Help with cloudy water.

Cho89 · Jul 4, 2009

My top fin 10 filter was clogging up the other day so I slid up the cartridge a little bit to ease the water flow. Today my water is all cloudy and Im a little confused on what to do. I tested for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. and everything was 0. Maybe I read the test results wrong...

Is a big w/c bad since I am not even a week into cycling?
I am starting to regret trying to cycle my 10 g tank with my 2 dwarf platys. I don't mind all the work.. but I just don't want them to die. I am starting to wonder if I should transfer them to the 2 gallon bowl and try and re cycle again.

*update*
Either they were really hungry or were having trouble breathing. It seemed like they are gasping for air at the surface but Im not sure. I did a 30% w/c because I panicked. was that the wrong thing to do?

Also I was wondering if a product like ph balance 7.0 is bad to use. My gf bought it but I wasn't sure to use it or not.

Thank you

bmoraski · Jul 4, 2009

doing water change was RIGHT thing to do
if they were gasping for air at surface, sounds like amonia or nitrite problems ( which is normal when cycling.) unfortunately your cycling with fish. just keep doing your water changes ( with dechlorinated water ) and read the test kit directions carefully, and test water daily. you should be getting some readings, if all results were 0 i would retest and make sure i was doing tests right.
and in my opinion i would not play around with PH, the key is to keep PH steady not jumping all over the place.fish dont like drastic changes.
hope this helps

homebunnyj · Jul 4, 2009

As far as your filter clogging, you can swish the filter pad gently in a buck of dechlorinated water, for instance, the old water you siphon out of your tank when you do a water change. Chlorine will kill off your bacteria.

Water changes are essential during a fish-in cycle in order not to kill off all your fish. You do have to keep ammonia and nitrite below 1.0 for them to survive. Of course, you dechlorinate the water before you add it to the tank, and the dechlorinator should be the only chemical you use. Your gf can return the ph stuff and get something useful instead, like an extra bottle of dechlor or an algae scrubber, or an ornament or something. And tell her not to listen to the store employees when they try to sell her something else.

(Yes, water changes do make the cycling process take longer, maybe up to two months, but no water changes make for dead fish.)

If your water got brown-cloudy, it means your filter pad needs swishing out, or that you haven't been vacuuming your substrate very well. Some say not to vacuum during the cycle, but I disagree, as noobs tend to overfeed and get a buildup of excess rotting food and waste in the gravel. That brings me to another point, you should feed lightly during a fish-in cycle to help avoid rapid ammonia buildup. Once every other day, only enough that they will consume in a couple of minutes, is sufficient.

If your water is white-cloudy, congratulations! You have a bacterial population explosion, a positive step forward in establishing the nitrogen cycle in your tank! Let it be, it will clear up in a few days. It might take a week or even somewhat longer, but at least you'll know what to tell all the people who come in and say, "Dude, what's with your tank, it looks awful!"

If your tank is green-cloudy you have green water (algae) and should look at how much light your tank gets.

And, yes... if you've had those fish in the tank for more than a few days, your test results should not all be zero... you should have at least some ammonia in there. So do study up on the test instructions and try again. Do you have the test kits with test tubes and drops? They are much better than the strips, and cheaper in the long run too.

MissFishy · Jul 4, 2009

It sounds like your fish are having ammonia poisoning problems. As homebunny said above, don't put your filter cartridge in tap water to clean it out and definitely do not let it dry out, that is where your good bacteria is going to build up for your cycle.

If you are getting no readings on your tests, perhaps you added something to the tank to throw the tests off? Any cycling chemicals or anything besides water conditioner?

Do NOT use the PH stuff, messing with PH is not necessary and a bad thing to do unless you are trying to keep or breed special fish, usually fish not found in pet stores.

Cho89 · Jul 4, 2009

Thanks everyone.

And thank you miss fishy. You helped me remember that my gf put in some kind of bacteria booster the first night of cycling.

Anyway I decided to clean everything really good and start the cycle over again with a brand new filter cartridge. The fish look a lot happier now. Was this wise?

