Help ..........Am I in Big Trouble?

[Stickwood1]

Hello,

I have spent ages cleaning my new tank (second hand from a mate) and it looked spotless.

I filled it with just water from the tap, put in the right amount of fresh start liquid, left the pump running................perfect.............wrong, to start with, all was good and looked beautiful but now there appears to be a fine milkiness to the water and I don't know what it is or where it's coming from, just enough to stop it being crystal clear. Looks like someone sprinled a little chalk in there, weird.

Fish due to be moved in on Saturday, what should I do

 

[Tiffi]

Welcome to AA.

As long as the "dust" in there is just white and not getting green it is either a bacterial bloom (absoloutely fine) or just some dust from the gravel, since you've just set it up. It will be going back, don't panic and leave the water as it is. It's probably a bacterial bloom though, since you've put some liquid starter (consists of good bacteria) in there.

I would test the water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate before you add your fish to the tank. If there is still ammonia or nitrite present, don't add your fish! The tank has to complete its cycle first (good bacteria have to grow so much, that the ammonia/nitrite is not poisonous for the fish anymore).

I would also continue to test the water after you've put fish in the tank. Don't add to many at once, otherwise the bacteria can't grow fast enough to convert ammonia and nitrite of the fish waste to the nontoxic nitrate.

You can only get into trouble if you are too impatient (like I am sometimes) .

 

[An t-iasg]

I did a google search on Fresh Start and it's a chlorine and heavy metals remover. It doesn't appear to contain any bacterial starter. The "chalk" could be coming from the gravel that you used. If you don't rinse gravel well, it can stir up a bit of sediment, but that will settle back down soon.

You say you didn't add fish yet, so your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate will be 0. You must have an ammonia source in your tank (fish, or fishless cycling) to begin the cycle. Beginning the cycle means that you'll see levels of ammonia, then nitrite, then finally nitrate to signal that the cycle is complete. Sometimes a small amount of nitrate can be present in tap water. It would be a good idea to test for nitrate so you know if it appears in your water or not.

If you cycle with fish, you must be prepared to do water changes daily to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels in check so the levels don't harm the fish. It would be better to do fishless cycling; that way you can let the ammonia spike without worry to the fish. You must be patient either way - a fishless cycle may take a few weeks to complete, and cycling with fish will take a few weeks or maybe several weeks, and you must test daily and do water changes as necessary, probably daily also.

Here are some links:

http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html At the bottom of the page on this link, click on Contents to read more great articles about fishkeeping.

An article from AA's great collection: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=21

You can do a search for "fishless cycling" on this site and on the Internet also.

 

[Stickwood1]

Thanks Tiffi,

There are only going to be 2 fish and there is no gravel yet so is your theory still the same.

So I need to get a test Kit this weekend then huh?

 

[Stickwood1]

OK I am a bit confused.

My fish are in old tank, I have a new tank with water only in it, no gravel and the filter has been running for 5 days now.

I have a very very fine white discolour to the water but this seemed to come on the second day.

I cleaned the filter and the tank before I started thoroughly, with just water and scrapers.

What do I do next????

Sorry for being a dumbo in advance but bit more complex than I thought!!!

 

[Tiffi]

Well, since the stuff you've put into your tank had nothing to do with cycling the tank, it will probably just be from the gravel or maybe some from the filter.

You still shouldn't panic! If the cloudy water didn't go back to clear in a few days do a good water change (about 50%), then do one again a few days later, if it's still not gone yet.

Note that changing the water will slow down your cycle some! A cycle takes about 4-6weeks and it would be really good if you would have a test kit so you could test for ammonia, nitrate and the non-poisonous nitrate (endproduct).

Here are some articles that might be of interest for cycling the tank:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=15
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=21

 

[Stickwood1]

I think I will just add the fish and clean gravel and see what happens, and keep water changes up once a week, I'm just baffled as to why the tank is slightly cloudy, never did it in the last one!

8O

 

[fprintf]

I suppose whether you listen to the advice on cycling above depends on your feelings for whether it humane to introduce fish into an environment that is probable to kill them. It also depends on the hardiness of your fish.

Last Saturday I started a new tank w/o reading the advice on these forums with 4 S. American dwarf cichlids in a 20 gallon tank. We have lost one already and the water went through *exactly* what you are describing... first it was cloudy even though I used fresh start (or something like it) and Stress Coat. Now the water has finally cleared up 6 days later. Unfortunately I have already lost that one fish... it started wiggling funny and then floated to the bottom on day 4... unfortunately it disappeared and we can't figure out where it went. It is not on the carpet, not in the filter, not under any of the rocks or plants. Possibly the other fish ate it, but there was no sign of a carcass anywhere.

Good luck with your tank.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Since you don't have any gravel in the tank it can't be coming from the gravel. What is the temp of the water?

Also, how many fish are you adding at once? Too many fish will cause major problems. Also, you're going to need to do more than 1 water change per week if the tank is uncycled. Depending on the amount that you are adding, you may have to do them daily or every other day until it cycles.

 

[Stickwood1]

So I need to get a Nitrate testing kit and PH kit and go from there?

I am putting just two fish in and this was done straight away last time and they were fine

 

[severum mama]

You need an ammonia kit, a nitrite kit, and a nitrate kit, and the pH kit would be good too.

About the cloudiness-- did you use any chemicals to clean the tank, or was it just water? Just a thought. Good luck with your new tank.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

What kind of fish are you putting in it? What size of tank is it?

 

[RoK]

They type of fish definitely matters, as some are more tolerant of ammonia and nitrite than others.

 

[Stickwood1]

The fish are goldfish and no, I cleaned with just water and a scraper.
The fish have now moved in and are very happy - oh and the cloudiness has gone.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions.

 

[whodini]

ph, ammonia , nitrite are essencial tests you MUST always have!! i've used one raw shrimp, and let it decay . the rotting shrimp will cause ammonia and bactria(cloading is bacterial bloom) speed the cycling up a bit 2 weeks or so . watch for the ammonia and nitrite spikes, and then after the spikes do a gravel clean to get the shrimp carcas out and paritial water change, test the water a day after pwc
if all is well in safe range. you can safely add the fish one at a time in one week intervals has worked well for me in the past good luck ohhh the first fish you add try not to get a schooling type fish as it'll stress it out even more .

 

[Stickwood1]

Can I just add that I am not keeping Tropical Fish and that they are in cold water!

Lost a Black Moor the other day after tank move but have replaced with 6 Danios and a Canary Goldfish, all happy so far

 

[patagonia]

whats the size of your tank? goldfish are very messy and they do produce a lot of waste...i think i read somewhere that you should have at least 10 gal per goldfish...but hey...correct me if im wrong please....

 

[Fishyfanatic]

That is correct patagonia. 10 Gal per goldfish. The requirements are the same on coldwater and tropical fish. If you are keeping goldfish they require colder water. Therefore the danios are not ideal since they are tropical fish.

 

[RoK]

What kind of danios are they?

 

[Stickwood1]

They are leopard Danios.

I was told by several people that they are fine to keep in Cold Water

They seem happy enough