Just Can't Keep The Water Clear

[L u]

I keep doing freqent water changes. Over 75% every few days. I age the
water for a few days. And even when I pour it in, the tank is cloudy!
I'm looking at the aged water sitting on my counter now. It's crystal
clear. But the minute it hits the tank it will go cloudy.

I guess it's probably too much fish waste or too much food. Or both.
Fresh aged water shouldn't go cloudy the minute it hits the tank. I know
when I pour it in, I see a ton of particles flying around and getting
stirred up. I have a filter, so I don't understand. I'm going to test
the ammonia level in a little while. Maybe that could be it?

I have 2 goldfish, a black moor, a guppy, and a gourami. Tank is 5
gallons.

[ExPat]

On Mar 6, 7:48*am, (L u) wrote:
> I keep doing freqent water changes. Over 75% every few days. I age the
> water for a few days. And even when I pour it in, the tank is cloudy!
> I'm looking at the aged water sitting on my counter now. It's crystal
> clear. But the minute it hits the tank it will go cloudy.
>
> I guess it's probably too much fish waste or too much food. Or both.
> Fresh aged water shouldn't go cloudy the minute it hits the tank. I know
> when I pour it in, I see a ton of particles flying around and getting
> stirred up. I have a filter, so I don't understand. I'm going to test
> the ammonia level in a little while. Maybe that could be it?
>
> I have 2 goldfish, a black moor, a guppy, and a gourami. Tank is 5
> gallons.

I still think your overloaded in regards to amount of fish, and your
filtration (undergravel) leaves a lot to be desired. A hang on back
like the Aqua Clear will make things right. Daily changing of water is
not good eityher as it removes what good bacteria is there that
actuyally helps filter and make your tank clear with their waste
breakdown. It oculd be a cycle ithe tank is going through too, or lots
of things as posted in the other post about water clarifiers. PIrtch
that undergravel and get a filter that uses filter medium and has some
current flow to it and cut back on lighting as well as feeding. Just
what kinds of foods and how much and how often are you feeding?
Skipping one or two days on food will not hurt any fish and in most
cases actualy does a fish some good as well as a tanka s it pushes
them to hunt out lost or uneaten food scrapes which all add to bad
water and pathogens. Also adding a decent filter will cut back on
these daily water changes trying to clear up water.........and do
nothing but prolong what time it is the tank nmeeds to cycle correctly
and remain clear. I have had tanks (newly established) go coudy for a
couple of days and then go clear, and its normal in a lot of cases,
buyt by doing these daily water changes you could be counter
productive to what your really trying to obtain.

[L u]

Thanks so much for your help. I really appreciate it. I'm emailing your
post to myself. :)

LuAnn

[L u]

I'm feeding them every morning, sprinkling in either Tetramin tropical
flakes, Nutrafin Max goldfish flakes, or Tetramin Pro tropical crisps.
Maybe I sprinkle too much, because there are 5 fish in there. I also
have Pellets, which I hear keep the water clearer, but with 5 fish, I
don't know how many pellets to feed.

[[email protected]]

the bacteria may be in the water, but they are looking for a home. they need the
gravel OR they need filter material. polyester batting at fish store will work
great, stuff that into any hang on the back filter.

if the ammonia and nitrites are not kept low with water changes it will kill the
biobugs anyway. it will take at least 4-6 weeks to cycle.

try a little bucket filter. use a peanut butter jar sized "bucket"
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/care/hardware.html#BUCKET
get a tiny pump and fill the rest with batting. it should cycle really fast. Ingrid

On Thu, 6 Mar 2008 07:51:03 -0800 (PST), ExPat > wrote:

>On Mar 6, 7:48*am, (L u) wrote:
>> I keep doing freqent water changes. Over 75% every few days. I age the
>> water for a few days. And even when I pour it in, the tank is cloudy!
>> I'm looking at the aged water sitting on my counter now. It's crystal
>> clear. But the minute it hits the tank it will go cloudy.
>>
>> I guess it's probably too much fish waste or too much food. Or both.
>> Fresh aged water shouldn't go cloudy the minute it hits the tank. I know
>> when I pour it in, I see a ton of particles flying around and getting
>> stirred up. I have a filter, so I don't understand. I'm going to test
>> the ammonia level in a little while. Maybe that could be it?
>>
>> I have 2 goldfish, a black moor, a guppy, and a gourami. Tank is 5
>> gallons.
>
>I still think your overloaded in regards to amount of fish, and your
>filtration (undergravel) leaves a lot to be desired. A hang on back
>like the Aqua Clear will make things right. Daily changing of water is
>not good eityher as it removes what good bacteria is there that
>actuyally helps filter and make your tank clear with their waste
>breakdown. It oculd be a cycle ithe tank is going through too, or lots
>of things as posted in the other post about water clarifiers. PIrtch
>that undergravel and get a filter that uses filter medium and has some
>current flow to it and cut back on lighting as well as feeding. Just
>what kinds of foods and how much and how often are you feeding?
>Skipping one or two days on food will not hurt any fish and in most
>cases actualy does a fish some good as well as a tanka s it pushes
>them to hunt out lost or uneaten food scrapes which all add to bad
>water and pathogens. Also adding a decent filter will cut back on
>these daily water changes trying to clear up water.........and do
>nothing but prolong what time it is the tank nmeeds to cycle correctly
>and remain clear. I have had tanks (newly established) go coudy for a
>couple of days and then go clear, and its normal in a lot of cases,
>buyt by doing these daily water changes you could be counter
>productive to what your really trying to obtain.

