Cloudy Water

[TheSims3Dude]

Heys, I accidentally spilt a lot of food in the tank, (a few days ago)
I cleaned it up right away but using the siphon, (sp?) anyways, the last few days since then, the water has been very cloudy, how can I make it go away? The fish don't seem bothered by it, but it makes it looks really nasty, BTW, the water doesn't smell or anything, just very cloudy, I've already cleaned the tank like 2-3 times since then, and yet the cloudyness won't go away,.. What can I do to fix this?

 

[mike_980]

could just be a bacterial bloom, how old is the aquarium and have you added anything new to the aquarium around the same time (ornaments or anything) it could be unrelated to the food spillage, id say change 10% -20% of the water daily or every 2 days and it should clear itself up after maximum 2 weeks, if its a bacterial bloom then not alot you can do except wait for it to stop and keep changing small amounts of water! keeping your light off as much as possible may also help a little bit. A bacterial bloom wont harm the fish however might cause an ammonia spike but the first thing i would do is test the water to make sure your ammonia and nitrite is 0ppm and nitrates are a reasonable level, if they are i wouldnt worry

also it might sound daft but make sure the glass is clean inside and out because this can make the water look milky!

 

[TheSims3Dude]

It only started right after I spilled the fish food, I've just cleaned the water again and it's still like a that.
So I shall keep changing it everyday and hopefully it'll clear up, my fish is pregnant, so that won't harm her or the babies will it?
(the cloudy water I mean)

 

[mike_980]

if it's only a bacterial bloom then it shouldnt harm anything no so long as you keep doing water changes as the bacteria will apply an extra load on your filter

test your water or if you dont have a test kit take a sample of water to a local fish shop for them to test it, most should test it for you for free, i know pets at home do

if your levels are all reading OK then you shouldnt have anything to worry about, main thing is your fish are ok, just dont panic and do anything drasic lol because thats the main mistake people make!

 

[TheSims3Dude]

Yepp! I have a test I can do, I have both "bottle tests' and "strip tests" what ones are more accurate?

 

[mike_980]

by bottle tests do you mean a liquid test kit with the test tubes and liquid which you add to the water?
the liquid tester kits are far more accurate than the strip tests, if you can get an API freshwater test kit (around £30) but they do about 800 tests so will last pretty much forever!

Your ammonia wants to be 0, your nitrite also wants to be 0 and your nitrate wants to be as low as possible, anything under 10ppm is pretty good but anything under 20 ish is ok, try to keep under 15ppm though i would say.

If you can also test the PH of the water, it should be as close to 7 as possible but is unlikely to be exactly right, between 6.5 and 7.5 is generally nothing to loose sleep over

 

[TheSims3Dude]

Hey! first of all, thanks for your help!
I used the API liquid test kit (dunno how much 30 gbp is) I live in Canada, but I think my thing was around $40, anyways, I just tested all 3 things,
Nitrite = 0 ppm
Nitrate = 0 ppm
Ammonia = 0.50 ppm

Is ammonia in a danger zone? or just keep doing water changes?


I have 3 mollies, 2F/1M

What's their ideal pH range that they like?
(I can change it too, I have pH adjust down and pH adjust up)

 

[mike_980]

im not sure on the ideal PH range of mollies but the last thing you want to be doing is playing around with your PH levels in my opinion so dont add those unless it is a last resort. Mollies are fairly hardy so should stand a wide range of conditions however mollies are also known for not liking sudden changes so if you go and change your PH all of a sudden you will be doing more harm than good, also the PH up and PH down tend to upset the other chemical balances in the tank so unless your PH is something ridiculus then i would leave it how it is

I very much doubt your Nitrate is 0 PPM as out of my tap mine shows a reading of 10 haha so maybe test that again?

yes ammonia might be a problem for you, have you cycled the tank properly?

the advice i would give you is change 10-20% of the water daily until your ammonia gets down to 0 PPM and stays there for at least a week. Dont go changing huge amounts of water in my opinion, some people will tell you to do this but i feel like it might give the fish a chemical shock when they suddenly get freshwater with different qualities to what they are used to so stick to the smaller water changes daily.

If your tank is fully cycled and you have just got an ammonia spike then it sounds like a bacterial bloom to me which will clear in a few weeks at the most providing you do as i say above hope this sorts you out and glad i can help

 

[TheSims3Dude]

I've had the tank set up for 1 week and a few days (fish in cycle)
haha, I forgot to mention that, that's kinda a big deal for this, isn't it?

 

[mike_980]

ahhh right so your currently doing a fish in cycle?
is the tank brand new? if so then the bacteria in the aquarium silicon causes a bacterial bloom in most new tanks and its nothing to worry about!
new tanks go through cloudy water phases anyway and it will settle down straight away im sure,

ok the advice i would give you is to make sure you dont over feed. When the food got dropped into the tank im guessing this promoted the bacterial growth causing the cloudy water. feed a few times a day if possible but very very small amounts (if you imagine the fishes stomach is the same size as one of its eyes) they can also go up to 3 weeks without food so worry more about over feeding than under feeding especially during a fish in cycle.

ok what will happen is you will get your ammonia spike (happening now) which in a week or two should settle down to 0ppm, you will then get a nitrite spike which may last longer but may not. this will then also settle down. throughout this process change 10-15% ish of your water every day. once you receive the magic 0 for nitrite and ammonia do a 50% water change and continue with the 10% daily changes for a further week.

 

[backtotropical]

Hi,

Sounds like a definite bacterial bloom. If you're fish-in cycling you should be doing plenty of water changes anyway, but it's worth noting that bacterial blooms release ammonia into the water which won't help the situation, so up your water changes until it clears.

Mollies like high pH (8 or so) but don't try to change the pH. Fish are, contrary to popular belief, actually quite adaptable to a different pH. Adjusting the pH is something which should be reserved for experienced aquarists only. The change in the water parameters is usually more dangerous for the fish than if they just stayed in water in which the pH wasn't ideal. In summary, best to leave it alone.

You should have a read here. It will help your understanding of bacterial blooms and the nitrogen cycle.

Regards

BTT

 

[TheSims3Dude]

Ah thank-you both so much!
I'll keep doing water changes everyday