Why is my fish tank so cloudy?

I have 55g tank with 12 fish. they are tropical fish and they are only an inch long. i have a few plants, a quater inch of gravel, a air pump, and two marineland emperor 280,s with the bio wheel. the tank has been going since christmas and it has never been clear. i made sure i followed all instructons but everything i do doesn't work. regularly change the water, clean the plants and gravel and regularly change the filters can some one help me. thanks

Why is my fish tank so cloudy?
It sounds like your tank is still in the cycling process. This usually lasts from a few weeks to two months, but it could be taking longer in your situation if you are trying to "clean" the tank to make it less cloudy.



The cloudiness is a bacterial bloom. The bacteria convert the ammonia your fish produce to nitrite and nitrate. When you started the tank, there were no bacteria. These were probably introduced through your fishs' poop, unless you did a fishless cycle beforehand. Right now there's probably more ammonia in your tank than your present bacteria can remove, so with the abundant ammonia, the bacteria are reproducing rapidly - this is the cause of the cloudiness. Rather than try to "clean" the tank so the cloudiness goes away, do 25% water changes once a week, vacuuming deeply into only part of your gravel each time (siphon out anything on the surface) - this will give the bacteria time to populate your tank. Once the bacteria population reaches a number where the ammonia is being converted efficiently, the cloudiness will go away on its own.
Reply:there are some things you can try-lessen the amount you feed or try a different filtration system. i had a biowheel and was not fond of it. also, check to make certain you are not changing too much water-too much will keep the bacteria blossoming. two more things-when changing the components in the filter, i used to change one at a time, alternating-particle filter one week and charcoal the next time-to keep the bacteria that is good for the water established. check too with a reputable aquarium store that might have more insight than i would, especially since i can't see your water. take a water sample with you so the person there you ask can see what the problem is.



look also into products that have that live bacteria for when you need to do huge water changes or introduce new fish.
Reply:It's cloudy because he need to clean the fish tank.

Simple as that
Reply:have you chacked your amonya rating yet ... most of the time that is what it is and it is not saft for them if it gett's to high ...
Reply:YES I CAN HELP.



First I'll explain What a bacteria bloom is and then Why you in your case keep getting it even though you keep the tank soooo clean.!



Cloudy Aquarium.

That is commonly known as a bacteria bloom.

The cause is bacteria that have enough organic matter to feed on that they reproduce like crazy and fill the tank, so much so that it clouds up.



Typically the organic matter comes from :

1.over feeding

2.over crowding in the tank

3.or if a newly set up tank with fresh clean water it just happens as bacteria establish themselves and that usually will clear up in a few days.



There is a standard way to regulate the bacteria in the tank so it will be CRYSTAL CLEAR ALWAYS with minimal effort ...but first lets understand what happens with the bacteria.



The water normally use to fill an aquarium is every day tap water. And as you know that is gennerally crystal clear. When you fill up your nice new tank and add your nice new fish the natural bacteria in and all around ( specialy on the fish ) are like " hey man, look at all this open space !" and reproduce and fill up every last spot in the water and " ta-da !" bacteria bloom ! ( commonly the tank becomes extreemly cloudy for several days or longer and slowly clears up )

Then usually ( not always ) the novice aquarium owner over feeds the fish and the uneaten food seeds the tank with lots of organic matter for the bacteria to eat and it's like a fiesta, they once again reproduce all to heck and fill up the tank and it becomes cloudy again.

Also there are those ( not you ) who fill the tank with too many fish and the tanks natural ecosystem cannot support all of the waste ( the fish go potty in there ) and that also leaves plenty of organic matter for the bacteria to bloom.



THE KEY



The key handling this is called CYCLING the tank.

"What is that ?"

Cycling is letting the tank go threw a natural process that any fishy body of water goes through given enough time and stability. Ever notice lakes and ponds that are crystal clear ? How does that happen? Easy !

See, there are different types of bacteria in the water, and they all live off of different types of organic matter. Some eat the amonia in the water. ( the fish go pee, the urine turns to amonia naturally ) As they eat the amonia they produce nitrite, others eat the nitrite and turn it into nitrate and the nitrate basically is harmless, will feed the plants and also evaporates. BUT the amonia and nitrite are poison ( uh-oh ). Check out this diagram http://www.fishlore.com/Pictures/aquariu...

Once this natural process sets it self up and is stable - your tank will be clean and clear, possibly forever. The problem is it could take months for all the needed bacteria to establish.



THE GOOD NEWS



Getting the tank through these different stages to become stable with all the different bacteria in balance is called cycling the tank and it is a standard in the field, soooo....



There are like 10 dozen web sites to explain it and what to do and products gallore to help it along and every thing !

They have bottles of the bacteria you ned to seed the tank thru the process and test kits to test the water for all the different stages that it goes thru and books and booklets and magazine articles and every thing.



YOUR TANK



Here are several steps to a clear tank now...but first....



See, you've been keeping the tank TOO CLEAN !

You are destroying the tanks needed established bacteria population. So every time you change the water and clean the gravel the bacteria have lots of fresh water to grow in and boom! They reproduce like mad the water clouds up !



