Help Please.

[Domtov]

I have set up my new tank 5 days ago and on the second day the water was a milky cloudy colour.

I have rinsed the gravel, ornaments, fake plants filter media and sponges so I'm sure it's not debris from any of that.

I have a fluval u3 filter in a fluval roma 125 tank. I added aquacare tap water conditioner which instructed 5ml per 20 litres so I added 6x5ml dosage.

The water temp is 25c.

Have I done anything wrong from this description?
The water is like this for the third day now and isn't clearing. I looked up bacteria bloom and have seen this clear in 2 to 4 days.

Any help with what to do would be appreciated

 

[Essjay]

It is a bacterial bloom, which is very common in new tanks. Unfortunately these are not the bacteria we want to grow. The bloom bacteria live free floating in the water and they multiply very quickly - as we see them as the cloudiness. The bacteria we want eat nitrogen based food (ammonia and nitrite) while the bloom bacteria eat carbon based food - this comes from the water, and plasticiser leaching out of everything plastic in the tank etc. The good news is that once they've eaten all their food, they die and the water clears. But it is impossible to say how long that will take as every tank is different.

However, you need to cycle the tank before getting fish. This will give plenty time for the bloom to clear. Since you don't have live plants, you need to do a fishless cycle. This thread explains what cycling is, and a step by step method for doing it.

Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!

Cycling Your First Fresh Water Tank What is Cycling and Why is it Important? Fish waste, and especially fish breathing, plus uneaten food and other organic matter breaking down in a tank all produce Ammonia. This can quickly become toxic to fish if it is allowed to build up to any measurable...

www.fishforums.net

Using Tetra Safe Start will help speed up the cycle. With the current lock down it could be some time before you are able to buy fish, so a fishless cycle will give you something to do with your tank

 

[Domtov]

It is a bacterial bloom, which is very common in new tanks. Unfortunately these are not the bacteria we want to grow. The bloom bacteria live free floating in the water and they multiply very quickly - as we see them as the cloudiness. The bacteria we want eat nitrogen based food (ammonia and nitrite) while the bloom bacteria eat carbon based food - this comes from the water, and plasticiser leaching out of everything plastic in the tank etc. The good news is that once they've eaten all their food, they die and the water clears. But it is impossible to say how long that will take as every tank is different.

However, you need to cycle the tank before getting fish. This will give plenty time for the bloom to clear. Since you don't have live plants, you need to do a fishless cycle. This thread explains what cycling is, and a step by step method for doing it.

Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!

Cycling Your First Fresh Water Tank What is Cycling and Why is it Important? Fish waste, and especially fish breathing, plus uneaten food and other organic matter breaking down in a tank all produce Ammonia. This can quickly become toxic to fish if it is allowed to build up to any measurable...

www.fishforums.net

Using Tetra Safe Start will help speed up the cycle. With the current lock down it could be some time before you are able to buy fish, so a fishless cycle will give you something to do with your tank

Thanks very much

 

[Domtov]

It is a bacterial bloom, which is very common in new tanks. Unfortunately these are not the bacteria we want to grow. The bloom bacteria live free floating in the water and they multiply very quickly - as we see them as the cloudiness. The bacteria we want eat nitrogen based food (ammonia and nitrite) while the bloom bacteria eat carbon based food - this comes from the water, and plasticiser leaching out of everything plastic in the tank etc. The good news is that once they've eaten all their food, they die and the water clears. But it is impossible to say how long that will take as every tank is different.

However, you need to cycle the tank before getting fish. This will give plenty time for the bloom to clear. Since you don't have live plants, you need to do a fishless cycle. This thread explains what cycling is, and a step by step method for doing it.

Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!

Cycling Your First Fresh Water Tank What is Cycling and Why is it Important? Fish waste, and especially fish breathing, plus uneaten food and other organic matter breaking down in a tank all produce Ammonia. This can quickly become toxic to fish if it is allowed to build up to any measurable...

www.fishforums.net

Using Tetra Safe Start will help speed up the cycle. With the current lock down it could be some time before you are able to buy fish, so a fishless cycle will give you something to do with your tank

Do I need to wait for the bloom to go before I start the fish less cycle?

 

[Munroco]

As it will be a little while before you can add fish, maybe you could look into trying out some real plants.
They look much better IMO and are also beneficial to your aquarium. Plants don't need a cycled tank and will actually help with the cycling process

 

[Munroco]

Do I need to wait for the bloom to go before I start the fish less cycle?

No you don't

 

[Essjay]

You can start the cycle whenever you want. The bloom bacteria don't cause any problems other than being unable to see what's in the tank properly.


If you want to use plants as Munroco suggests, you can do a silent cycle, and it will also give you something to do
Plants use ammonia as fertiliser, and if there are enough live plants they will take up all the ammonia made by a sensibly stocked tank of fish. Silent cycling involved putting the plants in the tank and waiting until they are growing well, then adding fish a few at a time, monitoring ammonia and nitrite daily after each batch to make sure they remain at zero.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I suggest getting some live plants. Anacharis, Anubias, Java Fern, are all low light, easy beginner plants.

@essjay already covered the Bacteria Bloom, good job @essjay.