My New Tank Is Cloudy With No Fish In It .

[bassdawg]

I set up a 29 gal  one week ago , it was clear but now is cloudy . I have no fish in it yet .I have a penguin 200 filter .Is it normal to get cloudy with no fish in it ? I will add a couple corey catfish in it next week . Thank you so much for your help .

 

[fm1978]

Perfectly normal. 
 
It's very common for a newly setup tank to 'suffer' from a bacterial bloom. It'll settle in time.
 
Might I suggest before you jump into buying any fish having a good read (or 2) through the Fish-less Cycling threads on this very forum. It's much easier than it looks and far safer for your fish! Also, once complete, you can pretty much fully stock right away.

 

[the_lock_man]

Yes, it's very common, it's called a bacterial bloom, and they normally disappear on their own within a few days.
 
From what you have said, I need to warn you that you are currently doing nothing to prepare your filter for fish, in spite of what you may have been told eslewhere (especially by retailers).
 
Your fish produce ammonia as a by-product of respiration, but as you may know, ammonia is highly toxic.Your filter is home to a couple of colonies of bacteria, which convert the ammonia to nitrite, and then the nitrite into nitrate. But for the bacteria to grow, they need food, in the form of ammonia. Just like any other organism, they must have a reliable food source to thrive. You and I would not thrive living in the Sahara with no food or water.
 
At the moment, there is no ammonia in your water to provide a food source for the bacteria. As soon as you put a fish in there, the food source is there, but it takes time for the bacteria colonies to grow. In the meantime, your fish is poisoning itself.
 
What we always recommend is a fishless cycle, whereby you pour household ammonia in controlled amounts into the tank, and this provides the food source for the bacteria. Over a couple of weeks or so, the bottled ammonia allows the bacteria to grow to a level where there are sufficient of them to process the ammonia produced by your fish without leaving any ammonia or nitrite in the water to poison the fish.
 
If you go to the Cycle Your Tank section of the forum, there is a pinned thread at the top which explains in detail how to successfully accomplish this task.
 
If you just bung in a fish and hope for the best, the chances are high that your fish will die.

 

[bassdawg]

Thanks Fish Herder
Thanks to The_Lock_Man

 

[bassdawg]

Would Api quick start be good to add

 

[Ninjouzata]

Most bacteria in a bottle are junk and if you must use any I would use Dr Tim's One & Only or Tetra Safe Start.
 
Keep in mind you still need to add ammonia and following the cycling article when using these. You can't add them and then just throw fish in. They can help speed it up though.

 

[vrob]

Defiantly listen to The_Lock_Man and fm1978. I'm very new to the hobby and am currently fighting through a fish-in cycle due to ignorance and bad advice from my LFS. I asked about the cloudy water (bacteria bloom) and was told "That means it's time for fish".. It's been very hard to balance necessary ammonia for bacteria growth and at the same time trying to keep the fish alive and healthy. Had i done more research and did a proper fish-less cycle my tank would probably be done by now (26 gallon). If i could go back, i would do a fish-less cycle.
 
The pinned threads at the top of the "Cycle your tank" section (mentioned by The_Lock_Man) are extremely useful, informative, and will probably help you alot.
 
Good Luck!!

 

[the_lock_man]

Most bacteria in a bottle are junk and if you must use any I would use Dr Tim's One & Only or Tetra Safe Start.
 
Keep in mind you still need to add ammonia and following the cycling article when using these. You can't add them and then just throw fish in. They can help speed it up though.

 
What she said.