No Fish - Cloudy Water

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SubChick

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jul 19, 2004
Messages
13
Location
Virginia
Sorry if this is a common question - but I looked through lots of posts and don't see this anywhere....

I have a new 20 gallon tank and did all the steps as instructed (cleaned the rocks, decorations before adding them), filled with water, put on heater and filter (the kind with the carbon that hangs in a mesh bag on the back of the tank). I put the "starter" stuff in it Stress Zyme and some dechlorinator stuff.

The water is cloudy white - and I haven't even added any fish. I have some in an established 10 gallon tank that I wanted to move to this new tank, but I am scared to put them in there.

What can cause this in a fishless tank???
 
SubChick...

Welcome to Aquarium Advice! Glad to have you with us! :D

What you're seeing is undoubtedly a bacterial bloom which is not at all uncommon in newly set-up tanks. This will clear up by itself as the bacterial populations stabilize. It may take a few days before things return to 'normal'.

Hope this helps!
 
Thanks Fruitbat -

Do I need to wait for it to clear before I add fish?

Thanks again !!
SubChick
 
[center:a86182176e] :smilecolros: Welcome to AA, Subchick!! :n00b:[/center:a86182176e]
Are you doing a fishless cycle using straight ammonia to establish bacteria, or did you transfer bacteria from the established 10 gal's filter?
 
Menagerie,

Thanks for the welcom !

I didn't add amonia - but I did add Stress Zyme. I didn't transfer anything from the old tank except a couple of decorative items which I washed first.

I figured I'd add the fish and let it cycle with them until the water turned cloudy....

Thanks,
SubChick
 
Okay. To make things easier on the fish, squeeze out some of the bacteria from the 10 gal's filter onto the filter pad (or what ever media is in there) of the 20 gal. This will give the 20 gal a head start once the fish are in there.
BTW, what fish will you be adding?
 
Sorry to sound stupid, but I'm new at this... I just changed that filter in the 10 gallon tank about four days ago, will there be enough bacteria on it already? I just looked at it and it has some nasty black gunk on it - is that bacteria I want to put on the other, or is that just gross fish poop stuff?

I have four Red Minor tetras and three Harlequin Rasbora's. That seemed to be a bit too much for my 10 gallon hex tank, which is why I decided to move up to a 20 gallon rectangular tank.

Thanks for your help !!!
 
I’ve seen cloudy water at times in a new aquarium if you use warm water from a faucet. It’s just a high level of dissolved oxygen, that goes away in a few hours. What kind of substrate do you have, gravel or sand new or old, how did you wash it? What kind of filter, new used. Is the carbon in the filter or just hanging in the tank? What did you use to wash the decorations?

The stress zyme and declorinator shouldn’t cause this. There shouldn’t be a bacteria bloom this soon especially without ammonia in the tank.

How long was the tank active before it became cloudy?

Are you putting anything else in the tank or the filter, like something to remove ammonia?
 
Nasty black crud sounds good! There will be some bacteria to give the tank a start. Are you moving all the fish to the bigger tank? If so, transfer the whole filter pad over and leave it in the filter behind the new pad/media for a couple of weeks.
 
docrak -

I used cold water
I have new gravel - washed in tap water
New filter - the kind with a carbon bag that hangs in the back corner (Top Fin 20)
Washed decorations in tap water
Became cloudy within first several hours

Added Stress Zyme, Dechlorinator stuff, and Proper Ph 7.0 powder.
 
Proper Ph 7.0 powder
Here's a possible problem!!
Adding excess chemicals casues more harm than good!!! The only thing I add to any of my 6 tanks (plus two QT tanks) is dechlor. If you want diff pH, the best way to do it is naturally.
What is the pH of your tap water--after it sits out overnight?
 
Since this is a brand new tank and you haven't put any fish in it yet I would suggest removing all of the water and add new water with nothing in it. Let the tank sit for a few hours and see if the cloud comes back. Then add only the dechlorinator.

Are you using an under gravel filter? Also try removing the carbon. The best way to handle this is using process of elimination. My feeling is that the Ph powder may be causing this.
 
This may seem stupid, but I just want to comfirm that you didn't use any soap when washing stuff for this aquarium.
 
Thanks you guys - this is a great site and you guys are so helpful - thanks for your time.

I looked up the Proper PH 7.0 at the manufacturers site and it warns that it may cloud the water if water hardness is not right....

I think I'll take your advice and just empty and add new water - easy on a 20 gallon tank since the fish aren't in there yet.

Then I'll ONLY add the declorinator - and put the used filter in with the new one as recommended. Does that mean I don't need the Stress Zyme since I'm putting the bacteria in by using the filter bag from the 10g tank?

Based on my 10g tank, I never needed to adjust the Ph with water changes if I let it sit overnight first - so should not need that proper PH stuff anyway.

Oh - no, docrak, i did not use soap. But based on my experience, not a bad question ! :wink:
 
I've never ever used Stress Zyme. The way I under stand it is that it adds chemicals to the water that irritate the fish, which causes them to produce more protective slime. It's supposed to reduce stress. The best stress relief I've found is time, and some mild sedatives like Valium.

Just kidding about the Valium.
:)
 
Cloudy Water

Hey Subchick,

I just bought and set up a 55 gal tank on Saturday. I too added Stress Zyme, dechor, and some other stuff that helps with the ph of the tank. All was clear until this morning when I noticed that the water was cloudy. It's interesting that we both added the same things. I have been told that the Stress Zyme will "sometimes" cause a bacterial bloom which causes cloudiness but I don't know for sure. Do you plan on adding the stress zyme back to the tank? Let me know how the tank does if you decide to change out the water!
 
OK - I'll not use the Stress Zyme either - I would think the less chemicals you add to the water the better for the fish. Sounds like that is what the two of you recommend also. Guess I got carried away when I saw SO MANY products at the fish store - capitalism...

And trust me - if I had any valium - I wouldn't be giving to to any fish no matter how much I like them :lol:
 
stress zyme will turn your water cloudy for 3 or so days (from my experience) I used it a few days ago and woke up today to find the cloud gone. o.o; I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, my fish seems to be happy. :)
 
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