Newbie Question - Cloudy Water

In my daughter's new 75 gallon aquarium, we have 4 Angelfish, 3 albino cories, 3 panda cories, 4 peppered cories, and 1 bristlenose pleco, all small/juvenile fish. We recently changed most of the gravel to sand. Everything seemed fine for a week and then the water started getting cloudy and he cories started mostly hiding in a fake stump cave. I did about a 20% water change 3 days ago. I thought I was feeding them too much (a pinch of flakes, 6 small shrimp pellets, and a pleco wafer twice a day). So I started feeding only once a day and started reading some forums. I ordered the API master test kit and tested the water today. PH-7.6, ammonia-1, nitrite-0, nitrate-0. I did another 15% water change today. I'm worried that by only feeding once a day, the angelfish will eat most of the food, but I want to get the water parameters right. Any suggestions? Sorry for such a long post.

Filter is a Penguin biowheel 350, 2 airstone strips, Topfin water conditioner when we change the water.

 

Did you make sure the tank was cycled all the way before adding your fishies?

 

It's because you changed the substrate. What happens is that when you removed the gravel from the tank and replaced it with sand your tank basically reset and is now going through a minI cycle.

That gravel you removed also houses beneficial bacteria (BB) and thus removing it and replacing it with sand was like just starting over.

You will need to do more frequent water changes for a few days until your ammonia gets to zero. If it shows up zero for a week than your tank has reestablished it's cycle.

 

Did you make sure the tank was cycled all the way before adding your fishies?

EmmyFish, we didn't really know what that was when we bought. But the person that we bought it from said that, since a lot of the gravel and filter was still in it, we could just add water and fish. We still let the water set for about a week before adding fish. Cheap test strips showed the normal range for everything at that time.

It's because you changed the substrate. What happens is that when you removed the gravel from the tank and replaced it with sand your tank basically reset and is now going through a minI cycle.

That gravel you removed also houses beneficial bacteria (BB) and thus removing it and replacing it with sand was like just starting over.

You will need to do more frequent water changes for a few days until your ammonia gets to zero. If it shows up zero for a week than your tank has reestablished it's cycle.

Thanks, Fashooga. I did one Friday and another today (Tuesday). I'll retest tomorrow.

 

EmmyFish, we didn't really know what that was when we bought. But the person that we bought it from said that, since a lot of the gravel and filter was still in it, we could just add water and fish. We still let the water set for about a week before adding fish. Cheap test strips showed the normal range for everything at that time.

The cloudiness could be from the tank cycling process. It's normal and will usually go away by it's self. There are things such as Clarity which can help the cloudiness clear up. Personally Clarity did nothing for my tank so I had to wait it out which took about 4 days. For a 75 Gallon it may take longer or could be gone with less time based on the filter. Other than that I'd just keep an eye on the water Perams and make sure nothing spikes or turns wacky.

 

Most people will say that you should test everyday until it's established. Change the water everyday but it also depends on how your fish are reacting as well.

 

The cloudiness could be from the tank cycling process. It's normal and will usually go away by it's self. There are things such as Clarity which can help the cloudiness clear up. Personally Clarity did nothing for my tank so I had to wait it out which took about 4 days. For a 75 Gallon it may take longer or could be gone with less time based on the filter. Other than that I'd just keep an eye on the water Perams and make sure nothing spikes or turns wacky.

Thanks again!

Most people will say that you should test everyday until it's established. Change the water everyday but it also depends on how your fish are reacting as well.

The angelfish just act like it's feeding time when I change the water. They keep coming up to my hand in the water, I'm guessing waiting for me to drop some food in. The BN pleco acts the same as when we got him, mostly hiding until later in the evening and then moving all over the tank. Only the cories have changed behavior, just hiding most of the time. They do come out and swim around/ dig in the sand some though. How often should I feed? Also, should I put the sinking food for the cories and pleco in at a different time than the angelfish food?

 

Having a mix wouldn't be a bad idea. Put some sinking food in with none sinking food so that while the Angels are busy eating that what have the fish at the bottom can get what sinks. Also not sure about the fish you have but I noticed fish like my platys like to remain in covered a hidden spots. They swim out in the open, eat, and do what Platy's do but after that they go back and do more Platy stuff hidden in the plants and their hollowed out tree. I don't see my Sunburst or Mickey too much because those two love plant coverage the most.

