pestonoodle

Hello,

I have really cloudy water in my 20 gallon tank and it has been for about 3 days now. I think I put too many fish in which caused it. Now the ammonia is at about 4-6ppm down from about 8 a couple days ago. How long will it remain cloudy? Is this a good/bad sign. Im sorry I dont have reading for nitrates/ites. What do you think? How long will it last its getting really annoying because my tank has been cycling for about 4 weeks. I thought this usually happened at the beginning of the cycle. Any thoughts?

agabr123

the cloudiness is good, that means that a lot of bacteria is growing (which is a result of the very high ammonia in your tank). cloudiness can happen at any point during the cycle, or never. the only way to tell if the cloudiness has been caused by something else is to wait until your cycle is over. if it hasn't cleared up by the time that you have 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite, and 10ppm nitrate, then it could be caused by something else. until then, you should be doing daily water changes since your ammonia is so high and you have fish in your tank already.

good luck!

pestonoodle

I took the fish out because the ammonia was 4 PPM. For the cloudyness to go away do I need to have fish in it? (There were fish in it for about 2.5 weeks but there aren't any now, should I put them back?)Thanks!

agabr123

no dont put the fish back in. you should either add fish food daily or you can add a piece of raw shrimp (they will break down to produce ammonia). or you can buy pure ammonia (i.e. just ammonia and water) and add the ammonia to your tank daily (some members have had luck finding it at ace hardware, there's a thread on it around here somewhere, i'll look). you have to "feed" the cycle otherwise the bacteria will die without a source of ammonia.

no problem

CHoffman

What did you do with the fish you took out??

Fla_Larry

yeah, as CHoffman points out i trust your fishes is somewhere else safe, a major bacterial bloom is not a good thing to happen with them in the middle of it.

CHoffman

If your fish are in a cycled tank then that's better...As long as they are somewhat compatible with the other fish..But if they are in a bowl or a uncycled tank you should just put them back in and do daily 50% water changes..You just have to consider which is the worse of two evils?

Shawnie

pestnoodle..im not sure why you would ask about putting the fish back in after loosing the convict to ammonia posioning? that tank needs ot be cycled before any fish go back in it....if your other tank is fully established, cut off some filter media and some of the gravel and put it in the uncycled tank ..it will help seed it...test it daily until the ammonia and nitrites are 0 and the nitrates under 20 ...no one knows how long this will take as you started out the cycle with fish and now you need fish food or pure ammonia added to continue...do not put any fish in there as they could end up like the convict

pestonoodle

Sorry, I aksed because my friend who used to keep fish said fish needed to be in it in order to finish the cycle.

CHoffman

They don't have to be in there to finish the cycle if you use a substitute..Like pure ammonia, fish food that will break down and turn into ammonia, or a piece of raw shrimp that will also break down and turn into ammonia...You just have to have some source of ammonia to feed the bacteria..When the fish are in there it's their waste or poop that's causing the ammonia.

But where are your fish now?

Lucy

I agree Cesch. The aquarium needs a source of ammonia, it doesn't have to be fish.

Petsnoodle, with your ammonia readings, fish cannot live in your tank. Unfortunatly, they'll die like the others ones.

pestonoodle

Okay, my other Chichlid is in a 5 gal temporary housing. (The 1 inch Chich whos home it was doesn't like it but he doesn't try to pick a fight because the new one is so much bigger) Yes I know this is way too small but it's temporary just until the 20 gal cycles. Also I have a 10 gal with a gourami and a couple cory cats. Would a Convict do OK with them?

Also, How much food are we talking for "feeding" the tank. 1 pinch, more?

Lucy

I can't advise on the convicts, I don't know enough about them.

Personally, what I would do is get liquid test kits for nitrites and nitrates.
Your tank has high ammonia now, thats what the bacteria needs to grow....test it daily, when it starts to drop test for nitrites and nitrates.
If the ammonia gets close to 0 add a pinch of food per day until your readings are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites with some nitrates showing.

pestonoodle

So do I need to add food now or should I start adding when my ammonia hits zero?

Lucy

I think you really could do either one since your ammonia is so high now, just be sure to start adding a pinch a day before it gets to 0.
Can you take some water to the store and have them test for nitrites and nitrates?
We'd be able to give more accurate info if we knew those readings.

pestonoodle

Okay, Yeah I'm going to go get money back for my cichlid tommorow and I'll have it checked then.

Lucy

Great! Post them when you can and we'll have a better idea of where you are in the cycle.

lol, I just read a post from minnow in another thread. It reminded me. When they test your nitrites and nitrates ahve them write the numbers down. Don'r let them just say Good.