Cloudy Water! Help!!

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hellisearth

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 15, 2013
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Selangor
Hi to all,

I'm still in a learning process of fish keeping, would really appreciate anybodys input on how to solve this. As i've currently got a golden arowana in the tank and i'm worried that the bad water conditions would affect my fish's health. Just need some some information and advice on resolving my current cloudy/milky water condition problem.

Scenario,

I've got a 5 feet by 2 1/2' tank with a sump filter. I've cycled the tank for more than 3 months and the water was clear till I made a mistake by clearing the sponge (green and white, about 3 layers from the sump filter). Since there on, my tank water has been really cloudy and not clear at all.

I've tried doing 20% water changes every 2 days, but the situation isn't helping at all, water seems to be still very very cloudy. How can I solve this?

Would really appreciate anybody's input on how can I resolve this problem?

Thanks in advance.
 
It sounds like you killed the benificial bacteria that you built up during the cycling period. Others may have a better suggestions but I would say keep the water changes going while using prime and stability and hopefully the bb will grow back quickly.


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Have you checked for ammonia?

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Sorry just to clarify:

1. Prime and stability is the name of a water treatment? Could be bought from lfs?

2. This cloudy water would it harm my fish in anyway? For now my arowana seems to be eating normally and breathing normally, so are my other 3 small fishes.
 
maybe your fish poop a lot. what are the dimensions of ure tank and what substrate are u using? i use gravel so tht the poop will not dissolve in the water which makes the water cloudy. i remove the poop every two days. also, i put 'cloudy water remover' everytime i do my weekly water change.
if this doesnt change anything though, probably your filter is the problem.
 
It is important to know the water parameters of your tank. Do you have a test kit? If not, buy a kit that contains tests for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Take a sample of the water and follow the instructions. This will give you an idea if there are problems with the quality of your water and whether your aquarium was properly cycled.

Prime is a brand of water conditioner that removes damaging chlorine and chloramine from your tap water for your fish tank.

Stability is a brand of bacterial additive that is used to help your tank cycle quicker and establish a healthy bacteria level prior to adding fish.

Cloudy water could be the result of a bacterial bloom in a new tank or after aggressively cleaning your filter media in a newly setup aquarium. It could also be a result of over feeding your fish due to an accumulation of uneaten food in the tank.
 
deeda said:
It is important to know the water parameters of your tank. Do you have a test kit? If not, buy a kit that contains tests for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Take a sample of the water and follow the instructions. This will give you an idea if there are problems with the quality of your water and whether your aquarium was properly cycled.

Prime is a brand of water conditioner that removes damaging chlorine and chloramine from your tap water for your fish tank.

Stability is a brand of bacterial additive that is used to help your tank cycle quicker and establish a healthy bacteria level prior to adding fish.

Cloudy water could be the result of a bacterial bloom in a new tank or after aggressively cleaning your filter media in a newly setup aquarium. It could also be a result of over feeding your fish due to an accumulation of uneaten food in the tank.
Click to expand...

I'm using a 5 feet tank by 2 1/2 feet and 2 1'2 feet. Thank you very much! This information helped. Yes my tank has been cycled and it was clear for about 3 months, till recently i changed my filter. I guess I made a mistake by removing all the sponges, since then the water has been very cloudy and doesn't seem to be getting any better. Based on what i've read up on other threads, I guess i've killed all my beneficial bacgeria in the process of changing the filter. From here on what Can I do? Would the cloudy water solution from the lfs and the prime or stability help me? Apart from water changes what else can I do? Or do i have to just wait this out?
 
You can check the instructions on the bottle of Stability or similar bottled bacteria product to see what the dosage would be.

Your tank dimensions make it a 234 gallon aquarium. I don't know if larger or more frequent water changes will help your problem or not. It may make the water clearer but it won't solve the problem if the tank hasn't maintained it's bacteria bio-load. I don't recommend using a water clarifier to treat the problem if you aren't sure what caused the problem in the first place.

What is important for now is to find out the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels in your tank. See if your local fish store offers the possibility of testing your water for these parameters or purchase a test kit for yourself.
 
I believe you killed off the beneficial bacteria you built up in your first 3 months of cycling. You need to test your water conditions. If you don't want to buy a kit, take it to your local fish store. Their tests aren't usually the greatest, but you can get a general idea if you have lost your cycle. I'm guessing your tank is going through some type of bacterial bloom.

Just make sure your tank is getting plenty of oxygen, whether through an airstone or surface agitation. Keep up the 20% water changes. Arowana are very hardy fish, so it should be okay. Good luck!
 
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