Super Cloudy Water - something to do with biofilter?

Our water is super cloudy even after a water change. It's a fairly new tank and our Ph is about where it needs to be for the community fish it has in it. They all seem to be doing pretty well, the upside down catfish has even been swimming around a lot and skimming the surface. My husband thinks it has something to do with the biofilter. Any advice?

 

You need to provide more and concise info so we can try to help. How long has the tank been up? is it cycled? what are the water parameters? what kind of filter and when was it serviced? how much of a water change? how long does it stay cloudy? what is the substrate and did you disturb it during WC? do you vacuum the substrate at WC?

 

You need to provide more and concise info so we can try to help. How long has the tank been up? is it cycled? what are the water parameters? what kind of filter and when was it serviced? how much of a water change? how long does it stay cloudy? what is the substrate and did you disturb it during WC? do you vacuum the substrate at WC?

The tank has been set up for about 2 weeks now. We did about a 30% water change today. Probably disturbed the gravel during. It's been cloudy for about 3 days when my husband put a Tetra brand biofilter in. From what I've read around here I doubt it's fully cycled but the temp is at 78°. I just tested my ph and it's at a 7.6 . Another factor might be that we've been using treated bottle water because our city has been on a water alert for over a month due to toxic algae blooms in our water supply.

 

Catfish do swim upside down from tome to time so that probably has nothing to do with their behavior .They are eccentric fish. If the cloudiness os due to substrate or debris, just use a water clarifier with your filter running high and it will resolve itself in an hour or less. Id try it and see if that helps . If yoir nitrate abd nitrite levels are high your bottom feeder fish would develop red patches on gills or underside. So if you dint see those signs, then you are alright .Hope that helps.

 

Tetra makes many filters, which model? How big is the tank? Being cycled is not something you can guess about unless you don't mind losing fish. I don't mean to sound harsh but you need to learn and understand how the cycle works and purchase a test kit to check AMMONIA, NITRITES and NITRATES, I recommend the API Master Test Kit.

Where you located, most city water systems treat the water to prevent such blooms.

 

Catfish do swim upside down from tome to time so that probably has nothing to do with their behavior .They are eccentric fish. If the cloudiness os due to substrate or debris, just use a water clarifier with your filter running high and it will resolve itself in an hour or less. Id try it and see if that helps . If yoir nitrate abd nitrite levels are high your bottom feeder fish would develop red patches on gills or underside. So if you dint see those signs, then you are alright .Hope that helps.

The catfish is an actual upside down catfish so no worries there. My plecos are doing well and the mollies and gourami aren't showing any distress either. We also have a little snail who seems to be dormant right now, he fell off the glass the other day and ended up on his back, we promptly turned back over. He's been hiding in his shell since then, but doesn't appear to be dead. I've seen the water clarity treatments just didn't know if they were a good idea. I'll see if it's less cloudy tomorrow after the substate settles more.

 

Oh I see I misunderstood haha .Yeah that's probably what it is .I use aqueon water clarifier and works like a charm .

 

Tetra makes many filters, which model? How big is the tank? Being cycled is not something you can guess about unless you don't mind losing fish. I don't mean to sound harsh but you need to learn and understand how the cycle works and purchase a test kit to check AMMONIA, NITRITES and NITRATES, I recommend the API Master Test Kit.

Where you located, most city water systems treat the water to prevent such blooms.

Salem, Oregon. Our water supply comes from a lake that has bluegreen algae bloom problems every year. This year it has made such bad cyanotoxins that our treatment center isn't able to filter it all out. It's also a type of toxin that can't be boiled out of our water because that makes it worse, and normal water filters still won't do any good. So when setting the tank up and doing water changes we've used gallons of bottled water that I treated, because I didn't want to start off by killing all of the fish in one day by using tainted tap water to begin with.

I asked for advice as I'm obviously very new to this. So there's no need to be harsh. I know I have a lot of learning to do. Seeing as how I work 9 - 16hr shifts 5 nights a week I only have a 2 days at a time to try and cram as much info in as I can, while I'm trying to cram 12hrs of online continuing education classes required by the state for my job. The tank is supposed to be my husband's responsibility more than mine. I'm just more willing to ask for advice/help. With that being said I honestly have no idea what type of Tetra biofilter it is, but I can find out. I'm pretty sure the tank is too new to have cycled fully from what I've gathered so far.

