Cloudy water and white fish poop??

[Valyvaky]

So my new tank I added the fish after cycling it for 72 hours and well they all appeared to be constipated after I feed them so I feed them peas to treat it. And now only feeding the once a per day and other meal but peas but now one of my fish has white poop and the tanks water is cloudy? What does this mean?

 

[Broggy]

welcome to fshlore!

so first to get you familiarized, when fish poop, it introduces ammonia into the tank, they also exhale ammonia. ammonia is toxic to fish. next nitrite naturally develops and eats ammonia, nitrite is toxic. after that, nitrate comes and eats nitrite, nitrate is a lot less toxic then ammonia and nitrite, and helps an aquarium thrive.

so what you did was not cycle the tank, you just let the filter run. what a cycle is, is when bacteria naturally develops to eat harmful waste. the problem here is that your filter has no bacteria in it, so when the fish poop, and create ammonia and nitrites, there isnt enough nitrate to eat those. Fish In Nitrogen Cycle Simplified | Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle Forum | 414083 read this. I suggest you do a fish in cycle. limit the food you feed your fish, do water changes when needed, and have some ammonia and nitrite neutralizing chemicals. the bacteria you need to cycle a tank, are in the fish!

 

[AIvinn]

Hi there, and welcome to Fishlore! = )

It doesn't take 72 hrs to cycle a tank unfortunately, although we all wish it did. It can take anywhere from 4-8 weeks, if you do things correctly. I also suggest that you read up on this article provided by this link, when time allows. ---> Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle

Best of luck. Ask questions. = )

P.S - Cloudy water is usually a sign of a bacterial bloom. Not necessarily beneficial bacteria but the other types of bacteria that help the waste breakdown in your tank. It frequently happens when people first add fish to their tank for some reason.

 

[Valyvaky]

welcome to fshlore!

so first to get you familiarized, when fish poop, it introduces ammonia into the tank, they also exhale ammonia. ammonia is toxic to fish. next nitrite naturally develops and eats ammonia, nitrite is toxic. after that, nitrate comes and eats nitrite, nitrate is a lot less toxic then ammonia and nitrite, and helps an aquarium thrive.

so what you did was not cycle the tank, you just let the filter run. what a cycle is, is when bacteria naturally develops to eat harmful waste. the problem here is that your filter has no bacteria in it, so when the fish poop, and create ammonia and nitrites, there isnt enough nitrate to eat those. Fish In Nitrogen Cycle Simplified | Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle Forum | 414083 read this. I suggest you do a fish in cycle. limit the food you feed your fish, do water changes when needed, and have some ammonia and nitrite neutralizing chemicals. the bacteria you need to cycle a tank, are in the fish!

Would this be be good for neturalizing it?
AQUEON Ammonia Neutralizer Water Conditioner, 16-oz bottle

 

[AIvinn]

Would this be be good for neturalizing it?

I'm not too sure about that product, but Seachem Prime is a popular water conditioner that works for a lot of people. It detoxifies up to 1ppm of ammonia. It shouldn't be a permanent solution though. You should be doing at least 50% water changes daily for that ammonia trouble.

As far as cloudy water, stay away from chemicals with that. At least that is what I would do. I had cloudy water that cleared within a week, but it may or may not take longer for you. In essence, the cloudy water will fix itself when you get enough BB and when other factors balance out in your tank.

**The API Freshwater Master Test Kit is another product that a lot of aquarists use that has proven to work for them. I recommend getting it if you can. It basically assists you with testing your ph, high range ph, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates.

 

[Strider1520]

So my new tank I added the fish after cycling it for 72 hours and well they all appeared to be constipated after I feed them so I feed them peas to treat it. And now only feeding the once a per day and other meal but peas but now one of my fish has white poop and the tanks water is cloudy? What does this mean?

Hi and welcom from a fellow newbie ! People here have been unbelievably helpful to me during my initial setup-awesome folks!

I am new as well and have asked a ton of questions over the last month. The cloudy water is bacterial bloom and happens in new tanks. From what I understand it can also be increased if using sand as substrate due to silicate leaching. Mine took about 2 and a half weeks to go away (clear up). Doesn’t look good but is not harmful to fish. You will need to just let it clear up on its own it seems. I did water changes and it didn’t help and used a water clarifying liquid which didn’t help either. It’s not pretty but it will go away. From what I read, the bacteria does use some oxygen so make sure you have enough surface agitation to oxygenate your tank. I don’t think this is anything that should be an issue.

As for the nitrogen cycle, my tank is just starting its ammonia to nitrite change and my tank has been running 1 month yesterday with fish in.....so it’s just a waiting game. I did a 50% change yesterday and will probably have to do another tomorrow. But at least this part should be over in a week or two (normally). So, in my case, it took a month to get cycle going from ammonia to nitrite and probably another two weeks before I will see the nitrites to nitrates (at least that is what I am planning on). Everyone’s tank is different - time wise and some people never see high spikes- but it can be done safely with fish in - just prepare for a lot of water changes and be sure to use detoxification / dechlorinator in new water (all I have used is Prime by Seachem so can’t comment on the other product).

Be sure to read the links the others have posted and their comments-again, awesome folks here. I sure am no expert (very much a rookie) and going through the cycle now but I have been helped by the true experts here and just wanted to give you a personal EXAMPLE of what I am looking at time wise for cycle. This is the patience part......

Welcome again and good luck in your cycle! It is doable with fish in and you can keep them safe and healthy-just takes patience and diligence during this initial phase.