# Cloudy water, 9 week old tank, helpppp!!!!



## bnote (Oct 16, 2011)

Hi all im new to fish keeping and need some help. Storey is a little long but i want to give all my info. Ive searched this site and lots of resources on the internet and havn't found anything to help me yet. My tank is on its 10th week. It is a 46 gal bow front. I started off with 4 black neon tetras to cycle the tank. A lady at the local fish shop sold me on Seachem Stability. Being a newb and know nothing about it i got it and she told me it will keep my tank perfect and no fish will die. So i follow the dosage on the bottle. Water went cloudy a few days later which i understand is normal, and after 4th week the water cleared up and the tank looked perfect. The whole time my ammonia,nitrites and nitrates stayed at 0. I understand that is what the stability will do to the tank. I stopped using it after 4 weeks and added 3 more black tetras, few day later 3 tiger barbs, 2 more barbs a week later, and a Rts. Tank went pretty cloudy after adding the fish, never really cleared up. Then next thing i know my new rtl has ick. I saw it appearing on the other fish so i treated the tank with biospheres maracide. Cured the ick but my rtl didnt make it. A week later i added a new rtl and a small pleco to clean up my algae. Everyone seem healthy and happy but my water is still a little cloudy. From the front it almost looks perfect from a few feet away but from side to side it cloudy. Aprox 15% water change 1 a week with a gravel vac during the water change. Feeding schedule is once per day about 2 to 3 mins worth of food. Using a aquaclear 50 filter with Foam, carbon and biomax media. Ammonia has been reading .01 and nitrites are 0. Any advice???


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

my opinion is this....take it or leave it...
1... you need another filter....you should be filtering almost 500 GPH...on a 46 bow i would be using an aquaclear 110 or 2 of the 50's
2...minimum 30% water change weekly.....
3...leave the doggone gravel alone for awhile...
4...set your tank temp to 78-80 degrees F and leave it there...
5...get rid of the carbon...it is all used up...you can buy a replacement but keep it put away until you really need it..i almost never use carbon...carbon is great for removing meds after treatments are done and for removing staining caused by meds or driftwood...
6...don't add any more fish until your tank has been in operation for 15 weeks..that means you have 6 weeks to go...

i will leave it at that and let the real experts tell you how it's done..

good luck with your new hobby...it is the best hobby ever...i've been at it for over a year already...


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

9 weeks old? It's normal. Leave it be. It's an ammonia spike. Probably looks like spilled milk. MAYBE change 5 gallons but I would probably leave it. Otherwise, when you do the gravel vac, you're probably being a little too clean, thus starting the cycling process all over again. Try to lay off on the gravel vacs a bit.


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## Amelia26 (Aug 6, 2011)

LMAO loha!!! only 1 year??? maybe + some years!!! how much more of an expert do we need? (-;


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## blindkiller85 (Jan 8, 2011)

lmao...loha....over a year? What was that 1 year mark into the hobby, when I was in diapers still?


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## platies pwn (Nov 29, 2010)

lohachata said:


> good luck with your new hobby...it is the best hobby ever...i've been at it for over a year already...


Yeah....one year on pluto....


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i said that i have been at it for "over" a year...lol
killer...when i started in this hobby i don't think your parents even knew each other yet......lol
i am nto sure ; but it was in either 1972 or 1973....
i'm still a rookie...


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## Amelia26 (Aug 6, 2011)

a rookie?? sure!! (-= an expert is more like it!!!


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

lohachata said:


> my opinion is this....take it or leave it...
> 1... you need another filter....you should be filtering almost 500 GPH...on a 46 bow i would be using an aquaclear 110 or 2 of the 50's
> 2...minimum 30% water change weekly.....
> 3...leave the doggone gravel alone for awhile...
> ...


I stopped using carbon a while ago too. It always needs to be replaced and is expensive. I agree, this tank needs more filtration. Go get yourself a nice overkill filter (canister filters are great at this), routine water changes, and dont question the lohachata!..he is our local tank wizard lol.


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## blindkiller85 (Jan 8, 2011)

lohachata said:


> i said that i have been at it for "over" a year...lol
> killer...when i started in this hobby i don't think your parents even knew each other yet......lol
> i am nto sure ; but it was in either 1972 or 1973....
> i'm still a rookie...


Nah they knew each other right about that time, never got together until 80 or 81 IIRC. Small town they grew up in and met at. 

But thanks for making me feel young! Been feeling older and older as songs I grew up listening to are now classics.


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## bnote (Oct 16, 2011)

Thanks for the advice ill leave the gravel alone and pick up a nother filter this weekend. If i buy a nother aqua clear 50 and start running will it make the tank cycle or will the old filter jump start the new one? Also would i be better off buying a 100 or getting a second 50 or does it make no differacnce


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

actually i would buy the second 50....
with tank cycled and #1 full of bacteria #2 will just build from that...shouldn't be any cycling because it is already established...
having 2 filters will keep currents even at each end of the tank and will allow you to thoroughly clean one foam block without disturbing the balance of the bacteria....every couple of weeks rinse the block in a bucket of tank water...sometimes we don't get to keep the filters real clean and they will dirty the water in the bucket too much..so every now and then i will clean my sponges with clean water in the stationary tub...knock all the gunk out of them...


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## bnote (Oct 16, 2011)

Well just got back from getting a second 50. Boss called me and told me i dont start till 2pm today so i figured id get the filter and set it up before work. Thanks for the quick replies ill let everyone knows how everything goes.


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## bnote (Oct 16, 2011)

Well tmr is a week since adding the second filter. Did a 25% water change on sat which is my day for once a week wAter change. I left the gravel alone and it was just a water change. My water is still cloudy. Ammonia is 0 and nitrite was .01 on tuesday. Previously ammonia was .01. So i guess ill just play the waiting game. Should i keep doIng the weekly water changes or leave it for a while?


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

I'd keep doing the WCs. But as Loha mentioned, keep leaving the gravel alone. Most of your denitrifying bacteria are benthic, meaning that they stay on solid surfaces; IE, gravel, filters, decoration, etc. 

Also, because you're feeding the fish, there is still a source of ammonia, so the WC shouldn't deplete the food source for the bacteria.

Finally, just because it hasn't been said, some medication affects the bacteria, so the ich med may have put you back a few weeks... 

Welcome to FF!


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