1077 · Jul 5, 2009

Cleaning everything was not necessary and may prolong the maturing or (cycling process). It was no doubt the water change that helped the fish by diluting the ammonia which rises to lethal levels in new tanks until they have matured or cycled. Is why test kit is needed on daily basis,water changes will be needed anytime test kit indicates that ammonia is reaching dangerous level. All kinds of things take place in new aquariums during the maturing or (cycling) process. Algae blooms,bacteria blooms,cloudy water,fluctuating pH,and tiny organisims are beginning to establish themselves. Best to leave the tank and filter be during this time.

MissFishy · Jul 5, 2009

NO, bad idea, the filter cartridge had nothing to do with your fishes' "happiness". If you still have the old one, put it back in, provided it hasn't dried out. Please read through the link in my signature on cycling a tank, it sounds like you're a bit confused on the specifics, changing the cartridge was the worst thing you could do at this point and will only prolong your fishes' suffering.

bmoraski · Jul 5, 2009

i think unwritten and i had responded to another thread regarding sliding filter up. not sure if same poster

Cho89 · Jul 6, 2009

MissFishy said:

For some reason I thought that since my gf used top fin bacteria booster the very first night I started the cycle( 20 gallons worth because we thought the tank was a 20 instead of a 10 at the time). My filter would not grow bacteria properly or not work as efficient. I panicked like the newb I am when the water got all cloud and did a horrible thing. I wish i put them in the 2 gallon bowl and did more research. sigh its too late the filter cartridge is all dried up.

any advice on what to do now?

I did post another thread regarding my filter but I needed more information of different nature sorry.

So when cycling fish in and you have a bacteria bloom or algae bloom do you take the fish out? Sorry for all the misunderstandings.

the bigger dwarf platy "Mango" is now being agressi

Cho89 · Jul 6, 2009

MissFishy said:

For some reason I thought that since my gf used top fin bacteria booster the very first night I started the tanks cycle(enough for 20 gallons because we thought the tank was a 20 instead of a 10 at the time). My filter would not grow bacteria properly or not work as efficient. I panicked like the newb I am when the water got all cloudy and did a horrible thing. I wish I put them in the 2 gallon bowl and did more research. sigh its too late now.. the filter cartridge is all dried up.

any advice on what to do now?

So when you have a bacteria bloom or algae bloom when cycling fish in.. are you supposed to take the fish out? sorry for all the misunderstandings.

Now it seems that the bigger dwarf platy "Mango" is now being agressive to the smaller "Coral". He keeps on creeping up on him and chasing him around. This is a first... Recently mango has been gotten a lot bigger... could he be trying to eat him? Or is he getting territorial... hmm

They both males.

jo3olous · Jul 7, 2009

Cho89 said:

For some reason I thought that since my gf used top fin bacteria booster the very first night I started the tanks cycle(enough for 20 gallons because we thought the tank was a 20 instead of a 10 at the time). My filter would not grow bacteria properly or not work as efficient. I panicked like the newb I am when the water got all cloudy and did a horrible thing. I wish I put them in the 2 gallon bowl and did more research. sigh its too late now.. the filter cartridge is all dried up.

any advice on what to do now?

So when you have a bacteria bloom or algae bloom when cycling fish in.. are you supposed to take the fish out? sorry for all the misunderstandings.

Now it seems that the bigger dwarf platy "Mango" is now being agressive to the smaller "Coral". He keeps on creeping up on him and chasing him around. This is a first... Recently mango has been gotten a lot bigger... could he be trying to eat him? Or is he getting territorial... hmm

They both males.

You never need to take the fish out.

MissFishy · Jul 7, 2009

The cloudy water is just a bacteria bloom, it doesn't affect the fish at all, they don't even notice it, so no need to remove them at all. Continue doing water changes and do NOT disturb your filter media.

Most of that "bacteria" supplement junk is just worthless, don't waste your money on it.

The platy could be trying to mate, are you sure they're both males? They aren't aggressive fish and probably won't hurt eachother.

Cho89 · Jul 7, 2009

Im not 100% sure they are males. I will do more research and find out for myself. I have a feeling you are right about the mating thing... hmm.

Help with cloudy water.

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