Struggling Newbie. Betta Fin Rot? Cloudy Water.

Hey guys. I'm currently having 2 problems that I assume are related. The first is cloudy water (really really cloudy. I can barely see the back of the tank). The tank has been set up for 2.5 months now and I have been battling incredibly cloudy water for about half of that time. Most of what I read says the best thing to do for cloudy water is nothing and let it run its course but thus far I have let the tank go for two weeks twice without any water change and still had super cloudy water before I chickened out and did a change. Confession, I tried a dose of API Accu-Clear water clarifier, it had no effect.

My second problem is fin rot? Suddenly I noticed a section on the top rear of the Betta's dorsal fin that almost looks like it is a crown tail except more jagged and random. The fin around the jagged edges appear slightly browned. I fear this is due to the fact that I was again trying to stretch between water changes in order to clear the cloudiness.

Tank- 5 Gallon planted with Top Fin 10 filter andHT10 heater
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0 (Also, shouldn't I have some Nitrates after 2 weeks?? The color is just starting to darken but it's still much closer to 0 than 5. I bang the bottle for test solution 2 on the table and shake the daylights out of it for a full minute with a timer, than shake the vial for another full minute with a timer when everything is added)
Temperature - 78F
Tankmates: 1 Amano Shrimp, 1 Nerite Snail, a variety of plants

So what do I do? I assume due to the fin rot I should do a large 50ish percent water change even if that isn't the best thing for the cloudy water. What else? Add some stress coat or something similar? Antibiotics? Filter change (I have never changed the filter cartridge, I just swish it in the removed tank water)? Am I doomed to have cloudy water forever? Please HELP, my wife will never approve a big tank if I can't make this one look better. I'm sure I forgot some vital information, please ask and I'll add whatever is needed. Thanks everybody!

Also, sorry if this is in the wrong spot. I figured this was my best bet because the root problem is that I am a freshwater beginner.

Here are some pictures, this one shows how cloudy the water is. This is not fancy bokeh. This was taken a couple of days ago so Twinkle's fins look normal.



This one shows the fin rot a little. It's hard to get a good picture because Twinkle does not hold still for photographs even when I ask nicely.

 

Here are some pictures, this one shows how cloudy the water is. This is not fancy bokeh. This was taken a couple of days ago so Twinkle's fins look normal.
View attachment 552765

This one shows the fin rot a little. It's hard to get a good picture because Twinkle does not hold still for photographs even when I ask nicely.
View attachment 552766

Just wanna say, that is one beautiful betta!

Okay, so my first thoughts is that you're having a bacteria bloom. Have you changed the filter out at all?

Have you washed it under tap water?(the filter media)

Did you forget to use any de-chlorinator while doing any water changes?

How did you cycle your tank? (fishless, fish-in)

About the second problem, the betta could be nipping its fins. Bettas with long tails are known to do that, and it can be slightly dangerous because then they're exposed to all the stuff in the tank. I don't think there is a cure for tail biting. If it's fin rot, I'd look under the Freshwater Disease section of the forum.

 

I have been using the same filter cartridge the whole time. I did rinse it under tap water the first time I did a water change but have only swished it in water that was removed from the tank after that. I always use a dechlorinator when adding new water.

I did a fish in cycle. I started the tank about 10 days before adding him in but it was not enough time to cycle. I haven't had any amount of Ammonia or Nitrite show up in regular testing for over a month, but I have also never seen any significant amount of Nitrate either. I'm not sure if this is because I did something wrong or because there is a significant amount of plants and a light bioload.

I've never noticed him nipping at his fins but I guess its plausible, I'll keep an eye out for that.

And he sure is pretty, my 4-year-old son picked him out because blue is his favorite color.

 

I have been using the same filter cartridge the whole time. I did rinse it under tap water the first time I did a water change but have only swished it in water that was removed from the tank after that. I always use a dechlorinator when adding new water.

