Priince

Hello,
I am having an aquarium for the first time. I have a 10 gallon tank, with a filter for 10 gal. and a heater. I got this started kit from Petsmart. I added some artificial plants, coral, a rock and gravels. I have 4 guppies in there.

I added guppies after 2 or 3 weeks. First I added two and then after a week added two more.

Now my problem is, its been 4-5 weeks but the water is still very cloudy and the fishes just swim at one place many times.. I took the water for test to petsmart and they said its a little harder, but it should not be a big problem. The pH was a little high too so I added some powder that they suggested.

Its been 3 days but still the water is very cloudy.

Any ideas/suggestions why this might be happening?

Please advice.

Thanks,
Prince

lolagurl

i dont know... but there is this stuff you can get clear water... put 1 drop per gallon it clears up the water at least..

Priince

Yes, but the petsmart person recommended not to use it if possible as it has chemicals.

lolagurl

hmm.. i dont know..i dont really trust petstore people, but im sure that the staff must be right on this one if theyre discouraging you from buying it.. i just dont know why they would sell it if it is harmful..i have it and used it a couple of times..my fish are fine though..what did they tell you to do... i really would use this stuff clear water though i used it even in my delicate fish tanks

Priince

Thanks for your replies I was thinking of waiting for few more days and then get that stuff. I just wanted to take some more advice from more experienced people around.

Gargoyle

How long has it been cloudy ??

Do you have a biological bed in place for the beneficial bacteria to live in ?? Also what kind of filter to you have ??

I think I have a couple of good suggestions to keep you away from chemicals but I need to know what you have first.. I have a ten gallon with 3 guppies, a snail, a ghost shrimp, and 13 fry in it right now and the water is crystal clear... Although my filtration system is a bit unorthodox it works very well.

Anyway let me know what you have and it'll help me suggest a couple of things to you.

Priince

Its a power filter for a 10 gallon tank that came with the started kit. I dont have any biological bed in the filter.

The water has been cloudy for almost 2-3 weeks. The cloudiness varies every other day, but its never clear.

Gargoyle

Alright so tell me a bit more about this filter... Like name brand etc..

Also try cutting back either the amount you feed them or the frequency for a little while and see if that helps.

Priince

I just got back yest. I was out of town. One of the fishes died. I took the water for test. The ammonia had increased, so Petco gave me a denitrifier. I have added that and added about 1/3 of purified water. I got some new flakes called tetracolor.

The filter is a simple one I guess, not a bio filter. I think the name is topfin for a 10 gallon tank.

I am not sure if the fishes are eating enough. I flakes are just floating all over the surface.

I am hoping nothing happens to the other three

armadillo

Hi Prince. It sounds like your tank had not cycled if you're getting ammonia. First things first (if your fish are still with us, if not, to prevent this happening to you again):

Read this article on the nitrogen cycle: http://www.fishlore.com/Forum/97-aqu...d-first.0.html

Then, get a test kit (not the paper type). Everybody seems to swear by the API kit. Once you have the kit, regularly (2x daily) test your ammonia and nitrite. Daily test your nitrate. As your tank establishes itself, you should have no more nitrates/nitrites, and you should just test the nitrate if you have suspicions that something is not right (e.g. purple gills, gasping for air). For ammonia and nitrite, anything > 0 means your tank has not cycled, or is going through a mini cycle.

Here are the toxicity levels in my experience: ammonia > 0.5 is toxic to your fish. I would not recommend nitrate > 25 or nitrite > 1. If you see anything higher than that, perform a 50% water change. Do condition the water before putting it back in (use Prime). You should always condition tap water, even when not cycling.

Oh, and you're overfeeding your fish (that's why there's flakes left). Their stomach is no bigger than their eye, apparently, so that's a tiny quantity. You must always scoop up uneaten food (or nitrate/nitrite levels may raise).

Do you vaccuum your gravel? If not, please start doing so.

I hope it's not too late. Judging by the date of the post, it may well be.