15 Gallon Tank set-up with eco-complete

[ofwolvesanddragons]

Hello everyone,
I have had tanks in the past and have never had an major issues or illnesses with fish. I got a new tank for my bday this past Friday and part of the set-up my boyfriend bought was eco-complete substrate which I have never used before. We do not have any fish in the tank currently, but will be putting a few live plants, a Beta and maybe up to 3 or 4 smaller type fish in the tank. The tank has been set up since Friday and is still very cloudy. We have used Seachem Prime and that is it at the moment, I have just been able to get the tank to 80 degrees and still have Colony that can be put into the tank. There is absolutely no ammonia in the tank currently and the ph is 7.6. Have we down something wrong with the set-up or is this natural using this type of substrate? I have 2 starter plants that can be put into the tank but am afraid to in case it kills them. Thank you all for your time.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Do you have a filter running? If so you can cram it full of filter floss to catch all the floating silt and filter it out.

If not, I'm not sure why it's still cloudy. But a 95% water change will clear that right up... I did that after filling a tank with inadequately rinsed sand. Change out all the water and refill (gently, onto a plate or some such) and the cloudiness is magically gone.

 

[FreshyFresh]

You shouldn't be reading any ammonia if you don't have any waste producing critters in the tank. What water parameter test kit are you using?

What type of plants and lighting do you have?

 

[FroggyFox]

I'd agree with Capslock's suggestion to do some additional water changes, and/or get some additional mechanical filtration going. I'm not a plant person, but I have a hard time seeing how cloudy water would hurt your plants, unless it is so cloudy that it is diminishing the light.

 

[ronbarb24]

I used Eco complete on my flu all edge and 60 gallon. Did you do any research? The videos I came across this video that told me not to pour water Directly into the soil it told me to pour over my decorations to help keep the cloudiness in the water to a minimum. This helped me have clear water the same day a few hours later