# cloudy water. Help!!!!



## svtcobra22 (Jan 30, 2012)

hey guys, recently i installed a fluval 406 canister filter. i had two penguin 200 power filters. i took one out so i can make room for the canister tubes. i still have the other penguin in there. i keep on having cloudy water and its been about 3 weeks since the install of the canister filter. i did a water change yesterday and its still cloudy. i tried using acurel f and it didnt work so i decided to put in my uv sterlizer to c if it will help. am i doing something wrong? please help me out.


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## Keleborn (Aug 26, 2013)

When you changed filters, you probably temporarily broke the nitrogen cycle. "Bacterial Blossom - Often cloudy water doesn't appear the instant an aquarium is set up. Instead it appears days, weeks, or even months later. In these cases the cause is usually due to bacterial bloom. As the new aquarium goes through the initial break in cycle, it is not unusual for the water to become cloudy, or at least a little hazy. It will take several weeks to several months to establish bacterial colonies that are able to clear wastes from the water. Over time that cloudiness will resolve itself". Cloudy Water Causes and Cures


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## svtcobra22 (Jan 30, 2012)

Keleborn said:


> When you changed filters, you probably temporarily broke the nitrogen cycle. "Bacterial Blossom - Often cloudy water doesn't appear the instant an aquarium is set up. Instead it appears days, weeks, or even months later. In these cases the cause is usually due to bacterial bloom. As the new aquarium goes through the initial break in cycle, it is not unusual for the water to become cloudy, or at least a little hazy. It will take several weeks to several months to establish bacterial colonies that are able to clear wastes from the water. Over time that cloudiness will resolve itself". Cloudy Water Causes and Cures



it keeps on getting worse and worse everyday. i dont know what to do at this point. i have tried everything at this point.


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## Keleborn (Aug 26, 2013)

What does a water test give you for ammonia, nitites, & natrate?


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## svtcobra22 (Jan 30, 2012)

Keleborn said:


> What does a water test give you for ammonia, nitites, & natrate?



i didnt do a water test because i ran out of strips but my fish are looking very healthy and dont show any sign of illness due to poor water quality. i dont know if i have to wait longer for the good bacteria to settle into the canister, its been running for about 3 weeks now. i am new to the whole canister filters and i dont know if it just takes a little longer.


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## beaslbob (Oct 17, 2012)

Kill the lifhgts and stop adding food.

Should clear up in a week or two.

Then resume with less lighting and feeding and adjust till the water stays clear.


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## Keleborn (Aug 26, 2013)

If your fish look healthy, it's probably just a bacterial bloom caused by changing the number of good filter bacteria. It can take over a month to clear up, because you can't raise the temp over 85 to speed things up. If you had another tank set up & cycled that you could put your fish in, you could raise the temp, otherwise, you just have to wait it out. Let us know if your fish start looking ill, and try to get your water tested. Some pet stores will do it for free, if you take a sample of your water to them.


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## svtcobra22 (Jan 30, 2012)

Keleborn said:


> If your fish look healthy, it's probably just a bacterial bloom caused by changing the number of good filter bacteria. It can take over a month to clear up, because you can't raise the temp over 85 to speed things up. If you had another tank set up & cycled that you could put your fish in, you could raise the temp, otherwise, you just have to wait it out. Let us know if your fish start looking ill, and try to get your water tested. Some pet stores will do it for free, if you take a sample of your water to them.


i will go and buy test strips this weekend and i will let you guys know what the water is like. would running a uv sterlizer be bad for the tank if it has the bacterial bloom?


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## Keleborn (Aug 26, 2013)

The idea behind a uv sterilizer is to kill anything living in the water that might harm your fish. Unfortunately, it kills the good stuff, too, so I would say no to the uv, but, I've never used one, as most of the literature says it's not worth the effort or expense in freshwater. Hopefully, we'll get somebody with enough experience in uv to weigh in here.


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## svtcobra22 (Jan 30, 2012)

yea you do have a point. i really appreciate all the help


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## Boredomb (Feb 21, 2011)

How long has the tank been set up?
What size tank and what livestock?
How much food are feeding? 