It is a 10gal tank with Tetra Whisper filter with a whisper bio bag. Filter and bio bags came with the tank set up.

 

Wow, tuff to keep a tank healthy without a good water supply, Glad your working best you can to resolve. Again, I don't want to come across harsh, just want to urge you to learn what you can and apply it. I'm sure you will do just fine and wish you nothing but the best in your Fishy Adventures.

 

hI there! since it's a new tank, it's probably just a bacterial bloom and will clear up soon.

can I ask what your stocking is like? from what I read above, it sounds like you have mollies, gouramis, plecos, an upside down catfish, and snails in a 10 gallon. what kind of gouramis and plecos do you have and how many? unfortunately it sounds like you are pretty overstocked for just a 10g, which will make it hard for your tank to stay clean, ammonia-free, and your fish healthy, especially if it isn't cycled. if you added them all at once, too, that could be a problem.

mollies and plecos are massive waste producers. it's advised to keep mollies in 30 gallon tanks or larger. I don't think there are any plecos that can be successfully kept in a 10 gallon either, but i'm not 100% sure. they can get pretty big, especially the common pleco, which can grow up to several feet long. there are also very big gouramis out there. as for the catfish, it's recommended to keep them in 30 gallon or more, and since they are shoaling fish, they like to be in a group of 6 or more.

 

hI there! since it's a new tank, it's probably just a bacterial bloom and will clear up soon.

can I ask what your stocking is like? from what I read above, it sounds like you have mollies, gouramis, plecos, an upside down catfish, and snails in a 10 gallon. what kind of gouramis and plecos do you have and how many? unfortunately it sounds like you are pretty overstocked for just a 10g, which will make it hard for your tank to stay clean, ammonia-free, and your fish healthy, especially if it isn't cycled. if you added them all at once, too, that could be a problem.

mollies and plecos are massive waste producers. it's advised to keep mollies in 30 gallon tanks or larger. I don't think there are any plecos that can be successfully kept in a 10 gallon either, but i'm not 100% sure. they can get pretty big, especially the common pleco, which can grow up to several feet long. there are also very big gouramis out there. as for the catfish, it's recommended to keep them in 30 gallon or more, and since they are shoaling fish, they like to be in a group of 6 or more.

10gal tank: 1 flame gourami, 1 upside down catfish, 2 baby bristle nose plecos, 4 Molly's, 1 lg live plant, 1 md live plant and 1 small live plant. All are currently small fishies. I know we will have to upgrade them. The upside down catfish was shy at first but he has been more active and swimming around with the molly's and gourami and occasionally tucking into the swim through or under the filter for a bit. We only have one snail, not sure how long he can be dormant before I really worry that he's a goner. We're looking to move soon so I'm not ready to set up a 55gal for them just yet.

 

I think your tank might hav an bacteria bloom.

My new betta tank looked like that when I first put a tiny snail in it

 

10gal tank: 1 flame gourami, 1 upside down catfish, 2 baby bristle nose plecos, 4 Molly's, 1 lg live plant, 1 md live plant and 1 small live plant. All are currently small fishies. I know we will have to upgrade them. The upside down catfish was shy at first but he has been more active and swimming around with the molly's and gourami and occasionally tucking into the swim through or under the filter for a bit. We only have one snail, not sure how long he can be dormant before I really worry that he's a goner. We're looking to move soon so I'm not ready to set up a 55gal for them just yet.

okay, good! in the meanwhile, just be sure to keep up with the water changes. you might also want to look into adding a bacteria starter like tetra safe start plus to help you cycle the tank. what kind of snail is it, a nerite or a mystery? sometimes they do that. snails need to be acclimated correctly or they might die. if you see him, take him out and smell him. if he reeks, he's dead. a dead snail could also make the tank icky and give off ammonia.

 

I put in a mystery snail to get a reading of ammonia so I could cycle the tank I did also acclimate him

 

Lilanne,

It is difficult to help you if we don't have enough data. Lots of us do really want to help.