cloudy tank

[darrin34]

Last night i did a water change and while i was vacuuming my water the tank went cloudy . now it is staying cloudy and my nitrates and nitrites are very high on the water test the viles were very pink . they told me the number but i forgot right now my tank looks like a cup of milk got pored into it. my tank has been running for almost a year now and i have never ever had a spike of any kind and yes i used a decolor chemical i need some info on what to do ?

 

[bs6749]

You will want to buy a test kit for future reference and to find out your tank's ppms of NH4+, NO2-, and NO3-. What inhabitants do you have in your tank? The best thing to do right now may be a massive PWC. How large is the tank? Please provide more info so that we may further assist you. For now I would change 50% of the water.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Sounds like a bacterial bloom. Were you gravel vacing at the time? I would do a 50% water change and do another one tomorrow.

 

[darrin34]

my tank is a 55 with a cascade 300 and a aqua clear 70 . and i have 12 african cichlids . 1 pleco and 2 baby zebra lobsters i found last night . i was vacuuming my gravel and soon after i did my tank went cloudy today i went to the local fish store and purchased a nitra-zorb rechargeable pillow
my nitrate was 30 and my nitrite was .3 my amonia was perfect and my ph is 7.9 i did a 30% water change and replaced my carbon cartridge on my cascade my aqua clear is only 2 weeks old so the media is ok all i did was take out the sponge and add the nitrate pillow

 

[Fishyfanatic]

So you removed the sponge and changed out the carbon? That's removing the beneficial bacteria. You don't need to use anything to lower nitrates, just water changes.