ok, ive been posting pretty much the same question about 5 times now with little updates and im still not getting any answers on why my water is foggy, or how to get it clean. now the quick version is: i had a goldfish it died a week ago, idk why everything was fine, after he's gone the water gets cloudy, seriously cloudy, i do a 50% water change, dechlorinate, change filter, put in accu-clear, tested water(all perfect including ammonia) let the filter run for 4 days, today i went to petsmart and bought a live plant to get some oxygen in there and a gravel vaccuum. the water looks a little clearer, but still foggy. now im reading all about how i shouldnt disturb the bacteria growth while im trying to cycle (oh yeah im cycling this new 5 gal btw) so what the heck should i do, the water is still obviously not clear or gonna get clear. im thinking that tmrw ill jst do another 50% water change b/c im reading how the good bacteria is on the filterpad and gravel, not the water. so while trying to cycle, should i do a waterchange or is that just punching my efforts in the face?If u have experience...PLEASE HELP! IM GOING NUTS TRYING TO CYCLE!?if you do not have any fish in the tank then do not do a water change chris is wrong when she says water changes do not affect the cycle the cloudiness your seeing is a bacteria bloom which very simply is that there is so much bacteria you can see it so a water change would remove some of the bacteria if you have fish in the tank then you do water changes based on ammonia and nitrite levels
and the simple truth is most of the bacteria will be in the gravel
the cycle process takes about a month if you don't seed the tank
accu-clear will do nothing for clearing a tank during the cycle process you can get a product called stress zyme it will help seed your tank with the bacteria you need
while the tank is cycling you do not want to change the filter at all and the only reason to do a water change is if you have fish in the tank
even without fish you want to put a little fish food into the tank daily in order to have a source of ammonia if you really want to speed up the cycle process if you know anyone with a tank that has been set up for a while get them to clean their gravel add the water and muck from their tank to yours it would be real good if you can get the full 5 gallons worth of water from another tank taken from the gravelIf u have experience...PLEASE HELP! IM GOING NUTS TRYING TO CYCLE!?give the tank time. just let it sit, putting too many chemicals could really screw up your water.If u have experience...PLEASE HELP! IM GOING NUTS TRYING TO CYCLE!?Okay, doing a water change will never harm a cycle, so feel free to do a water change if the water is cloudy. However, if the cloudy water is caused by bacterial bloom, the cloudiness will probably just come back in 10 minutes anyway because the bacteria are reproducing rapidly.
Don't use more chemicals in your tank, that's going to make it worse. Is your fish tank empty (like not occupied by any fishes)? If it is, try a fishless cycle, that should calm your nerves, even though it does take 1-2 months... once you get fish they will have NO problems and no more cloudy water. I did a fishless cycle on my fishtank and once it completed, I added fish, and have not had any problems like fish dying, cloudy water, algae, or anything... it is perfectly clear and fish are happy and stats are zeroes (nitrate is 10).. believe me, it works. I have my fishes in the tank for over a month now and all is well.
Just google for %26quot;fishless cycle%26quot; and you'll find articles. Read a few, or just try to follow a particular one, whichever you think is best... they are all generally the same.
Just a note: goldfish are messy fish and belong in ponds or tanks greater than 20 gallons (20 gallons will only hold one goldfish. For more goldfish you need bigger tanks.) For a 5 gallon a betta is a perfect fish!! Or you could have a small shoal of tiny fish that do not grow to over 1 inch, like neons.If u have experience...PLEASE HELP! IM GOING NUTS TRYING TO CYCLE!?do not change water very often. its ok to chnage 40-50% water every week only if you have too many fishes in it. i suggest that if you are going to keep less fishes then do 25% water changes every week and cut down the hours of lightning you use everyday. there is a another problem that could cause cloudy water. your water could stay cloudy in cycle process and you should leave the tank running for atleast 2-3 weeks without any fish and without adding any water. if you keep changing the water during cycle process this could lead toward cloudy water.
email me if you have any question or problems. i could help you on any tropical fish related question or water question or any plant related question.
punjabi_man84118@yahoo.com
