Cloudy Water

[jgauna]

New here and to fish! So please bare with me on this. Inherited small 10 gallon tank and everything that goes with it but fish. Once had fish in it but they all died. my fault, changed the water in the tank literally. I know bad. Okay, so i do not get fish for awhile. Moved and everything, decided to get fish again. Filled tank and ran it for about a week, water is not totally clear or as clear as i would like t to be. But i want fish so i go and buy some. Water still is not clearing up, decide to look at the filter and change it, dirty as all get out. Changed the filter out about a week ago and still the water is cloudy.
What is the best way to change the water out on this tank without killing my fish this time? Or any suggestions on how to clear up the water would hep. Any and all help or suggestions will help.
Thank you

trying to keep the fish alive and tank looking sharp being that i want a bigger and better tank

[biggin]

What color is the cloud?

[jgauna]

Actually not a could the water is just not clear. Sorry i did not explain myself clearer.

[xtc]

don't apologize- you're new to this. We'll ask some questions and see what's what.

Water changes- you should do about 20% weekly- and try to do that regularly.

What kind of fish do you have in there? How many?

Is it a smokey color?

Do you have a test kit?
If so, what is your ammonia, nitrate levels?
If not, take a same to a local fish shop (LFS) and ask them to test it.

Give us some feedback and we'll move forward.

Welcome to the site!!

[bra8ndy8]

Ditto on what Chris said...and do you know what kind of filter?

[jgauna]

Did not know you had to change water that often. Will do that when i get home tonight.
Not sure what kind of fish we have there are only 2 in the tank, will have to get the name for you. Bought from (lfs) because they said they were hardy fish and if they die i really do not need fish. Name will have to wait till Sunday, i can make it out to the shop Friday or Saturday. Have a self test kit. Will bring in the results tomorrow. plan to also take water to the lfs.
As for the filter it is a top fin 10.

[jgauna]

And yes the water is like a smoky color.

[bra8ndy8]

Can u take a pic of the fish? we can identify!!

[lellison]

yepp, thats what we do. And as for saying if you can't keep these fish you shouldn't have fish...it's all a learning experience. Don't get discouraged. :D We will all try to help u and figure this out

[etc]

Welcome from another newbie too!

Definitely don't get discouraged about your fish dying. There really are so many reasons that fish die, if you take each one personally, you are in for a rocky road. That is what my friends that were already into the aquarium hobby told me...whatever you do...don't get discouraged by a fish dying, they are going to die!

Another thing that I am really starting to learn is to be patient. All that business about cycling etc isn't just mumbo jumbo...you really do need to make sure everything is stable! A little bit of turbo start really does help the process go along.

Something else to consider. The filter houses a lot of the good bacteria that you are trying to filter in in the first place. When you replace the filter completely, you might send the tank through a mini-cycle, especially a 10g just because you probably removed a good portion of the bacteria from the tank.

Also...can you take a picture of the tank? One of the things that I was doing at first was overfeeding my fish. This raises nitrate and ammonia levels in the tank, which is toxic for the fish. All the garbage can cloud up the tank too. If you have gravel, you can purchase a little rubber diaphragm pump thing (don't know what its called) for like $5 at the store that will suck up the gravel while you are doing water changes and get all the nasty stuff out of it.

If you just replaced the water and put the fish in...give it a little more...the tank will get cloudy before it gets better during the initial cycle. After that, everything should stabilize quite a bit. Also, high nitrates might increase algae growth, so take that into consideration...the sides of your tank might start seeing green growth...no big deal, maybe get a tiny pleco and let him go to town, or clean it with an algae brush to make it clearer!

Hope this helps!

[bra8ndy8]

WOW You go ETC!! You are learning sooo fast!! Good advice! Keep it up!

[steve]

On my 55g I had a issue with cloudy water my water was all perfect just cloudy. I bought some stuff from Wal-Mart (they have SOME good stuff) that makes the junk bond together and sink. Long story short went from a fairly cloudy tank to really really cloudy tank (thats what it is suppose to do) to an imazingly clear tank. The stuff was 2 bucks. Didnt kill any of my fish maybe some of the more experienced folks have an opinion on this kind of stuff but it worked great for me.

[fishyjoe24]

what ever one already said. do a 20 procent water change and check your water perameters with a test kit.

[AndrewH]

Yeah, I've been keeping fish for several years now and can't count all the fish I've killed trying to figure things out :wha:. I finally joined an online fish forum ( :D like this one) and learn what to do and what not to do :cool:. Hang in there, it gets a lot better and well worth all the initial setup troubles :). And :welcome: by the way (BTW).

I don't know your budget for fish related purchases :spend:, but 10 gallon tanks are changing to even experienced fish keepers :eek: because they can go bad really fast :confuzeld:. You only have 10 gallons of water and any mistakes or "toxins" are amplified and amplified more quickly :(. If you have the extra money and space, I'd suggest something bigger as it will become more stable (the more water in the entire system the more stable the entire system).

I greatly applaud :clap: all those that have given advise, and agree with what you've said :salut:.

Steve... When I first got started, the LFS sold me some tablets that were supposed to clear up "cloudy water". They assured me it wouldn't hurt the first and that they work well. I never had to use them, but sounds like you have a good testimony for them. Thanks for sharing.

[kewlkatdady]

I personally never add anything to my tank to take care of a problem...
Doing so is more of bandaid than a fix.

My suggestion is to figure out why the water is not clear...and solve that problem, then it shouldn't come back.

