Cloudy Water

[rossikey]

Hi

Just looking for a bit of advice here........we have a 4 ft tropical tank so are not complete newcomers for fish keeping and previously had marine but the issue i have is my son wanted his own small tank and bought for himself a little 14 litre tank.....
Now it was a little kit which came with it's own filter so thinking that should be ample for the tank.....

We set all the tank up....added water.....added ammo lock and stress zyme as we do live in a hard water area.......we left the tank for while and it has been fine......

now we have added just 3 small fish the water has become really really cloudy.........can anyone shed any light on this...

we did put 2 tiny lights in it for a bit of extra interest but these are only the little coloured lights .....

I am thinking bout doing a partial water change....would this cure it or can anyone else offer any other advice............

 

[Curiosity101]

Why did you put ammo lock in before fish?
Have you actually cycled the tank? (Doesn't sound like you have)
What are the 3 fish? A 14l tank is very very very small...
Do you have a test kit, if so then what are the levels?

If it happened after you put fish in...and you haven't cycled the tank, it's almost defintiely a bacterial bloom.
See the pinned cycling topic in the 'new to fishkeeping' section
And also try googling bacterial bloom for more info.

 

[rossikey]

Why did you put ammo lock in before fish?
Have you actually cycled the tank? (Doesn't sound like you have)
What are the 3 fish? A 14l tank is very very very small...
Do you have a test kit, if so then what are the levels?

If it happened after you put fish in...and you haven't cycled the tank, it's almost defintiely a bacterial bloom.
See the pinned cycling topic in the 'new to fishkeeping' section
And also try googling bacterial bloom for more info.

It said on the packet to put the ammo lock in before ........sorry i thought when u but these products you were meant to follow the instructions.....maybe i will write to them and give them your views.....

yeh the tank is very very small.....i have a 4ft tropical tank in my lounge....the little one is for my son who wanted goldfish....i have no intention of setting up another 4 ft tank for goldfish.............Please don't reply with attitude............

 

[Curiosity101]

Sorry if that was the impression you got. Genuinely no offence was intended.

Please, if you could just answer the questions it'll help everyone who is try to resolve your problem.

Ammo lock is a product that reacts with ammonia in the water to make it into a 'safe', non-toxic form. But if there are no fish in your tank then no ammonia is being created. And also no fish to be affected by the ammonia even if it was present. Which it certainly shouldn't be in tap water. Perhaps you mis-read the label or the manufacturers forgot to mention this in their instructions?

And a 17l tank really isn't suitable for 3 goldfish. It's not even suitable for one long term, this is not my opinion may I add. It is a fact that I'm sure others will back me up on. And I'm not saying it to be un kind or offensive. It's just that if you don't want a large tank, then tropical fish are a much better bet...perhaps look into getting a small 30l tank with a heater and getting a small shoal of neons or something? I'm sure your son would find them just as interesting, and a larger tank is easier to maintain.

Edited due to numerous typo's...oops

 

[saltynay]

Its a bacterial bloom

A tank should always be cycled I would only use ammo-lock incase of a filter bacteria crash when ammonia levels become slightly heightened but all bacteria is not lost. It takes 4-6 weeks to mature a filter and ensure its fully cycled and goldfish are very dirty fish which need good filtration. I would reccomend you get a liquid master test kit to test for your ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels, do a 30% water change every day until the levels have stabilised and rember to add the dechlorinator every time whilst in a well matured tank to have a one off and forget, the chlorine will lead to severe loss of bacteria and when in a tank going through cycling this can put you back weeks. Adding live plants would act as a good buffer which should ease the cycling process for your fish and also make them feel more secure in their environment.


Just that goldfish will have stunted growth resulting in improper organ development and an early death quite a few alternative fish and shrimp that would of been more suitable for such a small tank then a potentially 12-14 inch goldfish. We gain nothing from offering our advice and we only preach what we believe to be true through personal experiences and scientific facts, your LFS may have the alterior motive of just wanting your money and the worse condition the fish is in 1) you will buy lots of medicines 2) you will buy more fish when that one dies its simple economics. A large tank can be had for very cheap if you look around classifieds and wait for one to come up on the forums for sale, fish shops always charge soo much for a brand new tank when a second hand one is exactly the same just might need a scrub.


curiosity - tap water does sometimes contain ammonia in low levels mine contains 0.5ppm you contact your local water authority if you want a report of full chemical analysis of water in your area.

 

[Curiosity101]

curiosity - tap water does sometimes contain ammonia in low levels mine contains 0.5ppm you contact your local water authority if you want a report of full chemical analysis of water in your area.

Mine was at 0 (Both a waterboard statement and after testing) and I figured considering how most ammonia is produced...that it wouldn't be in the water supply. lol.
Either ways, sorry...it was a presumption on my part.