Kind of freaking out...

[pigs_fly]

Ok, so, yesterday, I did a hard-core tank cleaning for Flounder. I took out everything, rinsed the gravel, scrubbed his plants, etc. I did a total water change, as suggested. I of course used the betta bowl buddies and all that good stuff. The tank looked AMAZING! And Flounder seemed pretty stoked with his crystal clear set-up and his new plant (which I soaked in hot water and everyhting to make sure it was clean for him).

Well, this morning, I wake up and his water is cloudy! And not cloudy like air in the water cloudy, but a milky cloudy. Could this be a bacterial bloom or something? Do I need to take Flounder out of it? Ill try to put up some pictures in a little bit, I'm about to run off to take a history exam, and then I'll be back after some lunch.

Why am I so issue-proned?! *ALL*

Thanks in advance

 

[FroggyFox]

Yes its a bacterial bloom, no its not harmful, leave it alone and Flounder will be just fine It may take a few days to go away, but by cleaning everything you disturbed all of your good bacteria so its best to just let it settle.

 

[VirgoWolf]

That is EXACTLY what happened to me when I cleaned out Brilla the Betta's tank, I thought maybe I didn't rinse the new bio media well enough or something, it settled down eventually, I forget how long it took, about 4 days I guess. Nothing to worry about from what everyone told me and it worked out well, just a new tank shock thing I guess.

 

[cinlnk]

Same thing happened to me when I first started out.... the water was so opaque, that I couldn't see any of the fish at all. BF even called me at work to hurry up and get home. The tank will settle down in a few days, even tho the sight of the water will drive you bonkers....

 

[pigs_fly]

*sigh of relief* Whew! Thanks guys!!! So, he's not gonna be stressed out or anything like that? I mean, I knew when I cleaned the tank that it would have to re-cycle and stuff, which I wasn't really very happy about, but you know, there comes a time when partial water changes in a tank my size just aren't cutting it anymore, i guess.

Ok, well, I am so relieved now. thanks!

 

[homebunnyj]

Keep up with gravel vacuuming and partial changes will be enough. I know you're very conscious of not overfeeding and otherwise maintaining.

 

[pigs_fly]

I can't vacuum my gravel in my tank size, but once I get him set up in his 10gal this summer, I'll be able to vacuum and all that jazz. I cant wait!! *SUPERSMIL

 

[homebunnyj]

I made a micro vac for my 1.7gal hex tanks. I took a piece of airline tubing and taped one end of it to a 12" piece of wooden dowel I had lying around to make it rigid. It sucks the water out slowly enough that I have time to go over the bottom pretty thoroughly while I'm doing a 30% water change. I got some bigger tubing once and made one but it sucked out water too fast to suit me. I have three apple snails in a little hex tank right now, which is really not big enough, so you know I have to change water and vacuum in there at least twice a week. You might prefer the next-size-up tubing, but it's really no trouble at all to makeshift a gravel vac, and it really makes a difference, IMHO. It's just how I prefer to do it, I guess.

 

[ninamarie]

Glad it's all ok and flounder is ok also

 

[pigs_fly]

Thanks for the info on the make-shift homebunnyj, thats a really good idea. i think im just gonna do the occassional full thank cleaning, till i get his 10gal set up though., cause it will be in a few weeks or so...but i will keep that in mind for future ref

im glad too ninamarie, so very gald

thank you to everyone for you speedy replies!

 

[Lotus]

I used to use a turkey baster to clean gravel in my small tanks.

 

[pigs_fly]

ooo, thats a good idea Lotus! I can pick one of those up pretty cheap at a dollar store!

So, I woke up this morning to a crystal clear tank!! That sure happened fast! But now it looks so preeeeeetty I'll post some pictures some time this weekend or something.

 

[sweetvegan74]

Give it a few days, everything will settle back. When you cleaned everything, it disturbed the bacteria so the tank is trying to get back to normal.

Weekly partial water changes will help prevent this so you do not have to completely clean the whole thing at once.