I did a fish in cycle. I started the tank about 10 days before adding him in but it was not enough time to cycle. I haven't had any amount of Ammonia or Nitrite show up in regular testing for over a month, but I have also never seen any significant amount of Nitrate either. I'm not sure if this is because I did something wrong or because there is a significant amount of plants and a light bioload.

I've never noticed him nipping at his fins but I guess its plausible, I'll keep an eye out for that.

And he sure is pretty, my 4-year-old son picked him out because blue is his favorite color.

If your tank was already cycled before you rinsed it under tap water, then any cycling progress has been crashed, unfortunately.

Bacteria blooms can also last a while, mine lasted two weeks as well, but since you only have a 5 gallon it should clear up soon.

I'm not too sure if you said, but when did you perform the water change (the first water change)?

And since you did a fish-in cycle, your chances of dealing with fin rot are high. It's usually caused from poor water quality (in this case that probably happened). I'd definitely keep a close eye on those fins, if the tips are white or black, tearing, ect. This is fin rot.

If your plants are real, this explains why you have no nitrates. They will eat any trace of nitrate in the water (they eat ammonia first, nitrite, then nitrates if I'm not mistaken).

I'll also need the question asked in bold and italics answered to determine my final solution to the issue .

 

The first water change was March 6th, so about 8 weeks ago. The tank was not fully cycled at that point.

The water has been cloudy for over a month, but I have done water changes during that time. The longest I have let it go without a water change is about 2 weeks.

The plants are real, so I guess I am just not building up enough nitrates to cause a surplus of what they can use.

 

Did you give fresh veggies or perhaps a child put something in the tank? I had that happen recently. Used a cup a child thought would be good for a dissolving candy experiment and I added the water to filter when turning it on after a water change. I did a big water change and the next day and still had cloudy water start. The amount of sugar was very small in a 30 gallon tank! I did another 50 percent change the next day and water was clear til filter started. 24 hours of running filter and it cleared up. I always had good water test results.! I also did a partial rock. Cleaning. It can't hurt to try since the water isn't clearing up. I was just careful to keep the temp stable.

Gorgeous fish... your son does good picking. Blue is my fave too.

 

I had cloudy issues when I first set up, got that sorted then had Algae issues. so this is what I learnt.

1) To clear the water I added a bag of Active Carbon (Those black carbon filters are not that good) this took a few days but I could see improvements in a few hours.
2) for the Algae I came across a product called RowaFoss so gave that a go again adding a small bag to the filter system. It may send the water a tea colour at first but don't be alarmed this goes after a couple of days.
3) kept to a schedule of weekly water changes 25% and hoovering the gravel
4) re-located the tank as it was getting too much light and added a timer to reduce the amount of time the light was on (At present I do not have any live plants)

I now enjoy a crystal clear tank testing I now do monthly at most I will get a 0.5 reading on my nitrites but always 0 on nitrates. I work away a lot and the tank sometime goes 4 weeks with no intervention and still no issues, I will add this is when the Nitrites go up to 0.5.
as I have a big Plec who poo's a lot!! I also added a 1000ltr P/Hr canister filter (It is where I put the Carbon and RowaFoss).
I have uploaded a pic for you to see.

hope this helps

 

EvilBean42

What’s the update with your tank? Hopefully it’s cleared up

 

We're doing much better, though not fully healed. Fin rot had gotten much worse even with daily water changes. Eventually, I chose the nuclear option and used Erythromycin. I figured since I was having some type of bacterial bloom maybe it would help that as well. Luckily it did. The water cleared up shortly after and Twinkle has been slowly but surely growing back his fins. I switched the water conditioner to Stress Coat for my regular water changes to help with healing. The tank did a mild re-cycling after the antibiotics but settled out nicely. Water parameters have been perfect for the last couple of weeks, and it is crystal clear now.

The only negative is that I have started getting a slow, normal amount of nitrates, and a bit of hair algae. Its nothing that isn't easily controlled with regular water changes. My theory is that the bacterial bloom was probably causing a higher than normal amount of CO2 which made my plants super happy, leading to them using up all of the Nitrates and leaving behind no nutrients for algae.