Cloudy 90

[soulFish]

Ok I've had this 90 set up for alittle over a week and it went from crystal clear to cloudy. The ammoniia also is spiking. I added some plants and gravel from an existing aquarium yesterday and did a 15% water change. But it didn't help. Am I correct in assuming the cloudyness is from the Ammonia spike? And will it go away prior to the Nitrate spike?

I added a few Koi just as temp fish to help establist it, along wit hthe live plants and gravel from an established tank. Is there anything else I should do to get out of this cloudy phase faster?

 

[Bderick67]

Yes the cloudiness is due to the ammonia. Good time to learn to use your test kit. Fish can't survive long in ammonia thats above .25 ppm. I assume you don't care for the fish, but if you do 50% daily water changes will keep em alive. You can also threat with prime it detoxifies ammonia, but it does not remove it so the water changes are still needed.

 

[AnDr3w]

Well Im assuming this is for the cycle. If the koi are around 5" and there are less then 6, keep them in. The filter will detoxify the ammonia to nitrite and nitrIte to nitrAte. I will greatly reduce the cycle time and your water will be about perfect in 3-4 weeks. Also, NO WATER CHANGES. It will only delay the cycle. You might have a fish or two die on you though, but after that it should be smooth sailing

 

[gomezladdams]

Can you add some material from an established filter to the filter for this tank?that would be the best next step.And I agree keep the ammonia down with waterchanges to keep the fish alive

 

[philhawk]

i would agree that waterchanges are a must with having koi in there. there is still going to be plenty of ammonia to start the cycle even with huge water changes (25-50%) plus it will keep your fish alive. i would recomend using some sort of biofilter started like Seachem's Stability or StressZyme it will greatly reduce your cycle time.

good luck

 

[Bderick67]

Well Im assuming this is for the cycle. If the koi are around 5" and there are less then 6, keep them in. The filter will detoxify the ammonia to nitrite and nitrIte to nitrAte. I will greatly reduce the cycle time and your water will be about perfect in 3-4 weeks. Also, NO WATER CHANGES. It will only delay the cycle. You might have a fish or two die on you though, but after that it should be smooth sailing

I really wish I could understand the thinking behind this. Highly elavated amounts of ammonia will not make the beneficial bacteria grow faster. If anything it will only delay the cycle, it takes time to produce the beneficial bacteria and with the elevated amounts you just end up with a huge population of bacteria(which takes longer to grow) that will be depleted with the greatly reduce bioload, once the tank is cycled.

To do a cycle with fish you must do water changes to keep them alive, if they die whats gonna produce the waste? nothing, so now ya gotta add more fish. Unless you leave the dead fish in there, but if your gonna do that then why not do a fishless cycle to begin with.

 

[AnDr3w]

I really wish I could understand the thinking behind this. Highly elavated amounts of ammonia will not make the beneficial bacteria grow faster. If anything it will only delay the cycle, it takes time to produce the beneficial bacteria and with the elevated amounts you just end up with a huge population of bacteria(which takes longer to grow) that will be depleted with the greatly reduce bioload, once the tank is cycled.

To do a cycle with fish you must do water changes to keep them alive, if they die whats gonna produce the waste? nothing, so now ya gotta add more fish. Unless you leave the dead fish in there, but if your gonna do that then why not do a fishless cycle to begin with.

Ok yea your right. My thinking was was with the more fish, the greater the filter can handle and the bacteria would grow faster. I was wrong. Good call.

 

[Dr Joe]

I really wish I could understand the thinking behind this. Highly elavated amounts of ammonia will not make the beneficial bacteria grow faster. If anything it will only delay the cycle, it takes time to produce the beneficial bacteria and with the elevated amounts you just end up with a huge population of bacteria(which takes longer to grow) that will be depleted with the greatly reduce bioload, once the tank is cycled.

To do a cycle with fish you must do water changes to keep them alive, if they die whats gonna produce the waste? nothing, so now ya gotta add more fish. Unless you leave the dead fish in there, but if your gonna do that then why not do a fishless cycle to begin with.

 

[soulFish]

Thanks guys, I did a big water change last night and I guess I will continue to do so everyday until it balances out. I test prior and after water changes and keep a log to look at. So hopefully it'll be done soon so I cant add the fish.