 

Having a mix wouldn't be a bad idea. Put some sinking food in with none sinking food so that while the Angels are busy eating that what have the fish at the bottom can get what sinks. Also not sure about the fish you have but I noticed fish like my platys like to remain in covered a hidden spots. They swim out in the open, eat, and do what Platy's do but after that they go back and do more Platy stuff hidden in the plants and their hollowed out tree. I don't see my Sunburst or Mickey too much because those two love plant coverage the most.

Thanks. I normally put in floating flakes or freeze dried bloodworms for the angels. Then I drop in some sinking shrimp pellets or bottom feeder wafers along with an algae wafer for the cories and pleco. Should I only do this once a day?

 

Thanks. I normally put in floating flakes or freeze dried bloodworms for the angels. Then I drop in some sinking shrimp pellets or bottom feeder wafers along with an algae wafer for the cories and pleco. Should I only do this once a day?

People tend to argue feeding times a lot, that i've noticed. More or less it's up to how much you think you should feed them. Some will say once a day others 2-3 times a day. As long as you see all the fish eating it should be fine to do it once a day. Or feed them once and give them smaller amounts of food later in the day.

 

Thanks. I normally put in floating flakes or freeze dried bloodworms for the angels. Then I drop in some sinking shrimp pellets or bottom feeder wafers along with an algae wafer for the cories and pleco. Should I only do this once a day?

Just feed once a day, not too much to cause an ammonia spike. If the fish are not done eating the food after 2-3 mins then you overfed which can lead to ammonia spikes.

As for the BN pleco and cories you should blanch some zucchinI or cucumber and stick it to a fork and let them go at it for a few days. You can do this once a month and leave it in there for a week.

 

People tend to argue feeding times a lot, that i've noticed. More or less it's up to how much you think you should feed them. Some will say once a day others 2-3 times a day. As long as you see all the fish eating it should be fine to do it once a day. Or feed them once and give them smaller amounts of food later in the day.

Thanks EmmyFish and Fashooga. You've both been very helpful!

Just feed once a day, not too much to cause an ammonia spike. If the fish are not done eating the food after 2-3 mins then you overfed which can lead to ammonia spikes.

As for the BN pleco and cories you should blanch some zucchinI or cucumber and stick it to a fork and let them go at it for a few days. You can do this once a month and leave it in there for a week.

My daughter actually boiled and dropped in 2 pieces of cucumber last week. I went to get them out the next day and there was no trace of them!

 

Just feed once a day, not too much to cause an ammonia spike. If the fish are not done eating the food after 2-3 mins then you overfed which can lead to ammonia spikes.

As for the BN pleco and cories you should blanch some zucchinI or cucumber and stick it to a fork and let them go at it for a few days. You can do this once a month and leave it in there for a week.

I've been a bit curious about feeding too. I have a gold fish, 4 giant danios, a pleco, ghost shrimp, and a BN pleco as well (I love them). I know that if you feed the fish and the food isint gone after about 5min it was too much, but what if I'm under feeding them? Is there a rule of thumb for that? Also, I haven't seen my plecos eating anything. I give them algae wafers and I threw a cucumber in there too. The goldfish ate it after day 3. What exactly is blanching a cucumber?

As for the cloudy water, my water was cloudy for about a week after I had to restart my cycle. I was told it was a bacterial bloom and it would go away on its own. It got really bad brown water and I was worried, but I woke up the next morning and it had mysteriously vanished. My water was crystal clear!! I suggest you just give it time, keep a close eye on your fishs behaviours and keep doing water changes and you should be golden.

 

I've been a bit curious about feeding too. I have a gold fish, 4 giant danios, a pleco, ghost shrimp, and a BN pleco as well (I love them). I know that if you feed the fish and the food isint gone after about 5min it was too much, but what if I'm under feeding them? Is there a rule of thumb for that? Also, I haven't seen my plecos eating anything. I give them algae wafers and I threw a cucumber in there too. The goldfish ate it after day 3. What exactly is blanching a cucumber?

As for the cloudy water, my water was cloudy for about a week after I had to restart my cycle. I was told it was a bacterial bloom and it would go away on its own. It got really bad brown water and I was worried, but I woke up the next morning and it had mysteriously vanished. My water was crystal clear!! I suggest you just give it time, keep a close eye on your fishs behaviours and keep doing water changes and you should be golden.

Thanks, Kysarkel000.