Who has freshwater fish?
 

A few weeks ago we got a 20 gallon tank some fancy male guppies and neon tetras. The tank has been crystal clear for a week or two. Then all of a sudden it became this milky cloudy mixture.

I changed the filter, cleaned out the tank, put new water in it (about half) and put some of that fast clear in there. Still cloudy as hell and has been over 24 hours.

Suggestions?


P.S. We let the tank run and checked everything for 5 days before adding the fish. Its not the "new tank" clouding problem.

any live plants? They tend to do that.....

Might yank like half of them for a few days....change 10-20% of the water

over feeding?

Nevermind, I was going to say a grocery chain.

Yes, there are around 6-7 live plants in there. Hmm...


I thought about that but they eat what I give them. None goes to waste. Feed them morning and night and just enough.

You "ran and checked" everything for 5 days, but did you cycle the tank? Without cycling the tank, the ammonia levels will fluctuate and you will have issues with cloudy water and possibly even fish die offs. Just having clean water sitting there before adding the fish does not establish the bacteria colony needed to run a successful aquarium.

ya, sounds like you put too many or too large of fish in your tank before you cycle it. You need to cycle with 1 inch of fish per 10 gallons. Test the water every few days untill the cycle has completed and then add the fish you want. Also, over feeding is the main cause of cloudy water. You should remove any food that is still in the tank 5 mins after you feed them. If you leave it, the flakes will break down and look like all the food is gone but it is wreaking havoc on your ecosystem. Cycling can take weeks. http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/prof...shcycling.html:thumbsup

Bacterial bloom, small frequent water changes. The neons might not make it.

I did for lunch today ;-)

Welcome to the biological cycle :)

You think its bad now, try a saltwater tank... I have three of them.

like others said its cycling

good chance your weaker fish will die

I'll go and get the test kit and start the cycling. I also pulled 3 plants out tonight to see if that makes any difference.

It started cycling the minute you added fish to it. There is nothing to do now, except a 20% - 50% water change daily... and stop feeding them until this is over. Will only take a few days, the fish can easily go a lot longer without food. The plants make no difference, so put them back in.

Its best to cycle a tank with only a couple of fish, then if one dies its not a big loss. You may lose some now but if you keep doing water changes the die off should be minimal.

Right on the money :thumbsup

I miss my fish tank :(

If anything, the plants will help, so long as they are healthy and getting a proper light cycle.

Thats is some pretty interesting moment,hope you will fix this soon

That's what I thought but was reading a bunch of different sites offering different solutions. I did about a 40% water change yesterday and guess I'll do it again today and not feed them today.

I had some gold fish that made a mess. took 3 filters one under gravel. finally I moved and left them at the mexican restaurant across the street they had a little foutain with gold fish. some fish just make a mess.

I have a mayan cichlid for about 7 years now, thing wont die

A blender does wonders.

Get a bigger tank. The bigger a tank the easier it is to maintain water levels.

Just changed 40% of the water..

20 gallons is plenty big. Only has a few fish in there.

get pump and pump fresh water

I have a 55 gallon tank...it can be a pain in the ass changing the water...even with a siphon, lol.

is the filter sufficient enough for the tank? often tanks are shipped with too small filters.

After I changed the water this morning I decided to change the filter and notice the top 2" of it wasn't dirty. Turns out the filter got caught on a shelf of plastic and wasn't all the way down.

Water is 90% clear now.

20 gallons is for little girls, why not get a grownup tank?

i have 90 gallons i am wayyy better than you.