Comments on: Cloudy Aquarium Water

By: Aquarium Care

Aquarium Care — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:51:45 +0000

First you should reduce the amount of fish food you give your fish.They only need as much as they can eat in 1 minute. Then vacuum the gravel and change about 1/4 of the water weekly. If you have too many fish (rule of thumb is 1 gallon of water per inch of fish, 10 gallons per inch of goldfish)
If you use EcoBio-Block, the beneficial bacteria which multiply in the block and disperse regularly into the water will breakdown the organic waste and clear your tank.

By: navi

navi — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 08:37:38 +0000

my fish tank’s water turned white and milky….wat is the palm and wat should i do to clear it up??

By: Aquarium Care

Aquarium Care — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 21:48:35 +0000

It sounds like you are having a bacterial bloom, which means you have too much organic waste. It’s one of the reasons that your snails are multiplying. There is a lot of food for them and they are thriving. Also, when you moved and change your filter, you got rid of the beneficial bacteria which break down the organic waste into safer by products and clear your water. If you use EcoBio-Block, you will quickly replenish the beneficial bacteria and your water will clear up again. It normally takes 2 to 6 weeks for the water to clear (it clears suddenly, not gradually). You should do about a 25% water change weekly until you have sufficient beneficial bacteria to take care of the waste problem in your tank. Don’t overfeed your fish. Only give them the amount of fish food that they can eat in about 2 minute. And, you should probably dispose of some of your snails. They eat waste, but they also make it. If you float a lettuce leaf on top of the water overnight, they will be attracted to it and you can pick them up and get rid of them easily.
After your water clears up, you can reduce water changes to monthly or bi-monthly, just monitor your ammonia and nitrite levels and don’t forget to vacuum. EcoBio-Block does best near an air source.

Good luck, let us know if you have any other questions.

By: Jena

Jena — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:26:29 +0000

I have a 70 gallon tank and I moved about a year ago. My tank was well established at my last house and was always crystal clear. Moving, I disassembled the tank and put everything back together clean. Now, after a few months in my new house the tank turned hazy gray/white. I have cleaned the rocks in the tank, changed filters, and reduced the amount of food. Nothing seems to help. I have two filters on the tank, under the rocks and a top filter. There is an amazing amount of snails in my tank which have always been in there. I also have a variety of cichlids and when the water first turned gray/white there were 4 fish in the tank and after months of gray/white water no fish have died. Any thoughts or help on this situation would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

By: Kristin

Kristin — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:33:32 +0000

Thank you.

By: Aquarium Care

Aquarium Care — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:00:09 +0000

Your tank is experiencing new tank syndrome. Every tank has to go through a new aquarium cycle.
Keep checking ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels using a liquid-type water testing kit. Ammonia and nitrite are very toxic to fish.
Feed fish regularly once or twice a day, but only very little at a time. Uneaten food will worsen the water quality. Change 20% of the tank water once a week.
The ammonia level will rise at first and then will start to decrease, at which point the nitrite level will begin to rise. Water often gets cloudy around this time. The nitrite level will eventually decrease, as the nitrate level rises. When nitrate has gone down, the cycle has finished.
Do not add any new fish into the tank until ammonia and nitrate levels are at zero.
This usually takes 1-3 months.
EcoBio-Block products will speed up this process and will keep the water clear and healthy after the cycle has finished.

By: Kristin

Kristin — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 18:13:31 +0000

I recently upgraded my 10 gallon fish tank to a 60 gallon fresh water tank. When I set up the new tank I added tap water and treated it with a conditioner and EZ Balance. I ran the filters/heaters for 2 days. The water was at the right temperature and clear. I added the fish from my old tank and within 6 hours or so the water was cloudy. I added some tannen drops to “clear” the water – it didn’t help. Since, two of my fish have died… is this just a normal thing with a “new” tank? The fish seem to be swimming and enjoying the new tank. I am worried about the color. What do you think? Thanks for your help!

By: Aquarium Care

Aquarium Care — Tue, 24 May 2011 12:59:30 +0000

Changing 50% of the water at one time is a bad idea, and the fish are up at the top because you probably did not put in the right additive to neutralize chlorine/chloramines in the new water. At this point in time the only thing to do is to aerate the water very heavily, and stop feeding. If the fish do make it you needs to find out what his tap water has in it, and get the water conditioner to treat it.

By: katie

katie — Tue, 24 May 2011 06:21:23 +0000

i have a 10 gallon tank and have about 6 mollies in it. well they had babies and the tank was fine, but here recently it started turning green, because the babies i let it go for a while and then yesterday it was smelling wierd, so i cleaned the sides and changed the water, like a 50% water change, and it was fine at first, but then i woke up this morning and the water is cloudy and the fish are all at the top, like they cant breathe or something, and i dont know what i can do about it, help!

By: Aquarium Care

Aquarium Care — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 02:02:54 +0000

Hi Megan,
Your tank is experiencing bacterial bloom, which comes from an excess of organic waste. Be careful not to overfeed your fish (just give them the amount of food that they can eat in 1 minute. You can start by not feeding them for a couple of days (it won’t hurt them). Change about 25% of the water once a week and that should help. Watch for ammonia spikes, if it gets too high change more water. Of course, the best thing to do is to get an EcoBio-Block M, which will disperse the beneficial bacteria your tank needs to keep the water clear, clean and odor-free on a regular basis, keeping levels high and organic waste under control.