Cloudy water

[pescado]

I recently cycled 100 gal fw tank with crushed coral and lace rock. I have a wet dry with a rio 2500 attached to a SCWD. I cycled the tank for 2 weeks w/o fish. Initially, the water was cloudy. After the 2 weeks the water looked clear. I introduced 2 electric yellows and 2 redtop zebras. It's been 1 week and the water has gotten cloudy again. I feed them twice a day (about a pinch of tetra cichlid flakes and 1/2 cube of freeze dried brine shrimp). Am I overfeeding? I tested ammonia level at about .5 to 1 PPM. The nitrite level tested at about 1 to 2 PPM. I believe my levels are high. What should I do to immediately decrease the levels? What suggestions for preventative care of toxic spikes? Thanks.

[spence0416]

The intial cloudiness was probably do to the crushed coral substrate. Your tank sounds as if its still going throught its cycle. You have a bacterial bloom in progress as we speak (cloudiness). Try doing some water changes to keep ammonia down. I think you should be fine if the ammonia stay below 1ppm.

Once the cycle completes your tank will clear as bacterial level will come into balance.

The cloudiness could be from direct sunlight as will and you have algea forming. If this is the case try to block out the light with a towel or a sheet large enough to cover the tank

[Cafe Jeff]

Sounds like a nice tank.
Spence has some good advice. I would, however, counsel against using any chemicals to bring down your amonnia and nitrate. These seem to work temporarily but prolong the cycle. The cloudiness should go in a couple of days. Jeff

[AtodaJ]

To decrease toxic levels perform water changes. That is the best way.

You said you cycled your tank without fish for 2 weeks. What do you mean by that? If you just let the tank sit for 2 weeks without adding any ammonia source then your tank never started the cycle. Once you added the fish the cycle began. Next time read up on performing a fishless cycle and you'll avoid this problem.

I'd cut back feedings to no more than once a day until the cycle is completed. You can even feed once every other day until the cycle gets finished if you have really high toxic levels. The fish won't starve so don't worry about that. Just cut back on feedings and perform water changes to keep ammonia/nitrite levels below 1 ppm.

hth Good luck

[Menagerie]

I will add my thoughts:
~PWC are the best way to lower ammonia and nitrites
~Read the article regarding the nitrogen cycle in the articles section
~Do not add any chemicals to the tank other then dechlor
~Those cichlids can easily be fed every other day for their entire life (check my gallery for proof )
~Adult brine shrimp has the nutrients of a candy bar; although, most frozen foods add vitamins
~Your fish are herbivores!! They will take protein when they can get it, but it should NOT be a large part of their diet--a tiny, tiny part is more like it. My Mbuna cichlids love blanched, peeled peas, cucumber, and zucchini

[pescado]

Thank you all for the advice. I did a partial water change and will await the results. The fish all look healthy. I went out and purchased 3 (2 daylights and 1 actinic blue) 59" Helios T5-II. I don't know if I made the right choice in lighting. I was limited due to the canopy and my pocketbook. What do you think? Once these lights are done should I continue buying Helios T5s or is there something else that will work better with my limitations?