Why is my water cloudy!?

[Kingst3r]

Hey guys, Im new here but have been lurking for a while. I recently picked up a 38g with stand for free and set up my first tank. I cycled the tank with filter pads from my friends 110 and I bought some decorations off him as well. I let it run like that for 3 weeks. Tested it and everything came up 0, good to go. Slowly started to add fish and everything is still zero. Stocking as of now is- 1 zebra danio/2 blood red jewels 5 inchs/4 glowrite tetras/1 other tetra I bought from my friend/1 small pleco/3 red tip sharks/ and 1 marble sailfin catfish. I know maybe overstock but Im running a 55g filter. Good airation.

So now is my question. My water is cloudy and I am having trouble getting it clear. From the front it is crystal clear! However, from the side it is a bit hazy, not milky, hazy. No algae blooms or green water or anything just having. Paramaters and good and phs is fine. I did some 20-30% water changes and still nothing. The fish are all happy, eating and getting along. I added some water clarifier (Acurel F) and some filter foam to my filters today and it helped a little so I will see what happens. I think it could be from over feeding possibly? I know a lot of you guys might say dont worry about it, but all my friends tanks are crystal clear and I want mine like that. So what could it be, just give it time?

Last question, does the marble sailfin eat small fish? When I turn on the night lights and go to sleep, I come back the next morning and 1 zebra danio is gone. So far I lost three, doesnt matter as long as he is eating . So you think thats where they are going?

Sorry for the long post, I just need some help!

 

[Fat Homer]

Just so i make sure i understood correctly, you got some old filter media from your friends tank, and placed it in a new tank and let it sit for 3 weeks before adding fish?

If thats the case, what probably happened is all the beneficial bacteria possibly died, since during the time when you tank was empty, you weren't feeding the good bacteria with anything, therefore basically killing it all off slowly... and now your tank is starting to cycle again now that you've added fishes in there causing the hazy water...

Just my 0.2. cents

 

[Kingst3r]

Just so i make sure i understood correctly, you got some old filter media from your friends tank, and placed it in a new tank and let it sit for 3 weeks before adding fish?

If thats the case, what probably happened is all the beneficial bacteria possibly died, since during the time when you tank was empty, you weren't feeding the good bacteria with anything, therefore basically killing it all off slowly... and now your tank is starting to cycle again now that you've added fishes in there causing the hazy water...

Just my 0.2. cents

Yes thats correct, but what happened first was I put fish in without knowing about cycling and the high ammonia levels killed them all off. I researched some and learned about cycling, so than I tried to cycle it fishless. I did this by adding food ever so often and the ammonia was still high for about two weeks(still had high ammonia from other fish), 8.0, it would never go down and turn into nitrites. So than I put in my friends filter pads and it cycled the tank bringing everything to zero. Put in some danios for a couple days, still zero.

If it wasnt cycled, wouldnt the ammonia have went up when I put in some danios and other fish? I mointored it daily when adding fish and it never went up?

 

[aclockworkorange]

What are your exact water parameters? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate.

 

[plecostic]

Cycling a fish tank is the easiest thing in the world to do. It still amazes me how some still have issues with it. I only do fish in cycling, works perfect every time and never killed off any fish during a cycle. You feed, you do water changes, you sit back and watch the miracle happen.

 

[aclockworkorange]

Cycling a fish tank is the easiest thing in the world to do. It still amazes me how some still have issues with it. I only do fish in cycling, works perfect every time and never killed off any fish during a cycle. You feed, you do water changes, you sit back and watch the miracle happen.

Some would argue with that method, but I'd like to point out for a NEW hobbyist cycling can seem as mysterious as nuclear fission.

 

[Kingst3r]

Cycling a fish tank is the easiest thing in the world to do. It still amazes me how some still have issues with it. I only do fish in cycling, works perfect every time and never killed off any fish during a cycle. You feed, you do water changes, you sit back and watch the miracle happen.

Thanks for your help man.

What are your exact water parameters? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate.

Just tested it now with API master freshwater test kit and it read. Ammonia: 0ppm / Nitrite: 0ppm / Nitrate: 0ppm. They are the exact colors of 0, not a shade off.

 

[johno27]

Your either not shaking the Nitrate test hard enough or your tank is not cycled. I am voting for the shaking part, given your stock you would show quite a bit of ammonia if it where not cycled

 

[Kingst3r]

Your either not shaking the Nitrate test hard enough or your tank is not cycled. I am voting for the shaking part, given your stock you would show quite a bit of ammonia if it where not cycled

I'll test again and shake it harder. Exactly, if it wasnt cycled my ammonia levels would be through the roof. So you think the high Nitrate is causing the cloudiness?

 

[plecostic]

Some would argue with that method, but I'd like to point out for a NEW hobbyist cycling can seem as mysterious as nuclear fission.

I agree, in fact, the person who taught me sounded like some crazy rocket scientist, didn't understand a word he said. Now that I understand it, I can teach newbies in less than 2 minutes everything they need about cycling a tank. The problem with living in a high tech world where everybody talks rocket scientish is no hobby is simple anymore, everyone has to make it more complicated than it really is.

Communication is the key to everything, the harder you make it sound, the more difficult it will be for people to understand. IT's do it just to confuse people and keep the dependency for their jobs.