fish advice wanted.

We have had a very small tank empty of fish for several months, but we have
kept the little filter pump going continously. Recently we bought three
small gold fish and used half the water that came with the fish and half the
water already in the tank.

The water has gone cloudy. Can you advise the likely reason for this
please and say what is roughly the maximum volume of water I can change
every day. Thanks.

you have the biological filter (they are bacteria), but the new fish are pumping out
more ammonia than they can handle. the cloudy (white, right?) is the biobacteria
looking for a home. If you add more "mats" in the filter they will settle down in
there. this is actually a good thing in that it is unlikely that the ammonia is
spiking high, however, you need to check for nitrites and ammonia until they zero
out. then the fish are safe.
1. cut back on feeding severely and small amounts of high quality (protein, no
grains) one mouthful each fish more often per day.
2. check the water parameters and do water changes to keep the nitrates below 40 ppm
3. you may need a larger tank for those fish. Generally 20 gallons for 2 fish, 10
gallons for each additional fish.
Ingrid

On Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:32:05 +0100, "john royce" wrote:

We have had a very small tank empty of fish for several months, but we have
kept the little filter pump going continously. Recently we bought three
small gold fish and used half the water that came with the fish and half the
water already in the tank.

The water has gone cloudy. Can you advise the likely reason for this
please and say what is roughly the maximum volume of water I can change
every day. Thanks.

Somewhere between zone 5 and 6 tucked along the shore of Lake Michigan
on the council grounds of the Fox, Mascouten, Potawatomi, and Winnebago

On Jul 14, 5:06*pm, wrote:
you have the biological filter (they are bacteria), but the new fish are pumping out
more ammonia than they can handle. *the cloudy (white, right?) is the biobacteria
looking for a home. *If you add more "mats" in the filter they will settle down in
there. *this is actually a good thing in that it is unlikely that the ammonia is
spiking high, however, you need to check for nitrites and ammonia until they zero
out. *then the fish are safe. *
1. cut back on feeding severely and small amounts of high quality (protein, no
grains) one mouthful each fish more often per day. *
2. check the water parameters and do water changes to keep the nitrates below 40 ppm
3. you may need a larger tank for those fish. *Generally 20 gallons for 2 fish, 10
gallons for each additional fish. *
Ingrid

On Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:32:05 +0100, "john royce" wrote:
We have had a very small tank empty of fish for several months, but we have
kept the little filter pump going continously. * *Recently we bought three
small gold fish and used half the water that came with the fish and half the
water already in the tank.

The water has gone cloudy. * Can you advise the likely reason for this
please and say what is roughly the maximum volume of water I can change
every day. *Thanks.

Somewhere between zone 5 and 6 tucked along the shore of Lake Michigan
on the council grounds of the Fox, Mascouten, Potawatomi, and Winnebago