Water quality???

[Leggy]

I've just started to keep tropical fish and have opted to start small and build on it. I did all the right things by setting my tank up and putting the water in it then setting it running. I left it for a week as I was advised to do so before I started to add my fish. Now as I am totally new to all of this I decided to just get 5 black neon tetra to start with and a rainbow shark... the shark was the fiance's idea! Well everything has been fine for the past 5 days with the fish in the tank and when I got up this morning and went to feed the fish and turn the light on I discovered that the water is ever-so-slightly cloudy..... is this normal and if not what could have caused it and how can I cure it

 

[technium]

Mine did the same when I set my first tank up. Not sure what caused it, check your Ammonia and Nitrite levels with a test kit as they could have spiked.

The best thing to do would be to change some water, probably 15% but do it everyday for a few days until it gets back to normal.

Good luck

T

 

[squidlips]

cloudy water allso can be left over food or poor xuality food .any food on the bottom? do you have a gravel vac?

 

[fish_face]

I've also heard that you can get an algae bloom in new tanks, which makes the water appear cloudy. I think that it clears up as the tank matures, but a water change surely wouldn't hurt

 

[NickT]

whiteish clody water can mean you ither have unwashed gravel/sand or the benifical bactiria has started to grow but hasnt attached to teh filtermedia or substrait yet..... it sholdnt b a bigdeal ither way. if you just added fish, the amonia that they make starts the bactiria bloom. if its a green clowdyness it is alge.....

EDIT: i use waterclrifyer and bactiria start before i add fish... it isnt nessisary and some ppl might not like teh idea of adding things to the water but it worked for me... the cloudiness seemd to go away after about 2 days.

 

[Leggy]

Well I am feeling pretty happy with my tank now. I was doing daily 15% water changes and the water is now nice and clear. I am beginning to think that it was just a bacterial bloom after all. The fish appear to be perfectly happy and healthy, they do have a tendance to play in the bubbles caused by the filter which is a great source of facination and amusement.

Only one thing that has me puzzled (not worried though) is my rainbow shark has gone from a very dark blue (almost black) to a lighter shade with a dark spot next to its tail and a thin line over each eye..... I think it looks nice but why would it do it I think the shark 's mad as a hatter the way it hides in the plants all of the time and then darting out around the tank and back in again!!

Oh before I forget, are tetra egg layers?? If so what would the eggs look like??? Would they look like a small string of them attached a plant leaf??