Why has my fish tank water gone cloudy?

fuzzgun19

Hi,
Appologies if this is in the wrong place, but i wasnt sure where to put it.

I have a 21 litre fish tank, and am preparing it for some tropical fish. Its been running for 6 days now. I had everything in including artificial plants, and today went to the pet shop and bought an ornament and a real plant for the tank, which i put straight in the tank when i got home this afternoon.
I have just looked in the tank and the water has gone all cloudy

I was going to get the fish tomorrow, but i dont know what to do now.
Everything was fine before i put in the ornament and real plant today.

Does anyone know why its gone cloudy? is it something to do with the items i put in today?
And if i put the fish in, would it harm them?

Pink.

Hi fuzzgun,

There isn't really a right or wrong board for this topic, but there have been a couple of threads on fish tanks lately on the In My Home board, so I'll move your thread over there to see if you get some replies.

Pink

tigermatt

Hi, Try this Google link - some of the sites seemed relevant: http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=fish+tank+water+cloudy&meta=

Thanks, tigermatt

tigermatt

There is also this: http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&safe=active&q=fish+tank&meta=

Thanks, tigermatt

aylesby

Ask the knowledgeables on
https://www.fishcrazy.co.uk

alanobrien

fuzzgun19 wrote:

Hi,
Appologies if this is in the wrong place, but i wasnt sure where to put it.

I have a 21 litre fish tank, and am preparing it for some tropical fish. Its been running for 6 days now. I had everything in including artificial plants, and today went to the pet shop and bought an ornament and a real plant for the tank, which i put straight in the tank when i got home this afternoon.
I have just looked in the tank and the water has gone all cloudy

I was going to get the fish tomorrow, but i dont know what to do now.
Everything was fine before i put in the ornament and real plant today.

Does anyone know why its gone cloudy? is it something to do with the items i put in today?
And if i put the fish in, would it harm them?

I suspect the cloudiness is protein in the water.
The Nitrogen cycle takes time to establish itself - over 6 weeks actually. A good filter will help.

Also introduce the fish a few at a time over some weeks rather than all at once otherwise you may find the water quality dives rather rapidly so change 20% of it on a weekly basis.

kit

The water will always go cloudy when you first start a tank - its normal. However you should not add fish to it while its like it as the cloudy water shows that it is still settling and getting its balance right.

My advise is DONT add any fish. If you have doubts then talk to the people at the fish shop!! They are usually really helpful.

iwanttosave_2

have you taken a sample of the water to the fish shop for testing, they normally do it for free so you know the water is ready for the fish. i have had a tank for a couple of years now and the best thing i say is make sure you go to a good fish specialist, i made the mistake of getting some guppys from a normal petshop and they infected my tank with minute snails, they are almost invisible at first but a few months later the fiash tank was full of them.

Davidboy

First of all can I say that to keep Tropical fish healthy, you are providing them with their environment. This means that it needs to be made as nature intended.

When starting a new tank, you can get conditioning tablets, they start the balance right, what I did was to get some "hardy" fish such as Guppys, which also starts to get the bacteria right. Then gradually add fish over months not weeks. Remember that the tank will only support a certain amount of fish per area of water.

What happens is that when the fish poo and wee, the filter, sponge type or under gravel type, starts to harbour bacteria. These bacteria are very very important for the eco system of a tank. Without going into the technical terms, the bacteria turn the poo and wee from harmful acid to a plant food ie Nitrate.

So,

1. It is important to have lots of REAL plants. Plants also help with providing oxygen in the water.

2. The fish's poo feeds the plants.

3. If you gets snails. You may get them from buying new plants or fish, then get a fish that eats snails such as a Clown Loach (buy 2 better in pairs). If you get algae, then buy a fish that eats it, such as a Bristle Nose cat fish. (Ugly little sucker, but does the job!)

4. When you clean the tank, the water needs to be changed every month, only change half of the water, this is important cos if you change ALL of the water you will distroy the bacteria in the filter. Only rinse out the sponge from the filter in the old tank water. If you clean it in fresh water again you will distroy the bacteria. I used a syphon tube to drain the water with a filter on the end, this was good to "vaccum" the gravel and get the debris out.

5. Try to get a pump system that breaks the surface water. ie. the surface water must be disturbed to break the surface tension, this then allows oxygen to be obsorbed by the water.

Tropical fish are not easy to keep, like I said you are providing their environment for them, so try not to use chemicals, if you have a problem then you do not have the balance right. Buy fish or plants that correct your problem or imbalance.

Lastly and most importantly. If you have children, the water is very very toxic. If/when you change the water and the children help as they do, they must not put the water to their mouths, and MUST wash theirs hands thoroughly when they have finished.

Hope this helps. I enjoyed keeping fish for many years. My Bristle nose cat fish and Loaches lasted for 10 years. It is very much an "ART" to get right but very satisfying when you do.

Good luck

D

mutley74

a link that may help

http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/aquamags.htm

fuzzgun19

Many thanks for all your replies.
I got some 'filter aid' from the pet shop and this cleared it up within an hour!
This morning i bought 3 guppies, and they seem to be doing fine.
Im really pleased with them! :beer:
:xmassign: