Betta tank cloudy

I took my sisters betta from college and took it back to my house so I could keep him. Well, his water he was in was really cloudy. Its a 5 gallon tank with a filter, heater, and a light. The water parameters: Ph: 7.5, Ammonia:0 Nitrite: 0, nitrates 0-.5 (I have a freshwater master kit btw)
How should I get rid of the cloudiness? It doesn't seem like the filter is helping.

 

How did you move the aquarium? I used to take my tanks back and forth from college with me and during the drive, sometimes the good bacteria die off from lack of oxygen. It may just mean your tank's cycle is off and resetting. The fact that you have nitrates though with 0 ammonia and nitrite is great though! How long has it been set up at your house?

 

I put the filter and soaked it in the water he was in the whole time. I used most of his water he was already in (which was cloudy) and set it up in my room. Now, I researched it and it says it might be a bacterial bloom? Maybe just to wait it out?

 

Yes, definitely wait it out. If you kept the filter in the tank water I doubt you killed your bacterial colony. Unless you rinsed the filter in chlorinated water. Test daily for a week. If levels rise, change 25% of the water (about a gallon) retest after 30 mins, then if levels are safe, retest again in 24 hours. If levels remain safe for a few days, you're set. Test weekly. Since the tank is so small it's very easy to have shifts. Clean your filter weekly in dechlorinated tap water or distilled/reverse osmosis drinking water. Wal-Mart brand is safe. For water changes I would change a gallon every week. You can add spring water or dechlorinated tap water for this. But test the source water and tank water 30 mins after you add it to see what it has done to your ph and nitrogen levels. As long as you always use the same source, that is only necessary once unless you start having weekly issues. If you want to remove small levels of nitrate. get a betta plant, they are typically low light and can survive in indirect sunlight. Research the specific needs of the plant before buying and tips for preparing it for your tank. Do not put your tank in front of a window unless you like it green. The plant is not necessary. The cloudiness could just be that some gunk in the filter got stirred up. It should clear within a week. Maybe cleared already since you posted this.

Also, I recommend using seachem prime as a dechlorinator if you choose tap water as it also binds nitrites and nitrates, making them safe for your betta. This will help maintain a safe environment for him/her.

 

Thank you so much for this, I use seachem Prime after each water change. I will see if any of the water parameters changed from yesterday.
Thanks again!

 

I wouldn't use bottled water because the ph is different and could lead to pH shock. Just use tap water and dose prime.

 

Great advice. I'll also add that if your water does end up being fine ie no bloom or other possible cause. It can just be that the particles disturbed in the tank are too small for the filter to trap. That when you can add things like accuclear (API) drops which help bind these particles together so that they are big enough to be trapped in the media.

 

Update:
I put in a few drops of accuclear and:

Thanks everyone for your help!

 

Awesome you work fast. Glad it worked

 

That's amazing nice tank


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