Really Murky/Cloudy water

[Oughtsix]

According to my Ammonia test kit it's about 0.5. I do have ammo chips already in-use though. I redid the test strip again and it's still giving me the same results 0 nitrites and 0 nitrates.

Like the others stated, I think the root of your problem is that your tank isn't cycled yet.
The cloudy water and sick fish are probably from the ammonia.
I have never used the bio starter stuff you mentioned, I don't know how effective it is.
The beneficial bacteria will grow anywhere in your tank. Bio filters are designed to give the bacteria very conducive conditions for it to grow and colonize.
Like stated by the others, removing the ammonia will greatly increase the time the bacteria takes to establish itself.
Not removing the ammonia will have a detrimental effect of your fish until the bacteria establishes itself.

I have never used prime but have heard many people praise it.

Ammo chips have a limited life span. Hopefully as they peter out the bacteria will flourish and the amount of ammonia your fish will have to contend with will be minimized.

The little Cascade Powerfilter 100 is probably too small for your stocking level. Replacing it with a bigger filter right now isn't going to speed up the beneficial bacteria... But I would add it to the list of things to do eventually. When you do upgrade the filter you will want to run the Cascade for a few weeks along with the new filter while the bacteria propagate to the new filter.

As the others have said the murky water is probably an algae bloom. The algae is feeding on the ammonia and in this respect it is beneficial to your tank and fish.

You best bet might be to a couple gallons of water a day and wait it out until the bacteria takes over?

 

[redfish_33]

It is probably a bacteria bloom from the quick start that you used or just natural bacteria dealing with the ammonia, watch out for a nitrite spike next.


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[AndrewM21]

Well I went ahead and got a 50Gallon tank today from Petsmart and transferred all my old equipment/rocks/water/decorations without cleaning them. I waited about an hour before adding the fish so the filter could kick start before I went to add them.

I'll take a video and post it later. Thanks for all the help guy's

 

[Lusus_Naturae]

Since you mentioned Petsmart - I'd get some Prime for the water conditioning, it also helps neutralize the bad stuff until you get cycled. Also pick up a bottle of Seachem Stability while you are there, follow the new tank directions on the back and shake the bottle really hard before you use it like you would shake a can of spray paint. Your molly and shark would probably like some aquarium salt too, if you haven't added that already.

Bump the temp to 76-78 as well for them, they will like it better. When you have ick the temp should go to 80-82 to help kill it off faster, some people bump it up even higher than that.

 

[AndrewM21]

Hey,

I didn't know about the Seachem stability but I'll be visiting Petco tomorrow since it's closer (I had to drive 60 miles to go to Petsmart!). But it was worth it.

I bought a bottle of "Microbe Lift Special Blend" to help kick start the aquarium cycle since I'm pretty sure it wasn't fully cycled before xing it over, even though I did use ALL of the old media (which I've heard is extremely good to do). My Temp right now is around 76 degrees (bumped it up as per the other users post recommending me to do so).

I actually already picked up some Aquarium salt the other day from my local pet store since they recommended it for the sharks, I wasn't aware that mollys would like it too though, thanks for that

I'm going to go tomorrow to pick up my live plants and get rid of the plastic ones that are in there now and I was thinking about getting 3x Clown Loaches, I've heard they are community fish and I've read some compatibility charts and they don't appear to have an issues with the fish I already have in there.

I'm going to try and pick up 2 more columbian sharks while I'm there aswell since I've heard they do best in groups rather than by themselves (Right now he's the only one in there).

Since you mentioned Petsmart - I'd get some Prime for the water conditioning, it also helps neutralize the bad stuff until you get cycled. Also pick up a bottle of Seachem Stability while you are there, follow the new tank directions on the back and shake the bottle really hard before you use it like you would shake a can of spray paint. Your molly and shark would probably like some aquarium salt too, if you haven't added that already.

Bump the temp to 76-78 as well for them, they will like it better. When you have ick the temp should go to 80-82 to help kill it off faster, some people bump it up even higher than that.

 

[Eli173]

I would get the tank cycled 100% before u add more fish.... If not you will def run into more problems.... Especially with clown loach extremely sensitive to ich.......


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[Oughtsix]

I'm going to go tomorrow to pick up my live plants and get rid of the plastic ones that are in there now and I was thinking about getting 3x Clown Loaches, I've heard they are community fish and I've read some compatibility charts and they don't appear to have an issues with the fish I already have in there.

I'm going to try and pick up 2 more columbian sharks while I'm there aswell since I've heard they do best in groups rather than by themselves (Right now he's the only one in there).

SLOW DOWN!!!! You really need to stabilize what you have now before you add anything else to your aquarium. I understand your enthusiasm but adding more stock right now is just going to cause more problems.

If you really want to add something to your current setup it should be a better filter!

 

[cichlids4me]

Another thing that I feel needs to be pointed out is that the Columbian Shark, although can live in freshwater as juveniles, will need to be moved to a brackish water setup as it matures. Unless you are planning on making the move to a suitable brackish setup then I wouldn't recommend getting anymore and possibly rehoming the one you have.

 

[F1 VET]

SLOW DOWN!!!! You really need to stabilize what you have now before you add anything else to your aquarium. I understand your enthusiasm but adding more stock right now is just going to cause more problems.

If you really want to add something to your current setup it should be a better filter!

Agreed.

Keeping fish is addictive and when they have 100 different fish @ ur lfs its fun to buy and collect but this often leads to learning the hard way.

Nice upgrade on the 50 gal, wait till u start gettng into the equitment like canisters, sumps, uv, led, etc it really gets expensive then!