Cloudy Freshwater Tank???

LOUIE ACES · 10-29-2009, 08:52 PM

holy crap those are some high readings! one thing u wanna make sure u do if u learn anything from reading some of the things we write, ESPECIALLY BYRON CUZ HE'S A GENIUS AND HELPED ME OUT TREMENDOUSLY, is not to listen to the people in the pet stores when they tell u what u need to put in ur tank! they will always tell u to put a million different things cuz they wanna make a sale. and when u say u were told not to use something or u tried it and it didnt work, they'll refer u to a different chemical. always refer to a site like this with real people not looking to make a buck.

i would say ur gonna lose a few fish with readings like that unfortunately. it happened to me. u just gotta replenish ur livestock. if u dont lose any, ur a lucky lucky individual! just keep a close eye and keep it clean naturally...good luck!

Byron · 10-30-2009, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaynaglover

Hey,

Thanks again! I did a pwc and vaccumed the gravel which took a lot of uneaten food and stuff out of it... Which in turn the water was still cloudy... When I checked my levels they were really high (I can't remember what they were) when I went to Big Als I asked the person there what I should do about my Nitrates and Nitrites being hight and they gave me nitr zorb. I put the nitro zorb in and did the partial water change and the vaccuming of the gravel and the tank cleared up mostly. But not all the way. So I just did a second testing and my levels are still high.
Ammonia: 4.0
Nitrate: 80
Nitrite: 1.0
The levels are really scaring me although my fish are not acting weird or anything. They are swimming around happy and chasing each other as if there were nothing wrong. The water is clearing but my levels are still high. Could it be giving me false readings? I am using the water solution test kit not test strips so I thought it would be a little more better... PLEASE HELP! I dont want to lose any of my fish. And also a good sign my guppies are still dropping fry as we speak so the water condition should be good a little bit I would think lmao....

If your water conditioner detoxifies ammonia, it probably does so by converting ammonia to ammonium which is basically harmless, so the fish will be OK even though the ammonia reading is high (and 4 is very very high) but we are working to get it down. Nitrite at 1 is also very dangerous, but partial water changes of 50% every deay using the water conditioner will help with this.

If you mean Nitra-Zorb, that is a filter media made by API and is OK to use in your circumstances. It supposedly removes ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. I haven't looked into how it does this, but in the filter in this instance I would use it.

The cloudiness will likely be gone when the nitrification cycle is established and the biological equilibrium settled in the aquarium. Continue with daily pwc, and keep us posted of results.

Byron.

shaynaglover · 10-30-2009, 01:41 PM

Hey, So I havent lost any fish yet( Thank God) I had to work today so I got my dad to keep checking in on them. My tank was somewhat clearing up last night when I went to bed I could actually see inside. I woke up this morning to an extremely cloudy tank again :( That is the reason for me asking my dad to keep checking on them. I came home from work to find both my filters not working.... My parents are doing renovations in the house and shut the power off which in turn my dad did not go prime my filters again so I have no idea how long they had been not working for. Grrr.... So my tank is still cloudy. I did another level check and all my levels have gone down but they are still high.
Ammonia: 0.5
Nitrate: 20
Nitrite:1.0
I have no idea what else I can do I will try another pwc. My dad wants me to go to Big Als and ask them but I don't want to have more chemicals shoved in my face. Please help lmao! Plus last night with my levels so high my guppies were still giving birth so could that be a good sign? Like could my testing be wrong? Anywho look forward to hearing from you and thanks for all your help!

Byron · 10-31-2009, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaynaglover

Hey, So I havent lost any fish yet( Thank God) I had to work today so I got my dad to keep checking in on them. My tank was somewhat clearing up last night when I went to bed I could actually see inside. I woke up this morning to an extremely cloudy tank again :( That is the reason for me asking my dad to keep checking on them. I came home from work to find both my filters not working.... My parents are doing renovations in the house and shut the power off which in turn my dad did not go prime my filters again so I have no idea how long they had been not working for. Grrr.... So my tank is still cloudy. I did another level check and all my levels have gone down but they are still high.
Ammonia: 0.5
Nitrate: 20
Nitrite:1.0
I have no idea what else I can do I will try another pwc. My dad wants me to go to Big Als and ask them but I don't want to have more chemicals shoved in my face. Please help lmao! Plus last night with my levels so high my guppies were still giving birth so could that be a good sign? Like could my testing be wrong? Anywho look forward to hearing from you and thanks for all your help!

I recommend continuing as you have been; daily pwc, no chemicals other than water conditioner. Having the filters off all day is a minor setback to rectifying things, but move forward now. Good luck.

Byron.

shaynaglover · 10-31-2009, 12:44 PM

Still cloudy :( My levels have gone down once again...
Ammonia: between 0 and 0.25 (there was a little tinge of green in the yellow)
Nitrate: 10
Nitrite 1.0
The levels are the only thing that seems to be getting better. I went to Big Als last night and talked to a lady there who deals with the fish only.... she reccomended that I get filter floss and if it does not clear up within a couple days then I am to bring a sample of my water in. She said that my water could be cloudy because I changed the media within the last couple of weeks, the pwcs, and because I vaccumed the gravel.... So I have no idea what to do next... Im getting frustrated.

Byron · 10-31-2009, 01:13 PM

This takes time, you have to be patient. Jumping in with some different "remedy" whatever it may be every day is not the way to go. We've set you on the correct path, please just follow. The cloudiness itself may be unsightly but it is the reason behind it that we have to fix, then it will go away. And the high levels of toxins is far more serious that cloudy water, and may be the cause or related to it. Continue with the pwc's and tests daily.

Byron.

shaynaglover · 10-31-2009, 07:40 PM

As you can see Im not a very patient person lmao. And waiting for replies on a post is not one of my favourite things to do. lmao.... I like info right at that moment that is why I went to Big Als. But this forum is a wealth of information and has a lot of great people who know what they are doing therefore I stick with it. I have learned a great deal from the posts on this forum and for that I thank you. My levels are still dropping but the water is not clearing I am going to continue to do pwcs daily and I will keep you posted.... Im hoping to have my levels back to normal within a couple of days the only one that is not budging is my Nitrites and I dont know how I can bring those down. Anywho I am going to bed cause I have to work tomorrow morning so I will post tomorrow with the levels again.

jeaninel · 11-01-2009, 12:07 AM

Patience grasshopper!! LOL I know how cycling can be frustrating waiting for levels to get to 0. But they will get there. Nitrites seem to take forever. All that testing and water changing every day then suddenly one day...Boom...ammonia and nitrites will be 0. You'll get there. Just need to be patient and keep doing what you're doing.

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