Cloudy Water

[crackenhunter]

Firstly thanks to everyone for their welcoming replies to my first message, much appreciated.

As I said in my first message my 2 foot Rio tank in it's 3rd week, not including the 10 day running in period and the water still seems quite cloudy.

Is this normal? If not is there anything I can add to the water?

I use a de-chlorinator when doing water changes and Safe Water 1 once a week.

Any help will be much appreciated.

James

 

[William]

Sounds like an algae bloom to me, perfectly natural and shows your tank is nearing the end of the cycle - I'm moving this to the planted section - what colour is the bloom is it milky?

 

[matt_wilby]

I'd echo what William has said. Sounds like a algae or bacterial bloom that you would see in a tank that's nearing the end of it's cycle.

 

[crackenhunter]

Cheers for the reassurance.

It is a sort of milky colour.

Just a bit paranoid since this is my first tank.

Thanks again

James

 

[Orbitorly]

Hello, first off more info is needed, tank size, filtration, water parameters, and finaly how long has it been set up.

White cloudiness is a result of a bacteria bloom.
Sometimes the cleaning of all filters at once, or the changing of the gravel can trigger a bacteria bloom, due to the removal of bacterial colonies that had settled on the filter media or substrate. Another cause can be medical treatment of the tank using antibiotics, which may destroy these colonies


The green water, often referred to as "cloudy water or pea soup", which makes your fish disappear right in front of your eyes, is an algae bloom. Free floating planktonic single celled algae growing at a rate that turns the water green.

The cause is always the same, too much light and excess nutrients (nitrates) often resulting from overfeeding. Excessive light cannot only be attributed to the aquarium lighting but also intense room lighting and direct sunlight.

But since it's a milky color, or is it green ? It's a bactiria bloom.

Good Luck!

 

[crackenhunter]

The tank is a Rio two foot tank, I'm using a Fluval 1 filter and 100W Deltatherm heater.

I had the tank set up for 10 days with all the equipment running and added a couple of fish flakes as recommended by the guy at the shop.

Excluding that the tank is in it's third week and population so far is 10 Neon Tetras, 1 male and 1 female Guppy, and 2 Mollies, 1 Black and 1 Dalmation and a selection of plastic plants and three rocks.

The water is treated once a week with Safe Water No1 (5ml) this apparently speeds up the cycle especially in new tanks (just going with the text on the box!!). A dechlorinator is also used when doing water changes which are evry second day for this week, again as recommended by the guy at the shop, something about the cycle not having kicked in fully when he tested the water sample.

I can still see all of the fish and right to the back of the tank etc, it's just the water doesn't seem very clear although there haven't been any fatalities so far. I don't know whether that's as good as it gets or if there are any steps which I can take to improve things.

Would a sensible next purchase be an algae eater?

Cheers
James

 

[guppygirl]

Maybe phosphates??? mi tank had dat. It's really milky white, even though you can see the fish in the early stages. If this sounds like your problem, try adding a live plant or two. It really isn't THAT hard.
How big is your tank(gallons)? Try asking the fish shop guy if he has any phosphate reducers....