I know this has been answered a few times as I did a search 1st before posting hah. I had a few questions to try to make sense of the information I gleaned from my search. I appreciate the patience! I have a 75g tank and added new PFS. I did rinse it beforehand, albeit while on a conference call with work clients, so my attention wasn't as focused as maybe it needed to be. I thought the water was running fairly clear from rinsing, it has been roughly 14 hrs now and it is still cloudy. It definitely is clearing up as I can now see through the tank, but it still is pretty cloudy. From my search it seems that while some people don't experience cloudiness that it is normal for about 1-3 days? I want to take care of it now before any filters or fish go into it. From my search it seems 1 option is to just change out most of the water and then add some chemicals I can obtain from the local petstore and that should clear it up. Is that the best way or is there another way where I don't have to dig out all the sand and rinse it again? Haha. Thanks guys
New PFS, cloudy water
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I'm assuming pool filter sand? Just be patient, it will clear up. I know it took at least 24 hours for mine to start clearing up
Thanks, yeah I emptied it and refilled it. Still cloudy. I'm wondering if its from the limestone rocks I have in it. My other tank uses the same tap water but isn't cloudy at all. I washed and boiled the rocks before placing them in there, but wondering if that is impacting the water cloudiness? We have some very hard water here so I don't know if that would make it cloudy? I've also heard that it could just be a bacterial bloom since its a new tank and it'll go away after a while and to be patient..........not one of my strong points hah.BillD said:
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I have used water clarifier in the past; it causes the tiny particles causing the cloudiness to clump together so the filter can remove them. Worked pretty well.JoshMKB24 said:
I think you're right. I had a coworker come over to take a look at it and he thinks its bacterial bloom as well. I checked all the water levels. I went and got the API Master test kit since I just had the strips before. Everything from the ph to the nitrate levels seems to be normal. There are no fish in it yet so its probably just cycling. I'll probably still put fish in it on Friday or so, but I'm really hoping it clears up before long.DJRansome said:
Is there anything to do chemical or otherwise to speed along the bacterial bloom or at least test to see if its a bacterial bloom? Thanks guys! I've learned so much since browsing the forums the last few weeks.
Hey Josh, can you post the number results for your water tests with the API Master kit?
How long has the tank been set up? It usually takes a minimum of 6 weeks to cycle a tank before adding fish unless you already have a mature filter or use some type of bacterial additive.
How long has the tank been set up? It usually takes a minimum of 6 weeks to cycle a tank before adding fish unless you already have a mature filter or use some type of bacterial additive.
ph was at 7.6(says its as high as the test kit goes, but with a strip it was at 8, so dunno, but its on the higher end)Deeda said:
no2 was at 0
no3 was at 5
I didn't test for ammonia as there isn't any biological matter in the tank, at least that I'm aware of. If you think I should I can test that tonight.
I'll test it this evening. I added a pic of what it looks like. It seems a little clearer today......but its still crazy cloudy. The fact its clearer today should give you an idea of how cloudy it was Sunday/Monday!Deeda said:
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So I didn't test it tonight, I took some water to Petsmart for them to test. Ammonia was between 0 and .25, nitrate was at 0, nitrite was at 0, "Total hardness" was at 150, chlorine was at 0, alkalinity was at 180 and ph was at 7.8
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Bacterial blooms that I have experienced in the past were kind of grayish white like your tank, but the sand is also about the same color as the water. I would think that if it being caused by "dust" that was not well rinsed it would have settled by now or been picked up by the filter by now. I would go ahead and do another large water change.JoshMKB24 said:
While I'm not opposed to doing a large water change, I have sort of got the impression that wouldn't be a good idea. It seems like everyone has told me to just wait it out and when I refilled the tank Sunday it was a mistake hah.Old Newbie said:
Someone at a local pet shop that specializes in fish suggested trying to go to WalMart and buying some polyester either filling or batting. I had no idea what batting was even until looking it up. He said they sell polyester filters, but its cheaper to just get a bunch of it from Walmart. Is there anything specific I should be looking for? Obviously I want ones that are non toxic with no chemicals added, which I would imagine for the price most don't have anything added since its like 8 bucks for a huge amount haha. Hopefully this will speed up the process of clearing up the tank
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You need to be careful who you get advice from. IDK why changing water would impact your cycle, as the bacteria do not live in the water.
No problem waiting it out...the bacteria will attach tor surfaces and your problems will be over.
It's possible a water polishing filter could help...I don't think the polyester batting will be fine enough to do much good.
No problem waiting it out...the bacteria will attach tor surfaces and your problems will be over.
It's possible a water polishing filter could help...I don't think the polyester batting will be fine enough to do much good.
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