New tank, suddenly cloudy over 12 hours?

[Burks]

I recently set up a 10 gallon tank, thought I properly cycled it.

Last night when I went to bed the tank was pretty clear with a little cloudiness. I get up this morning and the tank is rather cloudy and had a smell. I did a fish count, sure enough all 6 fish were there (4 white clouds, 2 opaline gourami's). I've raised these fish before in the same size tank a few years ago with zero problems.

Did I have a sudden, rapid increase in bacteria that caused this? Checked the tank a week ago and all tests came back normal (need another test kit, will retest tomorrow). I did do a 20% water change today and that helped the smell and water clarity a bit.

Since I'm posting a topic, can plants be grown in normal gravel? I've read articles but am still kind of confused on that issue. Never had live plants before and would like to give it a try.

Thanks. Sort of a new guy to aquariums on my own. Dad is 110 miles away and really can't help much.

 

[rich311k]

The cloudiness is probably a bacteria bloom, perfectly normal and will go away. Since your are cycling with fish a test kit is almost a necessity.

You can grow plants in normal gravel. I do and it works just fine. How much lighting do you have?

 

[Burks]

You can grow plants in normal gravel. I do and it works just fine. How much lighting do you have?

*runs off to check*

15W so 1.5W/gallon.

Since I'm on summer break for another couple weeks (darn summer courses, Pharmacy sucks) I'll look into a DIY CO2. From my understanding that's a must.

 

[dmac]

I recently set up a 10 gallon tank, thought I properly cycled it.


Since I'm posting a topic, can plants be grown in normal gravel? I've read articles but am still kind of confused on that issue. Never had live plants before and would like to give it a try.

I'm a newbie myself (at least in the last 12 years) and I bought 3 live plants for my new aquarium....The come in tiny plastic pots with soil inside, you simply bury the pot in the gravel.

 

[rich311k]

Are they incandesent bulbs? You wont need CO2 until you get over 2 wpg. But it never hurts.

 

[Purrbox]

The 15 watt flourescent is the standard light for a 10 Gallon tank. With that much light you can grow most of the low light plants, several of which don't even require any substrate.
Anubias
Crypts
Java Fern
Java Moss

All of the above except for the Crypts will do well tied to a rock or driftwood. With the Crypts you'd probably want to put a root tab under them to keep them happy.

With these plants and that amount of light you won't need to use CO2 or dose much in the way of ferts. CO2 and a little bit of ferts would definately be good though if you want to learn about them.

 

[Burks]

Are they incandesent bulbs? You wont need CO2 until you get over 2 wpg. But it never hurts.

I figured it couldn't hurt. With not needing it right away it would give me time to work out any kinks before they become problems.

It's fluorescent lighting. That's what came with the kit.

Edit: Forgot to ask, when is too many plants too much? I like how some tanks have a lot of tall plants toward the back and have fewer, shorter ones up front. I'm aiming for a "natural" look.

So the bacterial bloom will just work itself out then? Should I keep up with the water changes?

 

[Burks]

Update

Went and bought a Tetratest kit. I'm far from pleased with the results. Two weeks ago the levels were very low. This is the current results.

pH - 7.5
NO2 - ~0.5mg/L
NH3/NH4 - ~1mg/L
CO2 - 5mg/L
I've done two, 20% water changes in the past three days, cleaned the filters and hood. Smell is basically gone, clarity has greatly improved.

 

[rich311k]

You are in mid cycle just do water changes to keep ammonia and nitrites under a .5ppm if you can. It is all you can do to keep your fish healthy. A few more weeks and this will be all behind you.

 

[Burks]

Thank you rich311k and everyone else. Your advice is greatly appreciated.

I'm just about to do another water change and clean the gravel.

 

[Burks]

Update:

pH - 7.0-7.5
NO2 - ~0.3mg/L
NH3/NH4 - ~1mg/L
CO2 - 6mg/L

pH dropped a bit, NO2 is getting down to where I'm comfortable, NH3/NH4 is still a bit high. Color seemed a tad lighter than before. CO2 is up. Going to try and find some Bio-Spira the next few days. pH drops any more I'm going to raise that too.

My one plant isn't looking too hot. Hopefully the increase CO2 levels and the root tab will help.

Rather than making a new topic: Lately my gouramis have become agressive toward each other, one moreso than the other. The more passive one is starting to lose his tail (probably from the nipping) and is getting some red around the outside of his eye. I'm sure this is due to the stress of the other fish picking on him (the other 5 are perfectly fine). Anything I can do for him other than moving to another tank?