With that said...

there has to be a problem.

Let me make sure that I understand your situation...

Can you tell us EVERY chemical that you have put into the tank...

for example...water conditioner to remove the chlorine from the tap water, algea pills or liquid to solve any algea problem, or any other type of miracle chemical to solve any other issues that may have had...

please advise as we want to help you have a successful tank.:special:

[fishyjoe24]

what type of filters do you have one it?

[jgauna]

Thank you all for your help and input!
Referring back to a question asked earlier, about what type of fish i have. I have 2 red parrots.
Took some water LFS and all is well according to the store.
Did a 20% water change in my tank, bought another filter. Running both filters right now. Hopefully the tank will start clearing up.
Again thank you all for your input and help.

[bra8ndy8]

WTG!! Glad to hear that!

[fishyjoe24]

cool cool glad to hear that, you're welcome.

[etc]

Thank you all for your help and input!
Referring back to a question asked earlier, about what type of fish i have. I have 2 red parrots.
Took some water LFS and all is well according to the store.
Did a 20% water change in my tank, bought another filter. Running both filters right now. Hopefully the tank will start clearing up.
Again thank you all for your input and help.

Someone else can provide their input, but I really think that a 10 gallon is painfully small for 1 red parrot...much less 2.

[poel_19]

how big are the parrots??

[jgauna]

Yes, a ten gallon is small for them being that i have seen some big Red Parrots. But will upgrade soon (hopefully). As for how big they are about an inch to an inch and a half big.
The products I have been using in the tank. I added water about a week before i got any fish, used the appropriate amount of aquarium salt. Added some Fritz product to get rid of the ammonia I believe the LFS stated i needed to do that so i bought it and used it. Also have used Fritz water clarifier. it is suppose to make stuff clump together that way the filter will catch it better.
But as i mentioned in the previous post i bought another filter and changed the filter on the pump or whatever it is called and it seems to be doing the job.
Will change out about 20 percent of the water again this week and hopefully that should do it.
Question when changing the water out do you use regular tap water and do i add the aquarium salt to it or not?

[etc]

Yes, a ten gallon is small for them being that i have seen some big Red Parrots. But will upgrade soon (hopefully). As for how big they are about an inch to an inch and a half big.
The products I have been using in the tank. I added water about a week before i got any fish, used the appropriate amount of aquarium salt. Added some Fritz product to get rid of the ammonia I believe the LFS stated i needed to do that so i bought it and used it. Also have used Fritz water clarifier. it is suppose to make stuff clump together that way the filter will catch it better.
But as i mentioned in the previous post i bought another filter and changed the filter on the pump or whatever it is called and it seems to be doing the job.
Will change out about 20 percent of the water again this week and hopefully that should do it.
Question when changing the water out do you use regular tap water and do i add the aquarium salt to it or not?

Are you referring to freshwater blood parrots? If so, I have never used aquarium salt, because as far as I know, they certainly aren't brackish fish...maybe I am doing something myself wrong...can someone chime in?

I actually gave one of my blood parrots to my LFS...it had grown to be about 6 inches...and a thick 6 inches too. A single blood parrot will end up growing to take up half the size of the tank. It isn't just about size issues, its also about waste production etc. Also, parrots are fairly expensive fish, so losing one might hurt the bank more than other fish. If you are just starting out, corys are great fish and so are plecos. They are almost impossible to kill (which doesn't mean test their limits)...very hearty!

[biggin]

Aquarium salt will not make it a brackish tank.... although in a 10g it would be pretty easy to over salt.... You can use it on water changes.... not sure that it does much but it also makes it harder if you ever want to use it for medication purposes....

[etc]

Aquarium salt will not make it a brackish tank.... although in a 10g it would be pretty easy to over salt.... You can use it on water changes.... not sure that it does much but it also makes it harder if you ever want to use it for medication purposes....

I knew most of the fish would adapt to the salt in the water, but I guess my question was also...why?

[biggin]

Some do better then others.... I have read plecos do not do well with any salt....but I have also read of people acclimating them to brackish....

Mollies will acclimate to full marine.....

I am guessing most water in nature has some salt in it.... Mother Nature built in a mechanism to help fish to survive? Not sure, but fish are pretty remarkable if you think about what all they go through....

[jgauna]

Yeah the LFS I bought my Parrots from, said i could trade them in when they get bigger. Looking for colorful fish, when i do upgrade what would it require to get some colorful fish without having to go to a saltwater tank. I know bigger tank and I think i have found one on another site that i got from reading the forums in here. (72 gallon bow front tank with stand, free canopy - 375.00 ) is that a good price for this?

[etc]

It depends on the condition, and what it comes with. But if you want a bowfront in particular, then it might not be a bad deal. I just got a corner bowfront, and paid a premium for it because it is exactly what I wanted.

Discus fish are some of the most beautiful freshwater fish out there, but you really need to create their particular environment to be successful, and you will really need a discus only tank to be most successful.

For a more general tank, I do like the parrots, but if they are too aggressive, you might have to get rid of them. A lot of the geos are nice looking fish, but there are so many cool unique fish out there like ghost knife fish etc

[cookieboy]

most school fish are colorful
neon tetras and stuff like that
also mos live breeders are like that
platys guppys and so on
have you looked in craigslist for other tanks
i got two 100g tanks there for $110 one and another for $120
stand light filters pumps eveything included just needed to clean them
after a while buying a $120 tank wont hurt you as much as buying $120 clothes for family or other stuff =0 =)