White Cloudy Water

[Critterstruck]

I don't know what the deal is. I have never had a problem with any of my aquariums in the past, but this one just seems to be full of them. I had a terrible time getting my fish to eat, and I could never seem to get all the leftovers out (I have sand, so it all sits on top). Now they seem to be thriving on the leftovers, but my water is turning white, and it's getting harder and harder to see through. I'm going in to town tomorrow and I'm going to pick up some dried brine shrimp to see if they like that better (I might have to make another thread about that one). The main thing is: is this harmful to my fish, the white water? Will buying another filter cartridge help (Top Fin Power Filter 10)? I haven't had this kind of problem before ... discolored from algae, yes, but not this. I don't think there is any algae in my tank. This isn't cycling. This is ... just frustrating. It sat for almost four or five weeks before I could put my first fish in it. I've had it since June, and until now it's been fine.

[rodm81]

Is it safe to say you did a fish less cycle? The experts are gonna wanna know water parameters i.e ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH. From what I've read here is that cloudy water is a bacteria bloom and you could be going through some sort of "mini" cycle.

[Critterstruck]

I have, and ever since I got the tank, up through another test yesterday, my water parameters have been very low, almost exactly as they were once the tank cycled. I've been wondering if maybe it's somehow cycling again due to the sudden presence of so much uneaten food. Oh yes, and ALSO, I gave them one of those Tetra Gel feeder blocks. Almost instantly, something that looked like mold started forming in the middle of it. I had scratched some off, to try and interest my very uninterested fish, but this wasn't where the mold was forming. Like the very center of it turned all gooshy and nasty-looking, like it was rotting before my eyes. I didn't think much about it before, but now that I describe it, it's pretty freaky and bears notice.

[ElizabethJKR]

If it's cloudy white, it's most likely a bacterial bloom. I think it clears up on its own. Might want to do a water change. I picked up some stuff from a local fish store that cleared up the water quickly.

[Fyrehawk]

I agree with rodm. If you have ammonia and nitrite levels that would help but you prolly have inadvertently triggered a mini cycle followed by a bloom of the BB causing the cloudines.

Should clear up. If your nitrites are high that would confirm this.

[Critterstruck]

A bacterial bloom seems more and more likely.

pH 6.0, Ammonia ~0ppm, Nitrate ~0ppm, and Nitrite ~0ppm ... as though clean out of the tap (we have R/O water). If it's going through a cycle, is that dangerous to the fish? All of my fish are very very young (none were purchased, they simply landed in my hands by some means or another), and one has damaged fins from getting picked on in its previous home.

It keeps getting thicker, so I'm hoping it will clear. If it isn't ... well, I might make it back to the store next week, or I might be placing an order for clarifier through Amazon.

[angel_love]

Sounds like a bacteria bloom, you really don't need chemicals to get rid of it. It will go away on its own and will not cause any harm to your fish or plants.

[angel_love]

A bacterial bloom seems more and more likely.

pH 6.0, Ammonia ~0ppm, Nitrate ~0ppm, and Nitrite ~0ppm ... as though clean out of the tap (we have R/O water). If it's going through a cycle, is that dangerous to the fish? All of my fish are very very young (none were purchased, they simply landed in my hands by some means or another), and one has damaged fins from getting picked on in its previous home.

It keeps getting thicker, so I'm hoping it will clear. If it isn't ... well, I might make it back to the store next week, or I might be placing an order for clarifier through Amazon.


I just re-read this post. The cloudy water itself will not harm your fish but a cycle will. If you are testing 0 for all 3 then your cycle hasn't even kicked in yet. Get ready to do daily water changes, test the water daily and keep some prime handy. If your tank is going through a cycle then adding more chemicals to clear up the water is really the last thing you want to do, it won't be good for your fish or the cycle.

[Critterstruck]

o_O My cycle took three months to kick in. Whaaattheheck. How do I know when to start changing the water?

[ElizabethJKR]

It might not be the cycle kicking in. I have zero for all my readings and I have live plants which I think is why I'm at zero for everything. I test my water daily and I know I'm not the greatest fish keeper and I sometimes forget to do water changes and I overfeed, but I've never had the ammo spike or have nitrates or nitrites spike.

