10 Gallon Tank Any idea why my new cycling 10 gallon is foggy?

Here's the photo:

https://imgur.com/a/z2WxroN

I've been cycling for about two weeks now. I'm using the ADA Amazonia V2 aqua soil, which requires a lot of water changes. I've already done about 10 water changes by now, but the water stays foggy.

Ammonia - 1 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Nitrate - 0 ppm

Is my filter just too weak for a 10 gallon? I'm using this one, which seems to have a lot of water flow -- but only contains one tiny sponge in it:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TLK2XXD?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

I'm using the 5-10 gallon version.

 

It's normal for new tanks to be a bit cloudy at first. It's just a bacterial bloom

 

Your tank is cycling and you will experience bacteria blooms and algae blooms that cause cloudy water, It just means that things are working. it will pass.

 

Awesome! Thanks. I'll just keep waiting until it clears up.

 

I'm more interested in why there's so little progress in your cycle two weeks into cycling. You should be getting some nitrites by now... Unless it has something to do with the soil, as I'm not familiar with it?

 

The cloudiness could just be a bacteria bloom - which won't get filtered out but will go away as the tank cycles and you do water changes.

I would worry that your filter won't be able to maintain/cycle your tank. the sponge is way to small.
I guess it depends on how many fish you want - and how often you want to do water changes.

I'm a big fan of AquaClear hang on back filters - and/or sponge filters. I tend to oversize my filters so I have the AquaClear 50 in my 10 gallons (plus I can move them to a 20 gallon later) - and you can adjust the flow rate - but you should be fine with a 20 or 30. I really like how they are easy to do maintenance on.

In your case since you want your tank to look nice I would go with an AquaClear it basically doesn't take up much tank space.

https://www.amazon.com/Aqua-Clear-F...lies&sprefix=aquaclear+20,pets,52&sr=1-1&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002602S2?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

 

I'm more interested in why there's so little progress in your cycle two weeks into cycling. You should be getting some nitrites by now... Unless it has something to do with the soil, as I'm not familiar with it?

I think its because he cleaned the tank 10 times.
Are you sure you need to clean this much? how much volume are you chang? What are you using to seed the cycle?
The filter should be fine for the small amount of fish that are recomended for a 10-gallon tank. But I personally prefer to over filter and also it is good to add extra filter media, a hang-on the-back filter like a Marineland bio-wheel is more ideal as it has the bio wheels to provide a home for good bacteria, and the filter cartridges and they have room to stuff in extra stuff that houses bacteria. So when it comes time to clean the filter, you can set the media aside, and put it back into the clean filter untouched.

 

I'm not familiar with that filter, but looking at the details here are my thoughts:

- It says it is rated at 53 GPH. That's probably OK if you are not fully/over stocked but is on the low end of what you need.
- It looks like it has a sponge and then a small compartment for media, but the media it mentions is activated carbon. If you have not already, take out the activated carbon and replace it with some type of biomedia (rings, finer sponge, etc). You need more than just the small sponge for your bacteria to grow in and you don't need activated carbon unless you are specifically trying to remove something from the water (i.e. medication).

The cloudiness is pretty normal but I think your lack of progress on the cycle is probably because the BB have limited places to grow. With that setup, you will be overly reliant on the substrate for bacteria IMO.

 

I'm more interested in why there's so little progress in your cycle two weeks into cycling. You should be getting some nitrites by now... Unless it has something to do with the soil, as I'm not familiar with it?

The ADA Amazonia V2 aqua soil says to do daily water changes the first week, every other day second week, every 3rd day during third week, and once a week during the 4th week. This is the instructions from ADA... so I assume that might also slow down the cycle a bit, or keep the Nitrates near zero.

I'm entering the third week now and switching to every third day water changes.

I also have the temp pretty low, about 73.5 degrees because I saw on the Green Aqua YouTube video that going too warm can cause algae. I'd rather go warm later when I'm actually ready for my fish so I don't start algae from now.

 

Hi Mark, This is very nice, wow!

Totally normal, nothing to worry about at all, just keep doing what you are doing. all looks to be going quite well actually the water will clear, no need to rush.

the filter you have is going to force the majority of your bacterial colony to establish on your tank surfaces, and on and in your soil, there's nothing wrong with that at all. Might be a problem if you intend to heavy stock or over stock, but this set up doesn't look like it's a set up made by someone with an interest in having a ton of fish messing with the scape

 

Although my little internal filter might be OK for a 10 gallon, I decided to change it to a Seachem Tidal 35 HOB filter because I already have one that I'm not using from an old tank -- and it's in great condition. I cleaned it out with 5% bleach and attached it to this cycling 10 gallon tank -- all is well now, with a lot more filtration, and the ability to add things like biomedia, purigen, filter floss, etc. This should work a lot better for me.

 

Although my little internal filter might be OK for a 10 gallon, I decided to change it to a Seachem Tidal 35 HOB filter because I already have one that I'm not using from an old tank -- and it's in great condition. I cleaned it out with 5% bleach and attached it to this cycling 10 gallon tank -- all is well now, with a lot more filtration, and the ability to add things like biomedia, purigen, filter floss, etc. This should work a lot better for me.

Well, you can always stick a 90 gallon sump tank on that 10 gallon if you need more room!

 

Well, you can always stick a 90 gallon sump tank on that 10 gallon if you need more room!

With a 90 gallon sump tank, you will be able to run multiple 10 gallons off it too!

 

With a 90 gallon sump tank, you will be able to run multiple 10 gallons off it too!

Like 9 more to be exact. Hahaaha. The whole "10x filtration" sounds absurd when it's visualized as a 10g with a 100g size sump.