Here is what to do



1. Go to a pet store ( prefferably a big one, or at liest one that has a large selection of stuff like additives and such ), here is your shopping list:



3 or 4 Cory Catfish

Large Bottle of Cycling Bacteria

Cycling test kit ( should test for amonia,nitrite and nitrate and contain an info booklet )

Test kits for pH and Hardness



The Cory Cats are like little aquarium vacume cleaners. They will keep the bottom of the tank nice and clean of excess food and stuff.



The bottle of Cycling Bacteria will have instructions and you need very little for each dose so it will last a long time. I just recently set up a 30 gal tank with some tetras and plattys and use it every day. It only took a few weeks to clear up and stay clear and that was even with my 3 year old dumping way too much food in one day !



The test kit is VERY IMPORTANT. The tank is going to go thru three stages before it is balenced and you need to know exactly what it is doing. The first is going to be an Amonia Spike ( spike meaning a large amount of amonia all of a sudden and then it slowly goes back down as the bacteria that use amonia start to establish ) then nitrite and nitrate spikes sucessivly. It has to do this to go through the whole cycle and end up ballenced but the amonia and nitrite spikes need to be watched because if they get too high you need to do water changes ( NOT TOO MUCH ! only like 10% of the water or something, to much clean water will harm the bacteria established and upset the cycle.



The Aquarium pH and water hardness are important for the health of your fish and plants and you should monitor those. I won't go into them now but look them up on line or read a fresh water book on them, the more you know about them the better. There are additives and solutions for them too.



LAST THING



Ok, every thing you need to know about cycling the tank ( including why it's called cycling ) you can find on line at web sites etc., and in books/magazines. Check out the links I leave below ! I first cycled a 125 gallon tank purely by the little booklet that came with the test kit and one magazine article. It took two to three months. That tank not only stayed clear but produced beautifull full healthy plants and even had spotted loach babies that survived a community tank !



There is one more thing to know though. Planting a tank and having delicate fish should all be done AFTER a tank cycles, the amonia and nitrite spikes that occure are not good for them. Who ever sold you the whole set up apparently didn't know or didn't to tell you. This is common knowledge today in the field. Look all your plants and fish up on line to see how hardy they are. You could transplant any questionable fish and plants to a smaller uncycled tank while this one goes thru the process. Once it is through the plants will thrive on the nitrate in the tank ( nitrate - the last product of the process - is harmless to the fish, any nitrate the plants don't use will evaporate or go with 10% water changes ).

I am cycling my 30 gallon with feeder tetras, they were cheep and are hardy, look on line for hardy fish that are good for cycling a fresh water aquarium. You'll find ones you like.



Also make sure your not over feeding the fish. There realy shouldn't be any food floating around after feeding time, or gathering on the bottum for any length of time.



Also



- don't clean the bio wheels ! They are where bacteria are established and you don't want to harm them.



- don't clean the gravel, bacteria need to establish themselves there so let it be ( amonia pockets build up there also and releasing them can harm the fish and natural ecosystem too ) if there is too much of anything on the bottom then you're over feeding, the cory cats will keep the bottom nice and clean.



- don't change more than 10% of the water at any given time. You need to let the ecosystem stabilise and too much will throw it out of wack. If anything gets out of hand like amonia or nitrite there are absorbtion bags you can get at the pet store that will absorb the amonia etc. that way you can keep a hand on it with out disturbing the natural system.



-don't clean the plant leaves! Buy half a dozen Otto Cats, they are small algea eaters that will keep the whole tank clear and clean of algea without eating the plants !



-buy a small outside canister filter, it will compliment the filtration you currently have and bacteria will establish themselves there and you don't need to mess with it often.



Thats all I can think of but I think you get the idea !



Check out the links below and good luck !
Reply:feed less.

do a 50% water change.

test ammonia levels..

did you wash the stuff in your tank before you put them in?
Reply:Hopefully you put some chlorine remover into the water lol..But if you have some goldfish in the tank, that's the reason. then the tank will never be clean. Make sure you clean the filters every once and a while.
Reply:If you are changing 100% of the water when you do water changes, that is the reason. You are keeping it constantly in the cycling process by removing the beneficial bacteria that must remain in the tank for it to clear up. The cloudiness is a natural part of the nitrogen cycle and should clear up on its' own if you leave it alone.



One more cause might be that you are feeding too much and/or too often. Cut back to once a day and skip a day each week. A hungry fish is a happy fish. They will meet you at the front of the tank to show their gratitude after a couple weeks. Feed only as much as they will eat in 3-4 minutes. Any more and you should remove the uneaten food with a net or a siphon hose so it will not rot and fungus.



You should never do 100% changes unless disease has wiped out your entire population. Weekly 30% changes are all that needs to be done. I have tanks that have been set up for almost 8 years without a teardown. All I do is stir the sand, siphon the gravel, change the filter cartridges and do my partial water changes.



If you have some Maylaysian Trumpet Snails (MTS) then you don't even have to stir the sand, they do it for you. Gravel needs to be siphoned though.
Reply:Bacteria bloom. Cut back on filter changes and put in more gravel. Water changes need to be every two weeks, otherwise maybe too much of a good thing?

This will help too.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/pr...
Reply:Make sure you clean the tank really good and check your ammonia readings as well as nitrite and nitrate levels. If that doesn't fix it there are products available that can help reduce the cloudiness.

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