Tank looking cloudy.

staticfiend

1. Size of aquarium (# of gallons) 50
2. Is your aquarium setup freshwater or brackish water? Fresh
3. How long the aquarium has been set up? 5 days
4. What fish and how many are in the aquarium (species are important to know) 2 Tiger Barbs, 2 Gold Barbs, 2 Gourami
5. Are there live plants in the aquarium? No
6. What temperature is the tank water currently? 78
7. What make/model filter are you using? Undergravel
8. Are you using a CO2 unit? No
9. Does your aquarium receive natural sunlight at any given part of the day? Not directly
10. When did you perform your last water exchange, and how much water was changed? Havent changed yet
11. How often do you perform water changes? n/a
12. How often and what foods do you feed your fish? Tetra flakes about 6 per day
13. What type of lighting are you using and how long is it kept on? About 6 hours at night.
14. What specific concerns bring you here at this time? Cloudy water
15. What are your water parameters? Test your pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Dont have a kit yet.
16. What test kit are you using and is it liquid or test strips? n/a
17. When was the last time you bought a fish and how did they behave while in the pet store tank? They all were fine at the store.

Well my tank has only been set up for about 5 days. We had the water tested before we bought fish. It had Chlorine and Ammonia in it. So the guy at the fish store said to add Chloram-X. So we added it before we added the fish. Now the all seem to be fine minus the one of the Tiger Barbs that is swimming in a downward motion constantly.

So then yesterday the water started to look cloudy. It was perfectly clear before and we've only fed them once. Is the tank starting to cycle? Do I have to many bubbles going. Just need some guidance on this.

Little-Fizz

Yeah, if the tanks getting cloudy then you've probably started cycling. I would do a small water change if I were you, are you intending on keeping the fish your cycling with? If you are then definitely do a 25% water change.

staticfiend

Yes we want to keep all of the fish! Now since I started the tank last Thursday when should I do the water change?

Little-Fizz

Well since you've added the fish and its been set up a week then I would say there would be more then enough toxins in the water to be deadly to your fish. Theres no way to tell until you pick up a water tester, unless your fish are showing obvious symptoms, like clouded eyes, clamped fins, or at the surface gasping for air.

I would do say a 25% water change now, and maybe smaller daily or every other day 10-15% water changes for the next week or so until you get your test kit and can keep an eye on the water parameters. Have you looked into the kind of test kit to get? I recommend API liquid master test kit with pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Don't buy strips, your just wasting your money.

Did you know that barbs tend to be nippy? Do the tigers and gold barbs shoal together? I'm not sure how it works with the different kinds but normally you need 5-6 barbs in a shoal to keep the nips between themselves.

staticfiend

Thanks for the advice Little-Fizz. I'm going to the pet store right now to get a PH test kit(the liquid kind). What do I do if the nitrite, nitrate levels are too high?

The Tigers and the Golds seem to get along well. The Tiger does nip at the Gourami's though.

Little-Fizz

Well if you get the API then its a little box with all four tests included, it also tests for high pH.

If you find ammonia, and nitrites to be high then do a small water change. Nitrates are good though, and so long as they are in the safe range 5-40ppm then you shouldn't have to worry about them.

Hmm... You may want to try adding a few more tigers then, or try and re home or of those two fish. The gouramis could end up in bad shape if the tigers go at them for too long.