Water changes generally make these blooms worse and from what I have read UV lights don't help.


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## svtcobra22 (Jan 30, 2012)

Keleborn said:


> What does a water test give you for ammonia, nitites, & natrate?


so i just got the master test kit because i was tired of buying test strips all the time. here is what the readings are. 

ph 7.6 ppm

ammonia 4 ppm
nitrite 0 ppm
nitrate 20 ppm


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## Keleborn (Aug 26, 2013)

Nitrates a little high, but they should go down once the filters get enough denitrifying bacteria built up. The water should start clearing up.


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## Boredomb (Feb 21, 2011)

svtcobra22 said:


> so i just got the master test kit because i was tired of buying test strips all the time. here is what the readings are.
> 
> ph 7.6 ppm
> 
> ...


Generally you don't want to do water changes when you have bacteria blooms but with readings like that you dont have much of a choice. Ammonia at that lvl is deadly to fish. I would do 30-50% water changes daily till the ammonia was gone. During each water change I would also vacuum the substrate and might also cut back on the feedings. Once you get the lvls to safe numbers and you still have cloudy water stop doing daily water changes and go to once a week.


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## Keleborn (Aug 26, 2013)

False Ammonia Readings 
If your fish look healthy, (btw have you done a head count to make sure all your fish are alive?) It's possible to get a false ammonia reading. I'm saying this cause you said your fish still look healthy.


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## Boredomb (Feb 21, 2011)

Keleborn said:


> False Ammonia Readings
> If your fish look healthy, (btw have you done a head count to make sure all your fish are alive?) It's possible to get a false ammonia reading. I'm saying this cause you said your fish still look healthy.


This a good point and one I didn't think about. 

OP have you put any chemicals into your tank since the cloudy water started??
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## svtcobra22 (Jan 30, 2012)

Boredomb said:


> This a good point and one I didn't think about.
> 
> OP have you put any chemicals into your tank since the cloudy water started??
> _Posted via Mobile Device_



i did put a little bit of acurel in the tank. which maybe that could be why the ammonia reading is at 4ppm. yes keleborn i did a head count of the fish and they are all still there lol


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## Keleborn (Aug 26, 2013)

Lol. The only reason I thought to mention the head count; I once had a very small dead fish that clouded up my water & it stayed that way til I removed all the decorations & found him. He was part of a batch of half-grown Molly fry that I never did get an accurate count on, cause I kept getting more!


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## beaslbob (Oct 17, 2012)

svtcobra22 said:


> so i just got the master test kit because i was tired of buying test strips all the time. here is what the readings are.
> 
> ph 7.6 ppm
> 
> ...


if you have been using an ammonia lock like prime you might want to check the ammonia to see if that is total ammonia or free ammonia. The sechem multitest ammonia kit tests both:


Seachem. MultiTest: Ammonia

If the ammonia is locked basically do nothing. Any more addition of chemicals will further lock up oxygen and not reduce the ammonia readings of most test kits.

That would be especially true if basically more fish seem ok.

Regradless the addition of fast growing plants to suck out the ammonia is the way to go. 


my .02


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## Boredomb (Feb 21, 2011)

svtcobra22 said:


> i did put a little bit of acurel in the tank. which maybe that could be why the ammonia reading is at 4ppm. yes keleborn i did a head count of the fish and they are all still there lol


Hmmmm never heard of acurel causing a false reading. I guess *scratches head* it could? 

Is the reading still at 4??


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## beaslbob (Oct 17, 2012)

beaslbob said:


> if you have been using an ammonia lock like prime you might want to check the ammonia to see if that is total ammonia or free ammonia. The sechem multitest ammonia kit tests both:
> 
> 
> Seachem. MultiTest: Ammonia
> ...


 
corrected above.

.02


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## svtcobra22 (Jan 30, 2012)

Boredomb said:


> Hmmmm never heard of acurel causing a false reading. I guess *scratches head* it could?
> 
> Is the reading still at 4??


i just did a test and it went down to 2.0 :-D


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