# Cloudy Water ???



## kf4djv7 (Sep 15, 2012)

Hi, I have a 29 gallon freshwater / tropical which was set up approx 1 month ago, currently have
10 neon
6 bleeding hearts
3 glow fish
3 cory's
running into cloudy H2O issues, and not quite sure how to proceed. did water change on 09/14/2012, PH went down but is coming back up with PH Up. Had a LED Acietic (sp) light but removed it hoping that would help. all peramiters are good execpt Ammonia (apparently it will spike when the biological filter kicks in and then go back down?)

Please Help

water change was done with distilled water b-cuz well water ugly due to rain.


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## BV77 (Jan 22, 2005)

Keep in mind, too much distilled water is not good. It does not have any of the electrolytes and minerals that the fish need.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

If your well water is dirty because of rain I would instead change the water with mineral water instead as distilled water lowers your ph quite a lot which can stress your fish. If you set up the aquarium one month ago the biological filtration wouldn't just start to kick in right now, you would have run into the cloudy water issue a few days after you introduced the fish. When did you introduce the fish, and how many fish did you introduce at a time?


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## kf4djv7 (Sep 15, 2012)

BV77 said:


> Keep in mind, too much distilled water is not good. It does not have any of the electrolytes and minerals that the fish need.


op
What about spring water, is that good or bad. we will be using the well water again when my husband can assist me. we have the aqueon water changer kit (25ft) but I can not be in two places at the same time. I used a Top-fin vacumn to clean out the tank on Friday and will most likley use it again tomorrow when I do another water change.


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## kf4djv7 (Sep 15, 2012)

BettaGuy said:


> If your well water is dirty because of rain I would instead change the water with mineral water instead as distilled water lowers your ph quite a lot which can stress your fish. If you set up the aquarium one month ago the biological filtration wouldn't just start to kick in right now, you would have run into the cloudy water issue a few days after you introduced the fish. When did you introduce the fish, and how many fish did you introduce at a time?


.

we started with 6 neon's and have been adding fish about once a week no more than 5 @ a time. when we first set the tank up, my husband did not install the carbon filtration cartrige until about 2 weeks ago, he wanted to wait until "it was needed"????? about a week after that we began to notice some slime on the top of the water so we added an air pump and long stone (no more slime.) when I purchased the aquarium nothing was said (on the box) about needing a air pump. a couple of days later (about 1.5 weeks ago) is when I noticed the cloudy water. Please advise. Thanks for your help...


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

hmm I think spring water would work as well. You'll have to check if the hardness of the water and your well water is close. I think it would work if you use it once or twic instead of your well water but you should generally stay with the same water source as to not change your fishes environment to much. When did you introduce your fish? I think we need to figure out the reason of your cloudy water. Did you recently change the filter cartridges? Did you add a lot of fish recently? Was there anything else you have done to the fish tank recently that could impact it?


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## kf4djv7 (Sep 15, 2012)

BV77 said:


> Keep in mind, too much distilled water is not good. It does not have any of the electrolytes and minerals that the fish need.


In case of emergency, what is the better type of water to use? There are so many to choose from and apparently I used the wrong type of bottled water (7 gallons of Distilled). I don't want to make that mistake again in case of emergency as in well water too brownish due to rain. 

Thanks so much for your help. Please advise ASAP. I will go to store tomorrow and get the correct type of water.....!!!!!


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

I see we typed at the same time  The slime on the surface of the water was probably an oil film that is caused when there is no surface water movement and dust can settle on the surface. It seems to me like you have been doing everything right with adding the fish and your aquarium is definetly not over stocked. How big is the filter? I think the water will clear itself up on its own. Just do a 20% water change every other day untill the amonia has gone back down. I would remove the carbon as it starts to leak poisons back into the water after a few weeks. Instead I would use the space where the carbon was for more material for beneficial bacteria to build up


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## kf4djv7 (Sep 15, 2012)

BettaGuy said:


> hmm I think spring water would work as well. You'll have to check if the hardness of the water and your well water is close. I think it would work if you use it once or twic instead of your well water but you should generally stay with the same water source as to not change your fishes environment to much. When did you introduce your fish? I think we need to figure out the reason of your cloudy water. Did you recently change the filter cartridges? Did you add a lot of fish recently? Was there anything else you have done to the fish tank recently that could impact it?


I changed the filter cartridge on Friday when i did the water change, no fish have been added in a week. (don't want to add any until the tank is in great shape). hubby chose to use the distilled bottled water for water evap. and the well water is very soft as we have lots of trees on our 1.68 acres. Also, the well water comes into the house thru an all house filtration system (if that helps...) 
The only other thing we did was add an Air Pump and 6" long air stone to help with water flow. this was added last weekend.

any assistance is greatly appreciated.


