New Tank-Guidance needed

[eric416]

Hi, Im new here and just got my first large tank. I've had a 10 gallon tank for years but now i'm having trouble with my new one. It is a 56 gallon tank. I am using an Eheim Pro II 2028 filter. I added a piece of drift wood and some natural rocks i gathered from the beach. My main problem is that the tank stays cloudy no matter what I do. The first time i set it up I added a tap water conditioner, ph 7.0, and some salt. It stayed clear for about 2 weeks and then became cloudy. In the process of letting it cycle for about 6 weeks (no fish) the water still stayed cloudy. I tried Crystal Clear drops which did nothing. Now about a week ago I decided to try once more, emptying the tank and starting over. I added new substrat, carbon, and filter pads. Only a few days later for it to become cloudy again. I don't know what to do from here. Im frustrated because of the time and money I put into it. Can someone shed some light about if I am doing something wrong?

 

[Joker741]

Have you been doing water changes when it was cloudy? My tank was cloudy during the cycle too, but water changes cleared it up. The bacteria is in the substrait, removing it started your cycle over.

Why did you add salt?

 

[mfdrookie516]

What are you using to cycle the tank? Im interested in why you added salt too

 

[eric416]

I tried doing partial water changes during the first cycle, it made it a little less cloudy buy didn't last. I added salt because it was recommended by someone at the local pet store. It says it maintains a healthy environment for fish on the package

 

[eric416]

Have you been doing water changes when it was cloudy? My tank was cloudy during the cycle too, but water changes cleared it up. The bacteria is in the substrait, removing it started your cycle over.

Why did you add salt?

Also, i forgot to mention...i bought the filter used and this was my first time dealing with a canister filter so i didn't know much about it. It came with substrat nets which i should have changed in the first place but didn't do enough research on the filter to know that. That is why i changed it the second time.

 

[mermaid8]

i love my canister filter. would not trade it for anything after i figured out how to use it.. prime it and it works fine...

 

[Lynae]

Get the salt out of there, unless you know enough about caring for brackish or saltwater fish! Thats probably contributing to some of the cloudiness. Are you using carbon in your filter, by any chance?

 

[eric416]

yes i have one tray with carbon

 

[meegosh]

I'm not certain what you are using to cycle your tank. You said no fish, but what are you using as a source of ammonia? You can't just let your tank sit empty with filters running for a few days and think that it has cycled. You need some sort of ammonia to kick off the process.

I would suggest you read a couple articles. The first is about the Nitrogen Cycle in general. The second is about how to speed up a fishless cycle. The second one should help you out a lot. I would still read the first so you understand what is actually happening. In the second article it mentions 'seeding' your tank with materials from other tanks. If your 10g has been setup for a while you could probably use your 10g's filter media to help speed up the process.

Nitrogen Cycle:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/24/1/Nitrogen-Cycle-/Page1.html

Fishless Cycle:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...ks-for-your-fastest-fishless-cycle/Page1.html

 

[JPKeenan]

I was going to ask about what you are feeding the bacteria (fish food left to rot, a shrimp or ammonia).

It it is a fine looking dust-like cloud in the tank that is the bacteria growing. It almost looks like the tank had someone in it sanding down some joint compound.

A more brownish color cloudiness I have gotten from rocks and driftwood leaching out some stuff.

 

[eric416]

I was going to ask about what you are feeding the bacteria (fish food left to rot, a shrimp or ammonia).

It it is a fine looking dust-like cloud in the tank that is the bacteria growing. It almost looks like the tank had someone in it sanding down some joint compound.

A more brownish color cloudiness I have gotten from rocks and driftwood leaching out some stuff.

Ive added some fish food. Your saying it should be cloudy at first? For how long about?

 

[Joker741]

Ive added some fish food. Your saying it should be cloudy at first? For how long about?

My 90 gallon was cloudy for just over 2 weeks while it cycled. I did water changes and this helped. When the cycle was over, I did a few more water changes and the tank cleared, now it is perfect.