn't like the cloudy water. I may go to pets mart and get another kind of filteration system or something to help out the cloudiness. Would another algae eater help out?

 

[Rose]

NO MORE FISH!!!! The cloudyness will go away given time. Don't mess with anything except to get a bigger filter. Rose

 

[jrnm75]

thanks for the information, I will keep you posted on what my progress is. I am going to the store later to get something for the tank. I will let you guys know what I got and if it helps out.

 

[Danny - the lost soul---]

Tell e'm Rose......

Sounds like you are on the right track. if the tank is new and you did use old tank water this will help. 9somewhat) becasue if all you used was water there isn't or wasn't enough bacteria in it to keep the new tank from spiking / getting cloudy. now, this is common with new set-up depending on set-up method used.
I still from time to time get a cloudy tank. but most times it is due to stupidity / rushing on my part. Normally this clears up within a week or so.
Adding some carbon as mentioned should help. Is there anyway you can use the same filter from the original tank? Even get some gravel from the same tank? This will help the bacteria colonize becasue if the original tank colonized all the good stuff is in the filter media and in the GRAVEL.

just a though .........

BEFORE you add the fish:

make SURE you add some kind of water conditioner. Even though if the water has been sitting WITH the filter the chlorine / chlorimine will / does avaporate. When i do water changes i set buckets outside in the sun and this in itself helps detoxify the water from the added human pollutants that to the fish will harm them but is suppose to be good for us humans. ??? Go figure ??? Wait, i'm NOT human I am a fish. what am I saying.

try NOT to overload the tank once it is ready for the fish this can / will cause not only cloudy water but a spike in amonia if fish start to produce more waste than filtration / bacteria can handle.

This is the most important part prior to introducing the fish. be sure you check the water and add enough filtration to maintain the proper amount of fish.

Alright time to go .......................

Danny
hope this helps somewhat at least.

 

[jrnm75]

Sorry it took so long to reply back to you guys, the site wouldn't load. I purchased a powerhead with a detachable filteration system. It has been running constantly for 2 weeks and I just changed the filter. It has kept the tank quite clear and the fish are fine, I am not adding any more fish. I love this powerhead, it is a good system for my tank.

i had used some of the old water and I used the artifical plants that were in the old tank. now that the powerhead is running with the regular filter I seem to be okay.

 

[Rose]

Glad to hear things are working out for ya. We love to hear things like that. Keep up the good job! Rose