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Discussion starter · #21 ·
girlofgod said:
did you rinse your gravel at all? it is recommended that you rinse it for several minutes to remove tiny particles so that your water won't cloud...it could be that...

bri
Bri, yeah I did that. The fish tank was handed down to me after many years of storage. I rinsed the rocks, then I boiled them to make sure there was no risk of bacteria, rinsed once more, then put them in the tank.
 
sorry josh...i should have paid closer attention.
on, no prob!

dprUsh83: I've reached the limit of my expertise so it is up to the other forum members now!
 
Well, maybe a few more questions:

Is your filter an OK size for the tank?
Is the filter clogged?
Does the filter media need to be replaced?
Have you been doing water changes regularly?
 
Discussion starter · #26 ·
jsm11482 said:
Well, maybe a few more questions:

Is your filter an OK size for the tank?
Is the filter clogged?
Does the filter media need to be replaced?
Have you been doing water changes regularly?
My filter is a Secondnature Whisper Powerfilter :)?:). I'm going to buy some new filters today, just to be sure...but the filter looks pretty clean. I checked to make sure there were no clogs and it was okay.

As far as water changes, it has been up under a week...I planned to change water weekly, maybe I need to give it an early change since everything is new?
 
im not sure what causes the water to be cloudy but all i know is that all 3 tanks if had in the past have been cloudy when first starting.In my newly started tank i used(mardel brite N clear it says on the bottle that it clears cloudy water. on my tank it worked within 4 hours! the active ingredient is aluminum sulfate.when starting that tank of yours add fish slowly(if your planning on adding more) and dont get discuraged.i also recemend a gravel vac you would be amazed at the amount of detrus you can suck up,only feed fish once aday,its better to underfeed than to over feed.If you have some free time read up on how biological filltration works it will make comunicating with some of the nerds here much easier. :D
 
Nerds?:squint:
:crazy:

If the fish are juveniles, then you try feeding them thrice rather than once so as not to stunt their growth.

dprUsh83 said:
As far as water changes, it has been up under a week...I planned to change water weekly, maybe I need to give it an early change since everything is new?
Hi mate,
You need to buy the test kit on ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. On the first, maintain them as constant zero. Any increase in both will harm your fish. To lower the level of ammonia and nitrites, just do frequent water changes.
 
Discussion starter · #31 ·
Well I cycled the water (about 5 gallons), and the tank looks much better. I still have some cloudiness, but there is a noticeable improvement. If it looks the same in a couple of days I'm going to do another cycling. If it gets worse I suppose I'll worry about it at that time.

I also did a PH test and it is between 7.6 and 8.2, which I believe is high for my fish. I'm curious though, is this dangerous to the point that i need to run out and buy something to fix this?
 
No. pH will not matter at this point. As you don't keep fish that are delicate and thriving in soft, acidic water, I wouldn't worry about it.
Did you buy the test kit on ammonia, nitrites and nitrates?

By the way, you got the term "cycle" wrong.
It's "water change".
The term "water change" is replacing an amount of old water with a new one(which should be dechlorinated of course).


To "cycle" is allowing your tank to mature with bacteria establishing colonies to convert dangerous substances like ammonia and nitrites to harmless nitrates(at a level below 40 ppm).
Ammonia->nitrites->nitrates
 
Discussion starter · #34 ·
Woke up today and the water looks MUCH better. There is still just a hint of cloudiness but after 1 more cycle I think I'll be crystal clear. Thanks to everybody who walked me through this! 8)
 
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