[Critterstruck]

What in the world could it be? I could almost see how it's never been through a cycle before, even though I've added bacteria in the past. I used a CaribSea substrate, which is supposed to have the chemicals in it to cycle the water, reportedly "overnight." I've also been using Microbe-Lift's Special Blend, which claims to be, among many other things, "a new tank starter for biological cycling," both before adding my first fish and before adding these ones. I suppose I should have just stuck with something like Stress Zyme. I liked my old product, but they don't make it anymore. I don't even remember what it was called, but it worked, and I had no trouble at all, even though I lived in school and, because of moving back and forth, I had to re-setup my tank multiple times. My fish and my water never had any problems (unless they had preexisting issues). I thought I was knew what I was doing when I finally took that one down. And then I got this one. >_>

[Fyrehawk]

Given this I think you are cycling. Watch the levels and read lady Hobbs sticky on cycling with fish. Your products accelerate the start but you've got to let it go through...
How old is your setup?

[Critterstruck]

Three months. I'm monitoring the water, now, and it doesn't seem to be any worse (might be clearer, actually, it's hard to say).
I will definitely go over that article. thumbs2:

[angel_love]

When did you add the sand? Did you rinse it first?

[angel_love]

If you have no nitrates then I'm confused. It is impossible for a cycled tank to have NO nitrates at all, even with a planted tank. It could still be a bacteria bloom....

[Critterstruck]

I added the sand about three months ago to clean water, and it says on the package not to rinse it, or I would have done so (will do so next time...what a crazy thing to tell people...i guess because there's supposedly some kind of beneficial stuff in it - it comes wet). The sand was pretty clean by the time I got my first fish, though. She wouldn't take flake food, though, and the food got kinda white and moldy-looking where I couldn't get it out of the tank (I solved that problem today with a turkey baster). I did my best to clean it before I added these fish. Up until this week, these fish have been fine, if rather inactive, aside from one of the guppies.

I tested just now, and still nothing seems to be rising. Oh and my fish are constantly hungry but don't seem to be interested in eating anything I give them ... and seem to be eating something and producing waste though I can't imagine what from ... no idea if that's related or not, but on the off chance that it helps....

[Critterstruck]

So, here's a news flash: Apparently, liquid test kits go bad over time. Which would render mine, having spent I don't know how much time in a house that didn't have air conditioning until the middle of last summer, has gone bad and is utterly useless (http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/showthread.php?t=36656).... Any really cheap recommendations? I just spent a lot of money getting food that my fish might actually eat.

[Lady Hobbs]

I've had the same test kits for over a year and longer and never had one go bad. But if you have a cycled tank, and somehow forget to add dechlorinator or remove all the filter media to change it, you have a tank that has been set- back. Same as if you have a new cycle and then go nuts cleaning all the filter media and change the filter at the same time. It's nothing more than an interupted cycled.

Water will then turn white because you now have an unbalanced tank. It's called New Tank Syndrome.

It's nothing more than an imbalance and dumping chemicals in the tank to make the water clear will simply not work. It will clear up on it's own in a few days once the bacteria can catch up.

PS......food laying in the tank rots and causes ammonia. Feed very, very little, get that dumb food block out of the tank and don't use them.

[Critterstruck]

Oh yeah! I definitely took the food block out because it looked horrible, the tank was getting harder to see, and the fish weren't eating it, anyhow. I wasn't so such I wanted them to!

I invested in a turkey baster yesterday, and it's really helped me get all the junk out of the corners of the tank without stirring everything up and pulling all the water (as with a gravel vacuum).

:) Thanks, guys! It's starting to look better!

[Critterstruck]

Just to update on the status: I read a review on Foster & Smith, where I bought some of my supplies, that complained about the glowing ornaments making the water cloudy. I've removed mine, just to see if maybe that clears up the water. Yes, it is still cloudy. I stopped feeding my corys at night, and they've started coming out a little more to forage.