# Cloudy Tank - Think it's still cycling?



## rvd (Jun 6, 2005)

finally after stabilizing the PH in my tank(all it took was a 50% waterchange and it's been 7.0 or so for 4 days now) the tank is still cloudy. Its still a new tank so i was thinking it might be cycling. My filter setups are Aquaclear 300 and a AquaClear 200 and the tank is a 68gallon.

The filters werent cleaned so when i put them on the new tank there was already bacteria formed on the sponge inserts.. I was running the carbon bags up until yesterday when i pulled them out and replaced them BioMax bio rings, this stuff is supposed to be good.

The tank is probably just cyclying and im worrying for nothing. What do you guys think? If you need more info before you can give me your opinions just ask.

thanks


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## nick007x (Sep 9, 2005)

rvd said:


> finally after stabilizing the PH in my tank(all it took was a 50% waterchange and it's been 7.0 or so for 4 days now) the tank is still cloudy. Its still a new tank so i was thinking it might be cycling. My filter setups are Aquaclear 300 and a AquaClear 200 and the tank is a 68gallon.
> 
> The filters werent cleaned so when i put them on the new tank there was already bacteria formed on the sponge inserts.. I was running the carbon bags up until yesterday when i pulled them out and replaced them BioMax bio rings, this stuff is supposed to be good.
> 
> ...


knowing your water parameters would help a lot--what are the ammonia, nitrite readings?

did you keep the sponges wet, and in old tank water, not tap water? did you rinse the biomax? if the answers are yes to those questions, then your tank is probably in a mini cycle, which can take a week or two, while bacteria colonizes the biomax, etc to meet your bioload.

if the answer was no, you may have to re-cycle completely. are there fish in there? if your parameters get too high you may want to move them back until you get a handle on it.

in any case, i'd pick up some bio-spira--it'll speed up the process in either case.

no need to worry about it though...unless you washed the gravel with soap or something....j/k


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## dipset.taliban (Sep 8, 2005)

check ur paramaters if theres ammonia then u r still cycling...

if u used old media i dont see why ur tank would cycle unless there was adequate time for the bacteria to die off


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## rvd (Jun 6, 2005)

dipset.taliban said:


> check ur paramaters if theres ammonia then u r still cycling...
> 
> if u used old media i dont see why ur tank would cycle unless there was adequate time for the bacteria to die off


the filters sat for a few days before being used again but they werent dried out or drained. 
i left them hanging on the tank they were used on.

i didnt wash the gravel either, i took the gravel out and put it in the new tank. When i added the water i kept a couple pails of water from the old tank. The rest of the water was from the tap. But i did treat it with stress coat and then i added some cycle to the tank. And yes i did rinse the biomax very thourougly before i added it.

It's a grey cloudiness so maybe it is a mini cycle.

Thanks


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## dipset.taliban (Sep 8, 2005)

check ur paramaters and ull get a more clear answer

ammonia levels
nitrite 
nitrate


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## nick007x (Sep 9, 2005)

rvd said:


> check ur paramaters if theres ammonia then u r still cycling...
> 
> if u used old media i dont see why ur tank would cycle unless there was adequate time for the bacteria to die off


the filters sat for a few days before being used again but they werent dried out or drained. 
i left them hanging on the tank they were used on.

i didnt wash the gravel either, i took the gravel out and put it in the new tank. When i added the water i kept a couple pails of water from the old tank. The rest of the water was from the tap. But i did treat it with stress coat and then i added some cycle to the tank. And yes i did rinse the biomax very thourougly before i added it.

It's a grey cloudiness so maybe it is a mini cycle.

Thanks
[/quote]

bacteria need water and oxygen to survive, so its hard to say how much oxygen was left in stagnant water after a few days--probably not a lot. its possible they were dying, but won't know to what extent without parameters


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## rvd (Jun 6, 2005)

i checked the Ammonia and nitrite/nitrate

Ammonia showed up as zero
according to the test strips the Nitrite is 0ppm thats the closest color the strip matched. And the Nitrate test strip color matched 20ppm. 
i checked the ph and it's still good around 6.8-7.0 i lost the reference chart for the ph test but after adding the drops the water stays blue which means its around 7.0 PH

what do you think about these parameters? is the water too clean?

thanks


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## dipset.taliban (Sep 8, 2005)

well ur not cycling...


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## rvd (Jun 6, 2005)

should i do a 25% water change ? this tank is even more cloudy today.. This is frustrating the hell out of me..