[[email protected]]

a pinch once a day until the water stays clear. really, fish dont need that much
food.

On Thu, 6 Mar 2008 11:14:20 -0500, (L u) wrote:

>I'm feeding them every morning, sprinkling in either Tetramin tropical
>flakes, Nutrafin Max goldfish flakes, or Tetramin Pro tropical crisps.
>Maybe I sprinkle too much, because there are 5 fish in there. I also
>have Pellets, which I hear keep the water clearer, but with 5 fish, I
>don't know how many pellets to feed.

[Hank Nussbacher]

In article >, (L u) wrote:
>I keep doing freqent water changes. Over 75% every few days. I age the
>water for a few days. And even when I pour it in, the tank is cloudy!
>I'm looking at the aged water sitting on my counter now. It's crystal
>clear. But the minute it hits the tank it will go cloudy.
>
>I guess it's probably too much fish waste or too much food. Or both.
>Fresh aged water shouldn't go cloudy the minute it hits the tank. I know
>when I pour it in, I see a ton of particles flying around and getting
>stirred up. I have a filter, so I don't understand. I'm going to test
>the ammonia level in a little while. Maybe that could be it?
>
>I have 2 goldfish, a black moor, a guppy, and a gourami. Tank is 5
>gallons.

Do you own a gravelvac? No need to buy the Python - you can get the simple $7
one as well. Unless you vacuum your gravel every few weeks - when you pour
fresh water into the tank it will become cloudy. For a 5G tank, get the $7
gravelvac at your LFS.

-Hank

[L u]

Thank you Hank :)

[ExPat]

On Mar 9, 3:53*am, (L u) wrote:
> Thank you Hank :)

As posts previous to this stated, reduce and cut back on the amount
and the frequencey that you feed. Excess feed unconsumed leads to
ammonia buildup due to rotting etc whgich leads to high numbers of
bacteria which leads to cloudy water.....I still personally believe
your going to have a problematic issue with the size tanks and the
type fish you have as well as the type of filtration you have in use
(undergravel IIRC)

[L u]

I have cut back on the feeding.

[Alpha]

Lu, this is bacterial bloom. Overcrowding and incomplete cycling.

"L u" > wrote in message
...
>I keep doing freqent water changes. Over 75% every few days. I age the
> water for a few days. And even when I pour it in, the tank is cloudy!
> I'm looking at the aged water sitting on my counter now. It's crystal
> clear. But the minute it hits the tank it will go cloudy.
>
> I guess it's probably too much fish waste or too much food. Or both.
> Fresh aged water shouldn't go cloudy the minute it hits the tank. I know
> when I pour it in, I see a ton of particles flying around and getting
> stirred up. I have a filter, so I don't understand. I'm going to test
> the ammonia level in a little while. Maybe that could be it?
>
> I have 2 goldfish, a black moor, a guppy, and a gourami. Tank is 5
> gallons.
>

[ExPat]

On Mar 16, 7:06*pm, "Alpha" > wrote:
> Lu, this is bacterial bloom. *Overcrowding and incomplete cycling.
>
> "L u" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
>
>
> >I keep doing freqent water changes. Over 75% every few days. I age the
> > water for a few days. And even when I pour it in, the tank is cloudy!
> > I'm looking at the aged water sitting on my counter now. It's crystal
> > clear. But the minute it hits the tank it will go cloudy.
>
> > I guess it's probably too much fish waste or too much food. Or both.
> > Fresh aged water shouldn't go cloudy the minute it hits the tank. I know
> > when I pour it in, I see a ton of particles flying around and getting
> > stirred up. I have a filter, so I don't understand. I'm going to test
> > the ammonia level in a little while. Maybe that could be it?
>
> > I have 2 goldfish, a black moor, a guppy, and a gourami. Tank is 5
> > gallons.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Make sure your tank is not in a window or getting sunlight, and in
time this bloom that is making the water coudy will go away.its all
part of a tank following the natural cycling routine. Its really a
bacterial bloom and most if not all tanks do go thorugh it, but
usually on a tank that is being cycled properly there would not have
been fish in it at this time yet, since tank is still cycling.