kittenface14

I picked up a 55 gallon tank last night. I brought it home and cleaned the heck out of it because the previous owner didnt take care of it. I spent 4hrs cleaning this tank and all that goes with it. I got rid of the filters because well we just wont touch what they looked like and I put new ones in. About 20 minutes ago I tested the water:
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
pH 7.6
Is this normal and why is my tank cloudy?

I also have a 29 gallon and I tested that tank since I had everything out and got the same readings, but this tank is crystal clear...weird to me, how about you?

Shawnie

this link will explain alot for you http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

its a link that is needed to be read for all fish tanks and good fishkeeping...

kittenface14

So, does the cloudy water mean that its starting a cycle?

Shawnie

after just being up one night, im thinking its more of something in the tank that wasnt rinsed like rocks or decorations? or maybe some residue from the cleaning solution you used? I dont think it would be a bacteria bloom just overnight but I could be wrong

Dozey

I don't think Shawnie would be at all wrong. Your tank could not have possibly started to cycle after 1 night. Certainly with zero ammonia and nitrites there is nothing in the water to cause a bacteria bloom. As Shawnie mentioned it is likely from the gravel or other media.

Or perhaps more importantly something you used to clean the tank. How did you clean the tank? Did you use any chemicals or cleaning agents?

kittenface14

I never use cleaning agents on my tanks. I filled the tank 6 times and with each fill I vaccumed the gravel until the sucktion was lost and scrubbed the decoration with the hottest water I could tolerate including the filter.

Im at a loss at what to do next. I never had an issue with my other tank and I have had that one for 7 years with one case of ICH and one case of high pH level. I just recently have become obsessed with my tank and egger to learn and do much more than I used too and with 71 new fry (Im so proud of them! ), I want to get the 55 gallon running perfectly to transfer fish to that tank.

Dozey

Well no cleaning supplies, a good thing.

Was the tank filled when you picked it up or was this a tank that had been sitting empty and dry for some time?

kittenface14

The tank was full when I picked it up, we had to drain it and it was really dirty but it looks brand new except for the cloudy water.

Dozey

I too recently acquired a used 35 gallon tank that was in use and absolutely horrid. Like you I took great pain to clean it the best I could. When filling the tank there was so much muck in the gravel that it turned the water as black as oil. I don’t recall how many hours my wife and I spent trying to clean up the mess.

Despite all our efforts when I was finally satisfied that we had done everything we could to clean the tank and filled it. Our water was still very cloudy. There was still so much sediment in the tank that it completely plugged my new filter every day. Thank heavens that my filter has overflow protection.

The good news is that it only took about a week before we had crystal clear water.

About a month later I decided to change the gravel. Drained the tank and removed the old gravel and was absolutely dumb founded at how much crud was still on the bottom of the tank. All the scrubbing in the world was having little effect on cleaning the bottom and I finally resorted to a razor blade to scrap it off.

My advice would be to give it a bit of time and let the filter do its job.

kittenface14

There isnt enough gravel in the tank so I know there is nothing stuck on the glass. The water was pretty nasty with sludge and it smelled not so pretty either, but the smell is gone and I will give it a week and if nothing changes I will remove the gravel and decorations and dump them and reclean the tank and add new.

Ty for your advice! I will sit back and give it a week!

Toxic

I would have removed the gravel to do a really good cleaning. I would go as far as recommend new gravel since you said there is not much in it anyway and some would have to be purchased anyway.

Dozey

That too was yet another problem we faced, not enough gravel. We got the tank with about ½” of gravel which was useless. We couldn’t keep plastic plants buried, much less bury an air stone. It was not just another problem but another mistake that I made as a month later I was tossing the 5lbs of blue gravel out and replacing it with 35lbs of natural gravel.

If you are thinking we need a whole bunch more gravel anyways I might also suggest you start off from scratch now and avoid the headache a month from now, as I wish I had.

kittenface14

I will be changing out the gravel this weekend and save myself some trouble. Shall I keep the current deco in there or shall I just toss them?

Any suggestions on color and type of gravel?

docjr03

Congrats on your new tank! I think the answer to this question is, it depends on what you are planning to put in the tank! I think brighter fish look better against darker rocks. If you are going to get some bottom dwellers, smoother is better. Good Luck!

Dozey

My best recommendation would be do what ever you find most appealing. If you really aren’t sure what you think you might like; check out the members photo galleries. There’s every example from natural to funky.

I went natural looking with plastic plants (oxymoron). I hope to eventually switch to live plants but for me there is still so much to learn about fish keeping.

kittenface14

You all are wonderful! Thank you very much for the help! I will be going to my LFS today to look at gravel! BTY the tank looks a bit better today its not as cloudy as it was yestarday!

Dozey

Glad to hear that the water is clearing up. In case you are not sure, plan on 1lbs of gravel per gallon. That will give you a 2” of cover. 3 – 20lbs should cover you.

AlyeskaGirl

Congrats!!! Yeah, I bought a used tank from someone, actually i didnt buy it it was x-mas gift!!!! It was already cleaned out and all the decors were put in zip lock bags and such. But I could smell the fake plants that were in the tank so I soaked them in bleach water for a few hours, then rinsed the heck out of them. The filter was pretty clean so just rinsed it out really good with a bit of scrubbing with the tubes. The gal I bought it from had bad pipes, so the water was brown....she tryed so hard I guess to make it work but the water just killed her fish. Anyway, I was so excited about it that when i got the gravel I forgot to rinse it off. lol I went with black and white. My 20 gall has smooth pebbles. Have fun!!!!