Why Is It Cloudy?

I just changed my water and vacuumed my 40 gal 2 days ago and the water was cloudy when I started water change and vacuum and the cloudiness is better but it is still cloudy.
I don't understand why it is cloudy the temp is the right range and test results are good
if it is something serious (which I don't think it is) please reply.
Test Results:
ammonia: zero
Nitrates: zero
Nitrites:zero
ph: 7.0
temperature: 70
Fish:
4 zebra danios
(planning to get more danios and some corydoras)
4 corydoras peppered
1 bristle nose pleco
2 fancy guppies
3 cobra guppies

 

Is that too many fish for a 40 gallon? Just wondering because the Internet always says 1 Gallon of water per 1 inch of fish which seems kinda subjective

 

I just changed my water and vacuumed my 40 gal 2 days ago and the water was cloudy when I started water change and vacuum and the cloudiness is better but it is still cloudy.
I don't understand why it is cloudy the temp is the right range and test results are good
if it is something serious (which I don't think it is) please reply.
Test Results:
ammonia: zero
Nitrates: zero
Nitrites:zero
ph: 7.0
temperature: 70
Fish:
4 zebra danios
(planning to get more danios and some corydoras)
4 corydoras peppered
1 bristle nose pleco
2 fancy guppies
3 cobra guppies

How long have you had the tank set up?

 

The one inch rule is garbage.

As for the cloudy water are we looking at a white milky cloud a brown cloud or a green cloud?

White cloud is a minI cycle. If you vacuumed too much from the gravel or you rinse your media in tap water instead of tank water will cause this. It will go away depending on how old your tank is.

Also if your filter isn’t strong enough, example hob only made for a 10 gallon won’t do well in a 55 gallon tank.

If it’s brown, don’t frown. This is a dust cloud that can be fixed with poly fil/wool that you can get at a craft store. Just plop that stuff into your filter and it will catch it. This is mechanical filtration.

Note: if you have just a sponge filter you can’t use this method.

If it’s a green cloud that’s an algae bloom. Water changes will help but you need to know how much light the tank gets.

 

Your temperature is 70? Your tank is not cycled properly. Guys, correct me if I am wrong here, but that is not warm enough for the fish you have, or BB.
Your bio-load is way high with all those fish, and a reading of zero ammonia can't be correct, unless you put the fish in last night.

 

its strange cuz I clean the tank with defiantly not tap water I clean it with water that is with that water conditioner stuff and I vacuumed my water for a short time
the tank is 1 year old

alot of peeps said I still have room for my tank with fish but I've never heard of bio-load.

but is this serious? my cries are young not that old and I don't want anything serious to happen to my fish they are so loved by me and they literally follow my finger as soon as I place my finger on the tank its so funny

 

Is the tank heavily planted? If it's not, showing zero Nitrates is a sign of an uncycled tank typically. Also, 70 degrees seems kind of low to me. Even for cool water fish. Cloudy water indicates possibly a bacterial bloom. When you use the vacuum, are you using it on the gravel/sand? Or are you just removing and replacing water?

 

Yes the 1 inch of fish per gallon is wrong an old wives tale... (opps better be careful with that one, hope she doesn't read this..lol).
I bookmarked this when someone else here on Fish Lore posted it and it is the best way to tell if your overstocked....

 

I vacuum the gravel and replace water with clean water

 

and countryrain I read what u said if you didn't want me to read it

 

my water is the clearest its ever been!!!
its like crystal clear!
(my computer won't upload photo)

 

my water is the clearest its ever been!!!
its like crystal clear!
(my computer won't upload photo)

Several people mentioned you were overstocked.

If I read right? You have 5 guppies, 4 zebra danios, 4 corys? And 1 brnistlenose pleco? In a 40 gallon?

If this is correct, you are not overstocked. But may be once your guppies breed a few times.

If it was my tank I would add 2 zebras and 2 corys of the same species you have. And slowly raise the temperature to 74-75.

 

Your temperature is 70? Your tank is not cycled properly. Guys, correct me if I am wrong here, but that is not warm enough for the fish you have, or BB.
Your bio-load is way high with all those fish, and a reading of zero ammonia can't be correct, unless you put the fish in last night.

My bad misread, for now you only have the danios.

 

Ok thx for the info guys I have rose the temp higher to 74~75
And I am planning on those extra fish still and how do I identify the gender in a guppy? I think one of them are gonna breed.

 

Google it.

There is a fin underneath by where they poop, think it’s called the analfin. If it is rounded, it’s a she. If it’s pointed, facing down and backwards, it’s a he.

If it’s fatter, it’s a she.

If a couple of guppies keep chasing another guppy, the chasers are he’s, the one being chased is a she.

In mature guppies, the males have more finnage.

Hope this helps.

 

it does

 

discovery the possible pregnant guppy is for sure female and I have 2 males in the tank and 3 female guppies.
question is though how fat should the guppy be to be pregnant?
question 2 my possible pregnant guppy doesn't have a dark spot but a kind of yellowish spot by the you know what

 

Are you planning on moving the pregnant one?

My limited experience is to let them have their fry in the community and as soon as you see em, net and move them.

I have moved 5 pregnant livebearers just before they popped. 3 gave birth just fine, one the next day. But the only 2 fish I have lost in the last 4 months were a platy and guppy I moved. They just swelled, and swelled, and died. The platy had given birth in the community a month earlier.

I have come home after being gone all weekend with no food for the fish and still had 15-18 fry survive in a heavily planted tank.

And have not seen one fry dead after the move although they are hard to see if they are dead but with multiple sponge filters in the rearing tanks, I know the filter didn’t suck up any dead.

 

I don't know if I could move the pregnant one
and I like the idea of finding the fry then netting them just worried fish will eat them before I can even net them.
and how can a fish swell?
and also how do I set up a fry tank?
I don't plan on keeping all the guppies I want room for the fish as well.
also one of my danios look strange...
I tried less on the food no effect.
she is still fat she is a female already identified but I'm not sure if she is ok or not...

 

Some may get eaten but there will be enough. Having cover and keeping the others well fed will help.

I don’t know how/why she (platy) swelled. No doubt she was pregnant and looking like she would give birth any day. I moved her into a 20 tall (well cycled) that had 9 cherry barbs in it. She just got bigger and bigger, got lethargic one day, was dead the next.

In another 20 tall I added 3 pregnant guppies to a tank that had 25-30, 3 week old guppy fry. One had babies that night, another a couple of days later, the third just got bigger and slower and passed a week later.

Since then, I just Check my tank a couple of times a day. I have a lot of floating hornwort so the survivors are usually near the surface, in and above the hornwort. I slide the hornwort aside and net the fry 5-10 at a time. Usually get 20-30 each hatch. Don’t know how many that get eaten.

 

ok cool and if a guppy gave birth you didn't know lets just say and u see the fry and the fry tank isn't ready what do u do?

 

HI I just wanna add that for tropic fish, you want a temp. of 78 to 82 to keep your fishies comfortable and healthy. too hot they could practically boil to death, too cold and they could become lethargic and very inactive.

 

I would take media out of my cycled tank to the new tank to immediately cycle the tank.

If that isn’t an option, do frequent water changes.

Both of my rearing tanks , with 4-10 week old fry, get high nitrates pretty quickly. Some may be because I feed 4 times a days, and pretty heavy so the younger ones get enough.

 

Ok cool thx guyz