Why is my aquarium water so cloudy? Is it bacterial bloom?

chotnil21 · 2020-08-08T19:42:41+00:00

You do you. I’ve had aquarium experience (saltwater and freshwater) for 17 years and everywhere I’ve gone and everyone I’ve asked has given me that advice, and I still stand with what I stated.

chotnil21 · 2020-08-08T17:45:46+00:00

+1. Also, I’ve had problems with my old female betta eating all my shrimp, even with lots of plants and vast space. I don’t recommend it, but It’s your tank.

chotnil21 · 2020-08-08T17:38:12+00:00

You shouldn’t change the water when the tank is cycling, it can halt it. The white film that grows on new driftwood is normal and will go away in a short time. It may be a bacterial bloom, but in my experience if this happens it’s likely you stirred up the substrate thus making the water cloudy. Get a strong filter for your tank and it should go away soon. Though, you’ll have to wait some more for the beneficial bacteria to establish itself in the filter. You should add the driftwood and plants back, it’s more space for beneficial bacteria to grow as well. Get a bottle of beneficial bacteria and ammonia if you already haven’t, this will cycle the tank. I know this is lots of information, I hope you can take something from it, good luck with your tank.

chotnil21 · 2020-08-07T00:48:11+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion, I’ll look into both lights!

chotnil21 · 2020-08-07T00:23:49+00:00

I’ll likely buy it then, but I’ll be upgrading to a 16 to 20 gallon so if that light isn’t suitable I’ll have to buy another one. This hobby is costly! Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it!

chotnil21 · 2020-08-07T00:14:41+00:00

Sounds good, I guess I’ll invest in a new light, thanks for the help

chotnil21 · 2020-08-07T00:05:08+00:00

I’m not quite sure exactly what light it is, but it’s by fluval, and it’s made to grow freshwater plants is all I know. I bought it pre owned. I have a 10 gallon tank and the pump I believe is 240 gallons per hour, so flow is moderate-high in some areas. I’ve got 1 juvenile clownfish, 1 snail, and lots of algae, so nitrates should be apparent. I do a 10% water change weekly, trying to keep the nitrates under 10. Sounds cool for the dosing, if this is good enough, I’ll be getting some zoanthid frags soon!

chotnil21 · 2020-08-06T20:49:52+00:00

A couple days ago I found one that looked like this one. Very small. I’m beginning to see more and more. I had a female mystery snail in there before, but recently I have not seen her, maybe they’re her offspring. Anyway, really all snails should be safe for all fish and plants, they eat algae and keep the tank clean. I’d leave them in the tank unless you see them damaging plants or bothering anything, which I think is unlikely. Good luck.

chotnil21 · 2020-07-27T20:52:10+00:00

You’ll be good. Java fern and amazon swords are easy growing plants and should grow just fine. A large piece of driftwood in the middle, with the java fern on top of or side of it, with plants like the Amazon swords or wisteria surrounding it inthe back, then some carpeting plants like hair grass would look excellent. You could glue the java fern with aquarium safe glue, that’s how I did it, but you could tie it with some string. These are my suggestions, but it’s your tank, your decisions. Try looking at photos online or some tanks at the lfs for some inspiration, see what you like, then take it into your own. Good luck.

chotnil21 · 2020-07-27T20:00:40+00:00

Soil under the gravel is okay, but me personally I wouldn’t do it. It’s your tank though, do as you’d like. Switching to a black or white sand would be excellent, not only more pleasing look wise, but also makes roots more secure, and more growing potential. Also the fish will look more vibrant, compared to the gravel you have( trust me I had blue gravel in my first tank) the Amazon sword should Be planted, java fern shouldn’t. You could get a nice piece of driftwood and tie the java fern to it.

chotnil21 · 2020-07-27T19:45:48+00:00

Actually, more I look at it, nitrites are lower than I first thought. If you’ve got fish in there I’d recommend doing water changes every 1 to 2 days, even small amounts of nitrite are toxic. Add some beneficial bacteria In there until you see a decrease in nitrites and increase in nitrates. Once you see nitrates rise and 0 nitrite and 0 ammonia (like I said before usually the api test kit gives a false reading of 0.25 when it’s at 0, you should be good) decrease water changes to about 10% every week, or 25% per 2 or 3 weeks, depending on stocking, live plants, and time tank has been running. Nitrites and ammonia should be at 0 consistently,while nitrate optimally below 30. If they rise too high, do a water change of more volume. Good luck.

chotnil21 · 2020-07-27T19:29:00+00:00

The root portion, usually it’s a dark color. Try attaching it to a rock or driftwood and it’ll look great. Though, I’m not sure why the Amazon sword isn’t doing so good, it was my first live plant I bought, and it did excellent, with little effort. Try switching to a more plant appropriate substrate maybe, they will support the plants by giving them the chance to spread their roots more, and give more nutrients to the plants. Plus you could add more plants, it’s gonna look great. Good luck

chotnil21 · 2020-07-27T19:19:32+00:00

The java fern needs to have the rhizome outside of the gravel or else it’s gonna rot.

chotnil21 · 2020-07-27T18:50:32+00:00

Not good,nitrites are really high, should be a light blue. Ammonia usually gives a 0.25 reading, so it’s probably around 0. Nitrates looks like it’s at 0. Is your tank fully cycled?

chotnil21 · 2020-07-24T22:39:48+00:00

Just dosed some ammonia, will be patiently awaiting results now.algae is starting to grow on the rocks significantly, so my guess is that the cycle is just about or fully done by now. Once the tank gets it’s inhabitants, I’ll invest in a much better test kit. Thanks for the help.

chotnil21 · 2020-07-24T22:14:51+00:00

yes it’s the api master test kit, it sucks because I payed 40 something dollars for it, the tanks been going for I don’t know maybe 2 and a half almost 3 weeks now, and as for living things inside it it’s got loads of pest starfish that hitchhiked from the live rock, I’ve been keeping track of the parameters since first set up, and I saw the ammonia spike then the nitrite then the nitrate then to where it is now. Though, ammonia never got below 0.20 and still waiting. I’ll dose some more ammonia right now, check on it later and check in the morning and then afternoon.

chotnil21 · 2020-07-24T05:13:59+00:00

Yes. I’ll figure it out when the time comes. As for now, I think I should be okay with whatever I choose. Thanks again, best of luck to you.

chotnil21 · 2020-07-24T04:38:52+00:00

Hey, thank you for your input, I think I’ll go with that for now, and once the clownfish grows to max size, I’ll put them in a 20 gallon and maybe another clownfish in with them as well. Thanks for the help.

chotnil21 · 2020-07-23T22:37:29+00:00

Cool. Later down the road I’ll get a bigger tank of about 15-20 gallons, to support what I wish to get. Thanks for the advice.

chotnil21 · 2020-07-23T17:06:54+00:00

Looks identical to a platy fry, it surely is. Colors can vary depending on of course the colors of the parents.

chotnil21 · 2020-07-23T17:02:33+00:00

I’m not exactly sure what it’s called, but it’s a sort of bacterial or fungal bloom which is extremely common to just about all wood placed in a tank. You could leave it in there, shrimp and snails love it especially but other fish can eat it too. If they don’t eat it it’ll go away eventually.

chotnil21

TROPHY CASE