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## kf4djv7 (Sep 15, 2012)

BettaGuy said:


> I see we typed at the same time  The slime on the surface of the water was probably an oil film that is caused when there is no surface water movement and dust can settle on the surface. It seems to me like you have been doing everything right with adding the fish and your aquarium is definetly not over stocked. How big is the filter? I think the water will clear itself up on its own. Just do a 20% water change every other day untill the amonia has gone back down. I would remove the carbon as it starts to leak poisons back into the water after a few weeks. Instead I would use the spae ce where the carbon was for more material for beneficial bacteria to build up


The filtration system came with the "Starter kit" and it rated for a 30 gallon aquarium. The Ammon level right now is between 1 and 2 ppm. should I add ammonia remover or just leave it alone for now...

Also, I have a spreadsheet that I keep track of all test results done with the API Master test kit. Right now I am testing everything every day or too since I am concerned. I want to be as good of a fish mommy as I am a Dog mommy........


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## kf4djv7 (Sep 15, 2012)

BettaGuy said:


> I see we typed at the same time  The slime on the surface of the water was probably an oil film that is caused when there is no surface water movement and dust can settle on the surface. It seems to me like you have been doing everything right with adding the fish and your aquarium is definetly not over stocked. How big is the filter? I think the water will clear itself up on its own. Just do a 20% water change every other day untill the amonia has gone back down. I would remove the carbon as it starts to leak poisons back into the water after a few weeks. Instead I would use the space where the carbon was for more material for beneficial bacteria to build up


FYI, the filter cartridges come with the carbon in them... I rinse them before putting in filter, as per instructions from Top-Fin. 

Thanks again.


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## kf4djv7 (Sep 15, 2012)

kf4djv7 said:


> FYI, the filter cartridges come with the carbon in them... I rinse them before putting in filter, as per instructions from Top-Fin.
> 
> Thanks again.


One more thing, I have this fuzzy white stuff on my plastic plants and on the bottom of the filter intake tube. What is this and is it good or bad? (already know it is ugly -he,he)

Thanks again.


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## kf4djv7 (Sep 15, 2012)

BV77 said:


> Keep in mind, too much distilled water is not good. It does not have any of the electrolytes and minerals that the fish need.


Hubby is going to bring home a 5 gallon jug of Diamond Springs water tomorrow 09/17/2012.

Also, this fuzzy white stuff in the tank and on the plants, Bacteria Bloom? is it good or bad. If bad, what should I do about it.... 

Thanks again for your help.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

I think you have a bacteria bloom because you switched the filter cartridge. This will go away over time as the beneficial bacteria colonizes on the new cartridge. For the future I would not use carbon, but instead get a different cartridge that doesn't have carbon in it so that you don't have to replace it as frequently. Also, never replace all filter cartridges at once (if there is more than one), that way you wont remove all the beneficial bacteria. DON'T add amonia remover as this will just mess with your water and hinder the cycling process. Just do water changes every other day untill the amonia has gone down.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

The white stuff is not dangerous for your fish but you can remove it if you want.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

What is the flow rate of the filter? A lot of people say that you need at least a 10x turn over rate but in your case I don't think so since your aquarium is not very densly stocked. I would however increase the amount of filtration you have. I would add a filter rated for a 50g aquarium (not jocking). That way you can switch filter cartridges easier as you wont have to worry about removing bacteria as you'll have two filters.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

White stuff is usually fungus eating uneaten food and is good indication that you should siphon it out. Though sometimes it is other things like dead hair algae.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

It is on the plants and on the intake tube so it can't be eating left over food.


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## kf4djv7 (Sep 15, 2012)

BettaGuy said:


> I think you have a bacteria bloom because you switched the filter cartridge. This will go away over time as the beneficial bacteria colonizes on the new cartridge. For the future I would not use carbon, but instead get a different cartridge that doesn't have carbon in it so that you don't have to replace it as frequently. Also, never replace all filter cartridges at once (if there is more than one), that way you wont remove all the beneficial bacteria. DON'T add amonia remover as this will just mess with your water and hinder the cycling process. Just do water changes every other day untill the amonia has gone down.


Thanks so much for your assistance, It is nice to know that I am not killing the fish.... (He,he, at least not yet.) Can you recommed a cartridge that will fit a 30 gallon aquarium but not send poisons into the tank???? What if I were to just change the filtration system? say to a Marineland Product MARINELAND PENGUIN BIO-WHEEL FILTER 200B (for a 50 gal. tank this does 200gph) Petsmart has one for $30.00? just looking for suggestions...

The Top-Fin 30 does 150 GPH - this is what came with the starter kit....

Thanks again for all of your help....


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

The cartridges with active carbon wont actually sent poisons into the tank, they just start leaking them back into the water after a few weeks. Adding the biowheel filter seems like a good idea, but don't remove the filter you already have. 

I just looked at the filter you have, and it only has one cartridge in it. This means that every time you replace it your aquarium has to cycle all over again. Maybe you can cut the carbon out of the current filter cartridge you have (I don't know if this is possible). If you can do that you wont have to start over with a new cartridge and go through all of this again. As for what cartridge to use, your gonna have to stick with top fin cartridges, because they will be the only ones that fit. Look for one that doesn't have carbon in it. There should be multiple types of cartridges.


