# Is cloudy water a symptom of high ammonia?



## gilfish (Apr 27, 2007)

I came home from a business trip to find my tank in a thick fog and both of my silver dollars dead. Gouramis and cichlids all look fine and are eating. Ammonia test was not "danger" but was high. Do you think it was ammonia that killed them. I had done a full cleaning and water change a few days before I left, and my tank has always been very clear. 

So is cloudy water a symptom of high ammonia? Thanks. 

55G Fresh
7 cichlids
2 guoramis


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## kitten_penang (Mar 26, 2008)

amonia kills anything including humans if they are high.sensitive fishes are the first to go


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## Romad (Jun 28, 2009)

what kind of filtration are you using?


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## gilfish (Apr 27, 2007)

Romad said:


> what kind of filtration are you using?


I have a Fluval 405. Always has kept the tank crystal clear. Thanks.


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## MoneyMitch (Aug 3, 2009)

kitten_penang said:


> amonia kills anything including humans if they are high.sensitive fishes are the first to go


 
+1 
chances are you had some type of spike in ammonia, The cloudiness could be a num,ber of things but in new tanks that are cycleing it is actually bacteria in the tank floating around im pretty sure. So maybe the tank went through a mini cycle and ammonia went to high for the dollars. by chance did you use a vacation feeder or have someone feed them while you were gone? over feeding will cause spikes in ammonia to~

just to be on the safe though test like 3 times a week and w/c as nessicary to get params where they should be.


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## dfbiggs (May 19, 2010)

gilfish said:


> I came home from a business trip to find my tank in a thick fog and both of my silver dollars dead. Gouramis and cichlids all look fine and are eating. Ammonia test was not "danger" but was high. Do you think it was ammonia that killed them. I had done a full cleaning and water change a few days before I left, and my tank has always been very clear.
> 
> So is cloudy water a symptom of high ammonia? Thanks.
> 
> ...


 
Did you use a weekend feeder block...that could definately fog your water and possibly cause the ammonia prob.


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## Romad (Jun 28, 2009)

sounds like your filter didn't malfunction or become clogged up then. not sure what caused your issue unless you did use one of those vacation feeders.

sorry you lost your fish


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

gilfish said:


> I came home from a business trip to find my tank in a thick fog and both of my silver dollars dead. Gouramis and cichlids all look fine and are eating. Ammonia test was not "danger" but was high. Do you think it was ammonia that killed them. I had done a full cleaning and water change a few days before I left, and my tank has always been very clear.
> 
> So is cloudy water a symptom of high ammonia? Thanks.
> 
> ...


 What foods were the silver dollars being fed? They are largely herbivores that need mostly veggie flakes,spirulina flakes,lettuce , Plant matter,etc. 
They also appreciate rather soft water as opposed to water that some species of cichlids need.
Dead fish will cause cloudy water along with elevated ammonia readings. 
Agree with others with respect to feeder blocks, they often cause more problems than any benefits . Is better to feed the fishes and then perform a water change just before you leave. If you are not going to be gone for more than a week, the fish will be fine.
If you are planning to be gone longer,,then carefully measuring out the daily or every other day amount of food that you wish for whomever to offer,,will prevent overfeeding.
Is possible the high ammonia reading is from the dead silver dollars?


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## gilfish (Apr 27, 2007)

It's 3 weeks and four 70% water changes later and I still have cloudy water. Right after water change it starts to get clear but within 24 hours it is white fog - not thick where I can't see the fish - just cloudy. I drove across town to the best LFS to have the water tested TWICE and they insist the water is perfect, although they did say that they do not trust their ammonia tests. I test ammonia every few days here at home (stick) and it comes up as light "stress" but never "danger". Nitrates. nitrites, pH, etc - all perfect. After several weeks of hearing the water was perfict, I bought a new small pleco and put it in and he was dead in 1 day. WTF?????? I treated with an "ammonia detox" product a couple of weeks ago (following the directions to a tee), but no change. I still have 6 perfectly healthy cichlids in there and 1 large guorami - they seem great. Might there be something stuck in the filter or something??? Thanks.


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

Would open filter and clean the pads,sponges,in old aquarium water at next water change. Cichlids are messy fish and the usual suggested maint for canister filter may not apply. 
Would also look to keep substrate vaccumed on regular basis to remove any possible organics or waste not removed during water changes. Would not do both at once, but rather one week ,clean the filter material,the next week, vaccum one half the gravel,the next week vaccum the other half of gravel. Would not replace all of filter material in a filter at one time should you decide to. To do too much at once can destroy beneficial bacteria and elevated ammonia levels would be expected.

Would look to decor or substrate ,and perhaps wonder if either could be leaching substances into the water column. (was everything rinsed well before placing it in the tank?)
Would also invest in reliable test kit and would not rely on strips, or fish store for accurate results. I might also test the tapwater for ammonia . There are no safe levels of ammonia in a tank holding fish. If reading indicates slightly stressed, who is to say that at some other point during the day or evening that levels aren't much higher?
As a member on another forum I belong to says... Saying you have a little ammonia is similar to saying one is a little pregnant. "You either have zero for ammonia ,or you don't. "
Some test kit's are much more reliable than others and are a very handy tool to have. I would suggest the API Freshwater Master Kit ,and I would also suggest PRIME or AMQUEL+ as reliable water conditioner/dechlorinator.


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