kevsnewfish

We just bought a 14 gallon aquarium for our son's birthday. We followed all of the set up instructions, put in the chemicals and let is set for 24 hours before adding fish. When we first set it up, it was beautiful! We had put gravel, a little cave and 4 of the artificial plants (thoroughly rinsed first). Next, we added the fish. Less than 24 hours after adding the fish, the water started turning cloudy and we lost 4 ghost fish. I took the fish and a separate bag with some tank water to the pet store. They said the pH was only slightly high and to change out 10 to 20% of the water. We did that, and now for the past two days, the water is really murky and a slight odor when I open the top. HELP!!! What is causing this and how can I fix it? Thank you so much for any suggestions!!!

navyscuba

Welcome to FL. Well To begin with you have come to the right place. Stores do anything to get you to buy stuff from them. Your first mistake was to put fish on it with out knowing about the nitrogen cycle.
Here is the link.
Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle Article - Read First
Second your tank will remain cloudy as the cycle goes to work. I will recommend taking the fish back to the store until the cycle is complete but you will need to add food everyday to help the bacteria in the tank to establish. The next thing is to have a test kit we recommend here the API Master Kit is a bit expensive but it last for few years. Good Luck.

iloveengl

I second navyscuba 100%. I just finished giving another newcomer the same advice

If you do feel the need to keep your fish (mind you they will likely develop disease and shortened lifespans form dealing with the stress of cycling), then you are going to want to buy a bottle of Prime and commit to daily 30% water changes for the next month or two.

Cycling without fish is SO much easier, faster, and of course you don't have to worry about the fish. While it is cycling, you can explore stocking options best suited for that size tank as well as aquascaping ideas.

And last, but most certainly not least, WELCOME to FishLore, where we are ready to help with whatever you need.

(And enable you at every turn... did someone say MTS?)

bolivianbaby

Welcome to Fishlore! Great advice above.

jdhef

Welcome to FishLore

Well it looks like you ended up here, the same way most of us ended up here, from getting bad advice from the pet store.

The most important thing you can do at this point is read about and understand the nitrogen cycle. In a nutshell, fish waste, decaying food etc. release ammonia into the water. This ammonia is toxic to fish and will kill them. But eventually a bacteria will form in your tank that consumes the ammonia. But the by-product og this ammonia consumption is nitrite. Nitrite too is toxic to fish. Eventually an addition bacteria will form that consumes the nitrites. The by-product of the consumption of nitrites are nitrates. Nitrates at low levels will not harm your fish. So once you tank cycles you will have the necessary bacteria to keep ammonia at zero and nitrites at zero. The only way to keep your nitrates to acceptable levels (under 20-40ppm) is thru partial water changes. (Usually 25-50% weekly depending on how fast your nitrates build up.) Keep in mind that the more ammonia that goes in, the more nitrates you end up with.

aquarist48

Hello KevsNewFish. Welcome to Fish Lore. Great information above. I know it seems like a lot of information being thrown towards you at one time. Cloudy water is natural for a new tank. It's probably an algae bloom that will go away on it's own in time so try not to stress over it too much.
As stated above the Nitrogen Cycle is crucial to fish keeping. Sadly fish stores don't bother to give you this information.
If and when you have questions don't hesitate to ask. That's why we're here Most all of us have been where you are currently with your tank. It will get better!

Ken

I have moved your thread to the "more aquarium topics/cloudy water" section of the forum. It may help you to get more responses. Thanks!
Ken