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Freshwater Beginners A place where freshwater aquarium fish beginners can go to post their questions and hopefully get responses from those more experienced. Also check out the Freshwater Fish Beginner's Guide and Aquarium Setup Guides. Setting up a new freshwater aquarium can be a rather large project and you want to make sure you do it right the first time. If you need help with your fish tank please don't be afraid to ask questions. That's what this fish forum is all about!

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Old February 4th, 2009  
Fish Lore Newbie
 
Please Help The Newbie.

Just purchased 10gallon home aquarium starter kit on monday, when I purchased the tank store employee told me to wait at least a day after I set it up before putting fish in, set the tank up on monday, put in aquasafe to treat water (I guess), rinsed gravel before I put it in, I did put 2 glow in the dark fake plants and 1 medium hiding place 1 small tank decor. Once the tank was up and running filter and all the water was nice and clear, on wednesday evening I added fish 2 mollies and 1 platie, to day is thursday my water is getting cloudy. can some one tell me what am I suppose to be doing that I'm not
Mz.ydideye is offline  
Old February 4th, 2009  
Fish Master
 
50% water changes everyday until your tank is cycled.
Unfortunatly, what the staff did not tell you, is that your tank needs to go through the nitrogen cycle before fish can be safely added. You will need to buy an aquraium test kit (API Master kit rec) and test your water daily to see when your cycle ends.
Amanda is offline  
Old February 4th, 2009  
Fish Master
 
GREAT links to help you:

http://www.fishlore.com/Beginners.htm
Amanda is offline  
Old February 4th, 2009  
Fish Helper
 
First off, welcome to Fish Lore!

The cloudiness is probably a bacterial bloom - nothing to be worried about, it'll go away on its own in a few days.

Unfortunately, you will be facing the issues of an uncycled tank. Do a little reading on the Nitrogen Cycle. Since you've already got fish in there, I'd recommend getting a bottle of Tetra SafeStart to jump-start things for you. Until then, you'll probably want to do a ~25% water change every day to keep the ammonia levels down.

Also, you'll probably want to invest in a good test kit for your water. Everybody around here swears by the API master liquid test kit, and for good reason. It'll let you know for sure when you're through the cycle. It might seem a little pricey, but compared to test strips that do the same thing, it's much more accurate, and will last alot longer.

Finally, DON'T add products like Stress Zyme or Cycle that claim to help the biological filter - they don't have the correct type of bacteria in them, and you'll have to add them to your tank indefinitely.

I know it seems a bit daunting right now, but once you get past the initial cycle, it really is easy!

*edit*

Forgot to mention... Until you add the SafeStart, or if you want to try cycling without it, add API Stress Coat + (make sure it's the + version) whenever you do a water change. It'll detoxify the ammonia in the water so your fish won't be harmed, but it'll still make it available to the ammonia-eating bacteria. Other ammonia clearing products flat-out remove the ammonia, which will impede your cycling progress!

*editedit*

Lol... Prime (not sure who makes it) does the same thing as Stress Coat +, and more Fish Lore members seem to like it. I personally use Stress Coat + because I can't find anyone who sells Prime around here.

Last edited by cg49me; February 4th, 2009 at 07:17 PM.
cg49me is offline  
Old February 4th, 2009  
Fish Master
 
API Master kit:
http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS...rmastertestkit
Amanda is offline  
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