new tank - cloudy water - help!

[galaga-girl]

Hey guys

I've had a small 40litre (i'm from australia! don't know gallons) tank for a while now and when I set it up had no problems at all. Last week I got a brand new HUGE (for me) 4foot tank that is around 280litres (I think) and the water is cloudy.
I've never had this issue before and have no idea how to fix it. I've been doing small (20litre) water changes daily but it doesn't seem to be fixing the problem. I live over an hour and a half from a fish store and don't get a day off work for 5 more days.
Any Ideas as to what I can do??

 

[Jchillin]

First...Welcome to AA!

The only thing you don't mention is what is happening with your tank.

Are you cycling?
If yes, what type of cycling (fish/fishless)

What type of substrate do you have?

 

[PK Tester]

Sounds like a bacteria bloom...normally part of a cycle. The bloom should clear up on its own. How are you cycling?

 

[FancyGuppyGuy]

When you first set up a tank the bacteria normally clouds the water then finds a place to attach to over a few days. I would suggest letting the tank cycle right now as changing water while the bacteria is in the free floating stage will only make more bacteria do the same thing.

Anyhow everything your experiencing is normal. By changing water your making it last longer.

 

[PK Tester]

As Fancy said...the bloom will be longer if you do water changes but...if you have fish within your aquarium you need to be montoring your aquarium closely for high NH3 and Nitirte.

So essentialy if you do have fish in there you will probally have to do water changes during this time if your levels reflect that you need to do so.

Good luck! Feel free to PM me or contact me in my many forums of contact

 

[FancyGuppyGuy]

True If you have fish then your cycle could last awhile longer because you'll have to reduce the posions in the water like ammonia and nitrite. How are you cycling this tank anyways??

 

[SerLunchbox]

I've had a small 40litre (i'm from australia! don't know gallons)

Just so you know, 1 US gallon = 3.87 liters

 

[galaga-girl]

Thanks guys, like I said i've never had this issue before, but i've only ever had smaller tanks.

I don't really do a "proper" cycle because i've never had any issues with how I do it. I've put some gravel and water in from my other tank and added a couple of fish, a molly and a guppy. It looks a bit clearer today, I haven't bought a nitrate test kit yet, hopefully i'll get one on Tuesday.