Cloudy Aquarium becoming even more cloudy?!

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Preston019

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Oct 13, 2012
Messages
2
I believe the reason my tank has become cloudy in the first place is because I added some EasyBalance. My aquarium has been established for over a year now. But after adding the EasyBalance, a day later, I noticed my aquarium was cloudy. I did a water test to check all parameters. The test showed that I had a high nitrate level of about 80ppm and a low pH of around or below 6.0. So I did a water change and now, two days later, the water is even more cloudy, so I did another test.The readings are now showing that my nitrite level is very high (about 5.0ppm or higher), ammonia spiked up to somewhere between 0.25ppm-0.50ppm, and my nitrate has gone down to about 10ppm and my pH is the same as before.

I haven't done another water change yet because it looks like it's going through a "mini-cycle" or something. But, I did add detoxifier to lower the nitrite level and some pH up to try and raise the pH some (I know raising the pH too fast will shock my fish).

I'm currently not using carbon in my filter and I'm also getting a funny smell, kind of like an algae or stale water smell; kind of like the way lake water sometimes smells.

Should I be worried, or just let the tank run its course of this "mini-cycle", if that is what it is? :(
 
Some more details would be helpful.

is your PH usually this low?
What is your PH from your tap and after in gasses out for 24 hours?
What is your water change schedule like? How much water do you change at a time and how often?
What all is in your tank and how big is it?

I would stay away from chemicals like ph up and nitrite removers. Water changes are you best defense as these things are not long term and will cause more stress on your fish than needed. Water changes are your best friend right now. You will need to do changes and keep your levels down. You want your ammo and nitrite as close to zero as possible as this is where they should be. Your nitrate should not be over 20 either so water changes will need to bring that down too. That smell is usually a sign for poor water quality which is reflected with your results, are you being sure to gravel vac well when you do your cleanings?

The clouding is probably a bacterial bloom from the mini cycle and should clear up on it's own with water changes and improved water quality.
 
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