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## kf4djv7 (Sep 15, 2012)

BettaGuy said:


> I think you have a bacteria bloom because you switched the filter cartridge. This will go away over time as the beneficial bacteria colonizes on the new cartridge. For the future I would not use carbon, but instead get a different cartridge that doesn't have carbon in it so that you don't have to replace it as frequently. Also, never replace all filter cartridges at once (if there is more than one), that way you wont remove all the beneficial bacteria. DON'T add amonia remover as this will just mess with your water and hinder the cycling process. Just do water changes every other day untill the amonia has gone down.


Thanks again, just checked the ammon level and it is @ 2. will be doing a water change tomorrow while hubby is at work. after reading your posts about the cloudy water, i also think that the water filter is not strong enough, so; now I am considering getting the Marineland / Penguin w/ bio-filter Model # 350B. I was looking at the Emperor 400 also by marineland but the review of the newer ones are not that good. Are you familiar with these products? I would love your opnion. It would be greatly appreciated.:fish:


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I have new Penguin 350B. The bio-wheels spin very fast and it should be a better than the earlier penguin 300 and 330. However both my newest Emperors and Penguins are louder than I'd like. Don't put one on a bedroom tank or one in the TV room.


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## kf4djv7 (Sep 15, 2012)

emc7 said:


> I have new Penguin 350B. The bio-wheels spin very fast and it should be a better than the earlier penguin 300 and 330. However both my newest Emperors and Penguins are louder than I'd like. Don't put one on a bedroom tank or one in the TV room.


Thanks, My tank is located in the living room (no TV as I use this room for studying). 

need to wait till get paid to make any purchases.... but it will be nice to not have to worry about cloudy water and the PH level is back to normal, thank goodness, now if I need to work on the ammon, will be doing water change tomorrow. If I am not mistaken the Bio-wheel should also help with the ammon levels?:fish:


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Definetly, its a biological filter, it allows for bacteria to build on the provided surfaces like most filters. It will help filter the amonia and nitrites out of the water.


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## kf4djv7 (Sep 15, 2012)

BettaGuy said:


> Definetly, its a biological filter, it allows for bacteria to build on the provided surfaces like most filters. It will help filter the amonia and nitrites out of the water.



Thanks so much, I think I know what I am going to do? I will let you know how things work out. give me about 2 weeks. Have a great evening.


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## kf4djv7 (Sep 15, 2012)

My Hubby just wanted me to ask you guy's, what ever happened to the under gravel filtration systems ? As when he had his aquariums up and running (over 15 years ago), he never had any of the problems that we are encountering. Did they just go out of fashion or were discontinued as being too much work. Please advise so that I can let him know.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Undergravel filter systems are just too much work. You have to rinse the gravel, and every time you want to clean the filter you have to remove all the substrate. They also only work with gravel while a lot of people use sand as a substrate. You also can't use them in a planted aquarium as removing the substrate once a month to clean it would also remove all the plants. Thats just the reasons I can come up with but I think theres more.


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## kf4djv7 (Sep 15, 2012)

BettaGuy said:


> Undergravel filter systems are just too much work. You have to rinse the gravel, and every time you want to clean the filter you have to remove all the substrate. They also only work with gravel while a lot of people use sand as a substrate. You also can't use them in a planted aquarium as removing the substrate once a month to clean it would also remove all the plants. Thats just the reasons I can come up with but I think theres more.



See, that is pretty much what I told him, although not in that detail. believe me. I am sitting here LMAO

Have a great evening:chair:


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## kf4djv7 (Sep 15, 2012)

BettaGuy said:


> Undergravel filter systems are just too much work. You have to rinse the gravel, and every time you want to clean the filter you have to remove all the substrate. They also only work with gravel while a lot of people use sand as a substrate. You also can't use them in a planted aquarium as removing the substrate once a month to clean it would also remove all the plants. Thats just the reasons I can come up with but I think theres more.


BTW - the kitty in your avatar is cute, though I am a dog person. never had a cat....


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

I found it in a forest at the age of four weeks. Raised it till 8 weeks and now its happy with another family


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## kf4djv7 (Sep 15, 2012)

Purchased the Aquaclear70 filtration system to go along with the Top-Fin 30. after 4 days still having cloudy water issues, Hubby convinced me to go with an undergravel filter system also, that will be installed most likely next weekend. Luckily we have a good size bucket to keep the fish in while we do the complete water change!!! The day before we do the complete water change, I will be removing the plastic plants so that I can get the white fuzzy (bacteria) stuff off and let them dry overnight. Is there any other advice that anyone can offer? I already have the safe start so that we can put the fish back in when we finish.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

If you have white fuzzy stuff on plastic plants, you most likely have uneaten food feeding it. Feed much less (or skip for 3 days) and do large water changes.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

You really don't need to add the undergravel filtration system with the two filters you already have. Don't change any of the media of your old filter either as that would slow down the cycling process. You will most likely have the cloudy water issue again as you will be adding all the fish at once who will poop a lot and create loads of food for the bacteria. I would just use something to dechlor the water nd not add the safe start but I don't think it would be harmful. Since you will be restarting the cycling process I would do water changes of 20% every day to keep the amonia levels down, this will also help with the cloudiness


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