chrisandkelly

I have been reading about the cloudy water as my tank has had it also. My question is everything I've been reading talks about a spike in ammonia when the tank is cycling. My water has been cloudy for about a week and I figured that it was starting to cycle however I have not had a spike in ammonia. Right now the ammonia is less then .02 and the pH 7.4. It is a 60 gallon tank with a mix of live and fake plants. All we have in it right now is an African knife and two balas. I'm just curious if the cloudiness might be caused by something else. Thanks for your help. I was also wondering how about how long it lasts.

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore!!(if i havent already )
but any ammonia will cause a cloudyness and sometimes, you wont see the ammonia right away either ...what test kit are you using and do you have a nitrite/nitrate reading yet? your tank is so new that the cloudyness is very normal and could off and on have a bacteria bloom up to a year old....id get some prime or amquel + and start with daily water changes until your cycle completes...also if you are running carbon in your filter, that needs to be changed out once a month so it doesnt leach the nasties back into the tank..once is absorbs a good amount of waste, about once a month it (3-4 weeks) needs to be changed or it leaches it all back in the tank .....if you dont run it, I would get some to run for a month to help with the cloudyness as far as your fish babies, I wouldnt put anymore in there as each can reach over 12 inches long ...the bala's actually ram into tanks the bigger they get as they are very skittish and need that horizontal space to swim...good luck with everything and I hope it gets better!

chrisandkelly

We actually have an ammonia test that stays in the aquarium and also the drops (don't remember who makes them right off the top of my head). Both don't show any reading yet. Our nitrites and nitrates both still read zero. I won't worry though and will just let it run it's course and continue with water changes. Thanks!

bolivianbaby

Welcome to Fishlore! Great information from Shawnie.

Shawnie

do not rely totally on those in tank readers...ive read many members have them fail and dont notice until this fish babies start passing an API liquid ammonia test kit is pretty cheap ....

aquarist48

Hello ChrisandKelly. Some great information above. I use the SeaChem ammonia detectors in my tank as well. However, I also test using the liquid test kits. It's a lot more comforting having a back up test just to be on the safe side.

Keep up with your water changes and add some Prime to detox the ammonia for the 24 hour period until it's time for the next water change.

Best of luck an keep us posted.
Ken