Frustration beyond belief !

[thomasina]

Folks on AA have been great! However there is a different answer for everything from everyone! I understand how this happens. However!! I have been told to change the water 50% 20% 25%... and did so. I have explained that I just did a water change that day or the day before, but am told to do it again! This is a new tank set up, (5 weeks) and still not cycled. Today the tank is milky. Now I don't know if this is bacteria blooming? Or is it something else? After this does algae start growing? I have read articles, many, but no one ever says how the order the process goes in simple words. Not an idiot here, I am disabled and learning how to just have a fish tank to keep me company.

 

[jcolon]

Ha ha .. Now you know how some of us felt when we started. I know what you mean about differing answers and feeling confused / overwhelmed.

First off the milky cloudiness is a bacterial bloom that's expected and something I take as a good sign. PWC's when cycling depends on what your ammo readings are .. If your cycling with fish you want your ammo below between 0 and 0.25ppm. That's probably why they're telling you to do PWC's so often.

If your fish less cycling then you start at 4ppm ammonia and watching your pH becomes important. Why? Because establishing bacteria will consume minerals/ nutrients in the water that act as pH buffers.
If it drops to the low 6's you can stall your cycle. So every few days you do a PWC to renew buffers and re-dose ammonia till your bacteria consume 4ppm of ammo in 24hrs or so, and you get nitrate readings.

Algae's another issue which I'm not the resident expert ... Personally speaking ... members like Aquachem are the algae go to guy. Are you seeing algae? If not don't worry about it ... yet. Brown algae / diatoms are common in newly set up tanks and should go away on their own within a few months.

Hang in there, the down side of forums like these is that everyone gets to comment and not always to the OP's benefit. You'll soon see which members .. Other than the moderators ... Know their stuff. Rest assured there are dozens of knowledgeable members.

 

[librarygirl]

I'm assuming you have fish? The water results (ammonia, nitrite, etc) should dictate when you do a water change and how much. If ammonia is 2 for example, you'd want to do a few 50% water changes to get it down to .25. The milky water could be a bacterial bloom, which is normal in new tanks and should go away on its own or with water changes. Knowing more info----tank size, fish list, filters you're using, test results for ammonia etc and what test kit you're using---would allow us to help more. Algae isn't a given in tanks; diatoms are brown and are normal in new setups but not a given. If algae becomes present then there's usually an imbalance of some sort (too much light, not enough nutrients, etc). In case you haven't seen it, here's a guide for you: Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium - Aquarium Advice