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

rvd said:


> i checked the Ammonia and nitrite/nitrate
> 
> Ammonia showed up as zero
> according to the test strips the Nitrite is 0ppm thats the closest color the strip matched. And the Nitrate test strip color matched 20ppm.
> ...


What happens is it usually takes about a week to register ammonia so keep an eye on it. You don't want to get caught by surprise. With the filter powered off for a couple days you never know. I once had an AC filter shut off by my g/f and it stayed that way the whole weekend and my bacteria was ok. Good luck.


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## Donq8 (Oct 16, 2005)

Intresting


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## rvd (Jun 6, 2005)

just did another water test and here is the results..

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 20ppm

Its THE SAME as before!! what the heck? i dont get it.. nothing is going on in the water?
Now my fish has some little raw spot under him where he must have smacked into something. His colors are still fine but he's not that active.. i got 20 feeders in that tank and i added a sponge that has already been established with bacteria. What is going on here? i'm going insane.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

rvd said:


> just did another water test and here is the results..
> 
> Ammonia - 0
> Nitrite - 0
> ...


Why are you going insane if your water test are ok ????


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## rvd (Jun 6, 2005)

correct me if im wrong, maybe ive been misinformed.. but dont those readings mean that the nitrite cycle or bacteria isnt starting yet? maybe i got this all backwards.

i dont know why my fish is being inactive.. hes barely ate in the past 2 weeks.. this is weird


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

rvd said:


> correct me if im wrong, maybe ive been misinformed.. but dont those readings mean that the nitrite cycle or bacteria isnt starting yet? maybe i got this all backwards.
> 
> i dont know why my fish is being inactive.. hes barely ate in the past 2 weeks.. this is weird


20 nitrAtes mean your ammonia and nitrItes are being consumed. If you had 0 nitrAtes i would be worried but your fine. Unless you have 20 ppm nitrAtes out of your tap your good. As far as not eating for a couple weeks this is possible with serras. They tend to go on hunger strikes at times. Tell me about the fish.


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## rvd (Jun 6, 2005)

The fish a Pygo Nattereri.. He's eaten only a couple small portions the past week and a half.. One small piece of chicken and one small tetra thats it.. He's about 4" long or so.. like i said, he looks fine other than the small raw spot under his belly now from him hitting something. His eyes aren't cloudy and he's not having trouble breathing and his fins look fine..


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

Cool. I had a single Natt back about 25 years ago when i lived w/ mom. There were times when he did not eat for 3 weeks. Not because he didn't want to but because i chose to do that. I would just feed your guy once a week tops twice and continue monitoring.


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## rvd (Jun 6, 2005)

well i hope he starts eating soon.. he just seems very inactive ever since i put him in the new tank.. i had 2 nats but this one killed the other one when i had them together in a 50 gallon.. so now hes in a 68gallon all by himself and thats the way i want to keep it..

Now with that stupid raw flesh spot under him i dont know if i should add medicine to the water or not, being a new tank i dont know what this would do to the cycle?


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## nick007x (Sep 9, 2005)

rvd said:


> well i hope he starts eating soon.. he just seems very inactive ever since i put him in the new tank.. i had 2 nats but this one killed the other one when i had them together in a 50 gallon.. so now hes in a 68gallon all by himself and thats the way i want to keep it..
> 
> Now with that stupid raw flesh spot under him i dont know if i should add medicine to the water or not, being a new tank i dont know what this would do to the cycle?


dose with salt-- and no it dosen't affect the cycle.
also add some stress coat.


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## rvd (Jun 6, 2005)

I dosed with salt ( 1tbspn per 10 gallon) and overnight he basically all healed up.. Piranahas are tuff fish.

Im going to take another reading of the tank later on and see what the parameters are.. It's still CLOUDY


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## rvd (Jun 6, 2005)

OK i just tested the water parameters again and this is what i got.

Ammonia - .25
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - .20

The tank is starting to clear up now, its better than it has been. The fish still looks ok and his colors are still showing good.

Should i add some ammonia remover media( amrid ) to the aquaclears or is this much ammonia not dangerous yet.

thanks


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## nick007x (Sep 9, 2005)

rvd said:


> OK i just tested the water parameters again and this is what i got.
> 
> Ammonia - .25
> Nitrite - 0
> ...


imo the ammonia remover is worthless. .25 won't kill them, so just stay on top of it, keep doing water changes, and have bio-balls or another sponge in place of a ammonia remover.


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