[lovemycichlids805]

Ok here's the scoop. I have a 60 gallon tank, with a Penguin 350 bio-filter, and also an undergravel filter with 2- 1200 Maxi Jet powerheads. Everything was working perfect and when I left my house yesterday morning about 10am the water was perfectly clear. When I got home from work, about 6pm, it was cloudy (like fog cloudy). Checked the tank and the ammonia was a 4.0 it's a new tank so I expected that. So I did a water (about 30-40 percent) change on it. I put Ammo Lock in the entire tank and this morning when I get up and turn on the light it is so cloudy you can barely see anything. I just don't understand why all of the sudden it got cloudy. Does anyone know why do tanks do that? I have a 29 gallon and have NEVER had that problem. So please tell me what is going on and what I am doing wrong!!!! Any help appreciated, and thanks in advance!

 

[F8LBITEva]

I think the Ammolock made your tank cloudy. What it does is it makes a chemical reaction to the ammonia in your tank and makes it non-toxic to fish but the ammonia is still present, it also messes up your test kit results too. If you have another tank in the house take the filter from it and put it in the new tank, the bacteria in that filter will "seed" the new tank and filter. I would recommend a few water changes as well and make sure you dechlorinate your incoming water.

 

[rgr4475]

Definately stop using the Ammolock. I found this out the hard way along time ago. It prolonged the cycling process to almost 2 months. The best thing you can do is to do frequent water changes as you have been doing. But be sure to use a good tap water conditioner such as Prime.

 

[Oneeyedgeckz]

I agree that Ammo Lock is bad. Sure it makes the ammonia safe for the fish but it causes other problems. I agree completely with F8LBITEva. You need to "seed" the filter and tank with a bacteria from one of your other filters. This will make the break in process much faster and help the filter catch up to the bio load of the tank. Also, I know some penguin filters have a sponge in them If yours has a sponge don't replace it, instead just rinse it in a bucket of water from your tank. Sponges host beneficial bacteria and when you replace a sponge you throw that bacteria away.

I know its already been said, but do some water changes and use a good decholorinator. I really like API's Tap Water Conditioner because you only need 1 drop per gallon. I've been using it for years with no problems.

p.s. It sounds to me as though you have your filtration set-up perfect. Once the tank is done cycling you probably won't have anymore problems.

 

[lovemycichlids805]

Thanks everyone. I think it was the Ammo-Lock too. In the future I will refrain from using it. Thanks again.