New Tank And Getting Cloudy

Hi,

I just got a tank and I know this is a very very new tank but anyway....I started out and after adding the water to the tank it was bit murky from gravel...even though I spent 4 hours cleaning it out 3 times. The next day seen the tank very clean and water clear.

I added stresscoat to remove the chlorine and stresszyme to put bacteria in to get the tank moving....no fish are in the tank

I added a slight bit of gravel yesterday (exactly 1 day later) and added the stresszyme as the bottle said to do for the new tank

Now the water has been a bit cloudy all today (2nd leading into 3rd day)...is this the start of the cycle going or should I do a large water change to clear the water out? When could I add fish?

I did about a 10% water change today but it has made no difference?


Thanks

Richard

 

I would just leave it, it should clear up on its own. Have you read this? https://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm
Do you have a test kit or a lfs that could test your water frequently?

 

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. I took hours and hours reading the whole site...fantastic site with loads of very useful information I would never have guessed is important in a tropical tank. I guess I need to get a fish in the tank and get the ammonium started or else go get pure ammonium. Just can't understand why it got cloudy all of a sudden?


Thanks

Richard Sands

 

Cycling with fish is not recommended at all. Drop a pinch of food in the morning and at night every day until your cycle is over, then add a few fish at a time, allowing the good bacteria to multiply before adding more. Good luck

 

Roughly how much food as I don't want to over do it? When you say a pinch just a pea size in your hand? I take it this cloudy water will clear away over time?


Thanks

Richard Sands

 

Talking with my LFS, Stresszyme will cycle your tank as well as Bio-Spira, but costs a lot less. As for the cloudiness, I'm having that problem also. What I've narrowed it down to is either a bacterial bloom that I haven't found a test for or high amounts of calcium in my water (hardness). Anyone have tips for getting rid of calcium in your tank? No water softener where I'm at...

 

Talking with my LFS, Stresszyme will cycle your tank as well as Bio-Spira, but costs a lot less.

So far there isn't any other product that has been proven to actually help cycle your tank other then Bio-Spira. The only thing Stresszyme, Cycle, Stability, etc. have been able to do reliably is lighten the amount of cash in your wallet.

As for a "pinch" of fish food, a few flakes (if you are using flakes) will do just fine. Every 12 hours (when you wake up and before you go to bed will work) this should be added to your tank, and you do not do any water changes until the cycle is complete. You need to get a test kit like so you can see how your cycle is progressing. You can take samples of your water to a pet store, but if they are using test strips and not liquid test kits then it won't be of much help. As to the cloudy water, it could be a part of your tank cycle or it could be just particles in the water. If you can cycle fishless (highly recommended) then take a wait and see approach at the moment. If it clears on it's own then no problem, if it doesn't seem to go away (the filter should remove it in a day or so if it doesn't just settle into the substrate) then you can cross that bridge when you get to it. For now expect the water quality to be a bit off during the cycle, especially once you get a lot of ammonia working in there.

 

Talking with my LFS, Stresszyme will cycle your tank as well as Bio-Spira, but costs a lot less.

At best, products like Stresszyme may help "prime" your tank and create conditions favorable for the actual bacteria that you need. I say "may" because an awful lot of people who have used such products have reported little to no results at all. In any event it will not cycle a tank like Bio-Spira.