St_Gabriel Posted January 14, 2007 Report Share Posted January 14, 2007 I have just set up a tank and the water overnight has turned very cloudy. What could be the cause of this? The tank gets some sunlight but it was only set up in the afternoon after the sun had left that spot. The filter has been running the whole time (wasnt turned off overnight) Secondly, what is the longest that you should leave a built in biological filter without water flowing over it? Tank is an AR 380 aquaone, with a very heavy stocking level as the fish came with the tank (being remedied by a thread i have posted in the buy/swap/sell section of the forum thanks for the responses folks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted January 14, 2007 Report Share Posted January 14, 2007 Is the water green or whiteish? If it's green it's an algae bloom, if white bacteria bloom. Either way change lots of water and reduce your feeding. Would be a good idea to test your water as well. I'm guessing your filter died when you moved the tank from it's old owner, they can only last a few hours with no water flow. How long ago did you setup the tank? If it was only yesterday then take the filter apart and give it a good clean in tank water. If you have had it runing for a couple of days now, cleaning wont make much difference, just leave the tank to cycle again, take out as many fish as you can, change lots of water, and dont feed the fish much (if at all, they will be fine without food for a week). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St_Gabriel Posted January 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2007 yeah, should have mentioned it wasnt green, so looks like a bacterial bloom. It sort of looks like clouds of cigarette smoke rolling in the water flow from the filter. Did a 60% water change today, have got rid of over half the guppies, and will stop feeding them as of now (except for the free food/fry the female guppies are delivering). How long till I should expect to see a change in the water quality? a few days? a week? a month? a couple of months? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freakyfish Posted January 14, 2007 Report Share Posted January 14, 2007 The water will clear up hopefully inside a few days Large water changes will not help you with a bacterial bloom Just keep your feeding do a bare minimum Seachem Clarity will help clear your water overnight Brad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted January 14, 2007 Report Share Posted January 14, 2007 The water changes will help remove the ammonia that is feeding the bacterial bloom. It will also reduce the stress on the fish. Any chemicals that you add that will kill the bacteria in the bloom will also affect the good bacteria in your filter etc that you are trying to get started. Time is your friend, just wait a few days for the cycle to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted January 14, 2007 Report Share Posted January 14, 2007 If the tank was only just setup, then there wont be much good bacteria to worry about. I'd completely drain it, start again. Most tanks cycle fine without ever going cloudy, and I'd rather lose a day of cycling than have my fish swimming in nasty water filled with ammonia and bacteria. Just my two cents, if you think I'm wrong please correct me, hate giving bad advice, its just what I'd do. In an established tank it may be worth the wait, but if it isn't established, then there is nothing to lose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St_Gabriel Posted January 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2007 Well tank has finally started clearing(ok took all of 36 hrs but...). I had given the tank a reasonable clean when i got it home and as the previous owner had just changed the water with straight tap water, i thought there would be bugger all bacteria in the tank and filter system. So it all good for now but will still do the water changes daily for the rest of the week. Thanks again for the responses Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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