complete n00b and need some help pls

[fishywishy]

hello
i've recently purchase a tropical fish tank (always wanted one) and proceeded to do what he manual told me to, clean everything, set the temp right, filter works fine, declorine the water... but i went away for 2 days (left everything on) and now i am back the water is quite cloudy, i got no fish or anything in yet, just gettting everythign runnign first.

its jsut i dont know waht to do next, i will be going back to the shop in a few days to get all the testing equipment and nitrates and all that. but what can i do right now to sort out this cloudy problem?

if anyone can help i would be greatful

many thx

 

[TorPeteO]

Now, I know you said you'd cleaned everything, but does that include the substrade (gravel/sand)? That's, really, the only thing I could think of at the moment, although I'm sure others can think of other reasons.

 

[-cAtFiSh-]

i'm just looking in a book and it says something about water turning misty shortly after setting the tank up. its says there could be a rapid developement of bacteria and minute algae spores in the water that will produce such an effect until the plants become established and the aquarium reaches some point of natural balance. it also says that the filter should clean up this problem and regular partial water changes could also help.
i dont think it would be anything to worry too much about.

 

[fishywishy]

thx for the advice... i left it for a few days and the cloudyness seems to have got a bit less, so maybe the filter does work after all but i am going to go get teh tester kits just in case it is bacteria then i can actually do something more than just watching and waiting

 

[Phantom Thief]

The cloudiness is probably bacterial bloom. Nothing to be worried about

P.T.

 

[Final Dynazty]

W hen my water gets cloudy i have this stuff and i put it in and it turns the water crystal clear. Yo phantom whats wrong with your ghost

 

[fishywishy]

got the tester kit and all things are fine, the lvl of everything is good, but it is still a bit cloudy, and i couldnt resist, i brought some fish just some guppies. at first they didnt like the tank they jsut swam at the top of the water, ask my firend about it and he said it was lack of oxygen so i put a air pump in, now its great....

oh yeah the question i was going to ask was that, when changing part of the water, do we take the fish out of teh tank?? and with tap water it has chlorine in, do we put the declorine stuff in the water before adding it to the tank or put teh water in the tank then add the stuff in?? doesnt chlorine kill all the bateria??

sorry for being such a n00b, jsut dont want to get it wrong

 

[fishywishy]

W hen my water gets cloudy i have this stuff and i put it in and it turns the water crystal clear. Yo phantom whats wrong with your ghost

sorry what is the stuff you use? i might need some

 

[appleblossom]

Hi fishywishy

You dont need to remove your fish for a water change. Turn off the heater and filter, as they might get damaged if they are run dry (and your heater might blow up when you add the fresh water)

You can buy syphon tubing at your lfs, get quite a bit.

the next part is down to personal preference, I use 2 plastic lidded containers which I keep on top of my wardrobe and fill with dechlorinated water using a jug or bucket. (used for fish only!)I leave the water in there to get it up to room temperature so it is less of a shock for the fish when you add it.

When the water is room temperature , I stick one end of the syphon tube into the fish tank, and with a bucket on the floor, suck on the other end of the tube until the water gets over the curve of the top of the tank, then quickly take it out of my mouth and point it into the bucket. Drain the tank as much as you want to drain, 20% for example.

Then with my containers of water already positioned up high, and already dechlorinated, I can start a syphon from the fresh water into the tank with the same syphon tube.
I find this way is quicker and easier than going backwatds and forwards with jugs of water, and it disturbs the fish and the tank far less than pouring in large amounts of water at a time. Of course it only works if you have somewhere higher than your fish tank to store the replacement water.

Once the water is back up to the fill level, turn your filter and heater back on.

Sorry if any of this has been patronising, not sure how much of this you already know