Hello! I signed up here a while ago so I could look at the pictures and do research before getting a tank but I still haven't introduced myself. I have a 20 gallon tank that has been set up and going well for quite a while. Just a few days ago I got sick at just the same time my tank started getting cloudy (as in when the fish went to the back of the tank it disappeared). Once I got well enough I checked the tank to see what was wrong and I found my black mollie wedged between a rock and the side of the tank. My guess is it got stuck and couldn't get out. I removed it and changed the filter since it was pretty gross but didn't do much more since I still felt rather ill. Today I am setting up my small 6.6 gallon tank I was previously using. It has nothing more than a light and a heater (no filter). I'm guessing the only thing I can do is move the fish to that tank and clean the 20g out real good and change all the water. The fish are probably already very stressed and there is no way to cycle the 6.6g tank first since It has no filter anymore. I'm guessing its the only thing I can do though. I'm sort of new to fish keeping but I read up on it before I got the 20g tank. My 1 question is...is there any easier or less stressful way? If you can please answer within 12 hours I don't want to wait any longer because by then my fish could be dead, and sorry if anything doesn't make sense I'm kind of loopy from being sick.
Cloudy water after fish died.
- Thread starter Lamilia
- Start date
I would advise against cleaning out the entire tank. You would be risking a mini-cycle and possibly a new full cycle if you totally wash everything.
Also you need to provide more information for us to give you more definite answers. First of all, what are the parameters of your tank and how long has it been running. "Quite a while" can mean very different things to different people. Secondly, what's your normal water changing regimen? Finally, what was the last thing you did to your tank before it got cloudy?
Unfortunately I have to go after this reply, but what I would recommend is just doing plenty of frequent water changes over the next week. Hopefully someone else can give you more detailed help after you answered the questions above. Good Luck
Also you need to provide more information for us to give you more definite answers. First of all, what are the parameters of your tank and how long has it been running. "Quite a while" can mean very different things to different people. Secondly, what's your normal water changing regimen? Finally, what was the last thing you did to your tank before it got cloudy?
Unfortunately I have to go after this reply, but what I would recommend is just doing plenty of frequent water changes over the next week. Hopefully someone else can give you more detailed help after you answered the questions above. Good Luck
Oh so I could remedy it with water changes? I'm not 100% certain but I think the tank has been going for about a month. I'm not really sure what you mean by parameters. If you mean nitrates and PH and all that stuff I don't do any tests (I know I should). As for the fish I have 10 bloodfin tetra, 4 glofish (GM zebra danios I believe), 1 mollie, 1 glass catfish, 2 freshwater shrimp, and some other algae eater but I really couldn't tell you the name. It is a freshwater tank as you can probably tell from my choice in fish. I remove about 5% of the water from the tank every week and replace with clean water that is of a similar temp so it doesn't shock the fish too much. I'm not really sure what the last thing I did was. I believe it was getting 1 more shrimp and 4 bloodfins (which were a different kind :mad2
. The dead fish seemed to be the culprit though. I shined a light into it to make sure everyone was alive and the cloudy water seemed to be a green color. I have an actinic light so that my glofish look better which I got about a week after the new tank it's on 24 hours which is probably a bad thing. Thanks for helping me figure out what was missing from my first post.
. The dead fish seemed to be the culprit though. I shined a light into it to make sure everyone was alive and the cloudy water seemed to be a green color. I have an actinic light so that my glofish look better which I got about a week after the new tank it's on 24 hours which is probably a bad thing. Thanks for helping me figure out what was missing from my first post.No way to edit posts? really? hmm...anyways I forgot to mention something. I had the black mollie originally which died then I got 2 more from a fish store. The water they were in was really murky because apparently when there are 2 left they don't take care of the tanks (Petco policy #125). I made sure not to get any of the water in the tank and it wouldn't effect this tank anyways since that was back when I used the 6.6 gallon. One got all shaky like it was cold so I turned up the heat and it didn't help. It also didn't eat and seemed like it wasn't in control of its body or something since it would sometimes go backwards or go up to the food and just shake and go backwards but never open it;s mouth. 2 days later it was dead. The other mollie I got from the store got shaky too after the first died, but stopped after a day and has been doing fine for at least a week with no problems at all. My black mollie never did that at all, but I think its worth mentioning. None of my other fish ever showed any signs of problems either. OK that's odd how come I can edit this one?
Did you cycle the tank before adding fish?? If not, your fish are probably dying from ammonia and/or nitrite poisoning....
First of all, welcome to Aquaria Central. I hope you enjoy your stay here.
I think you can edit your posts for about thirty minutes after posting. After that you need to post again. From what you are saying, it sounds like the fish you purchased were sick when you got them since they were not being taken care of properly in the LFS.. I know it is tempting to "rescue" fish but in the long run the fish usually do not make it and they cause a problem in your tank. I think the cloudy water is due to keeping a dead fish in the water for a while. I know you said it was because you were sick but really as soon as you notice a dead anything in your tank, you need to take it out immediately so it will not mess with your water quality. I sure hope you are feeling better now.
I would do a series of water changes of at least 40-50%. Please do not remove the fish and tear down the entire tank. The only thing that will do is force your tank into another cycle which will be very stressful for your fish. You said you do not test your water but I would bet that there is ammonia in the water from the dead fish which has caused the cloudy water. As soon as you can, I would get a decent test kit so you can test your water any time of the day or night. This is especially important on days when you are not feeling well so you can test the water yourself without having to take a water sample to the LFS to be tested. It just makes life a little easier when you are a fish keeper..( I have problems with my legs and they do not always want to work on top of also having a heart condition so I know what it is like to not feel well or not be able to get out anywhere.) Make sure to get the liquid test kit. Do not get the strips because they are wildly inaccurate rendering them pretty much worthless. A good test kit to get is Aquarium Pharmeceuticals Master Freshwater test kit. It is the best one on the market and the results are the most accurate.If you have a Petsmart near you, you can go online and print out the page that indicated the online price for this kit. Then take it to the Petsmart and they should honor that price. This will save you a good chunk of money.
You said you are changing out 5% of the water weekly. That is simply not enough and may be another reason for the cloudy water. I would recommend at least a 25% water change weekly and more if there is a problem in your tank.
Don't fret1 You will get there and this problem will be just a distant memory. Hang in there!
Marinemom
I think you can edit your posts for about thirty minutes after posting. After that you need to post again. From what you are saying, it sounds like the fish you purchased were sick when you got them since they were not being taken care of properly in the LFS.. I know it is tempting to "rescue" fish but in the long run the fish usually do not make it and they cause a problem in your tank. I think the cloudy water is due to keeping a dead fish in the water for a while. I know you said it was because you were sick but really as soon as you notice a dead anything in your tank, you need to take it out immediately so it will not mess with your water quality. I sure hope you are feeling better now.
I would do a series of water changes of at least 40-50%. Please do not remove the fish and tear down the entire tank. The only thing that will do is force your tank into another cycle which will be very stressful for your fish. You said you do not test your water but I would bet that there is ammonia in the water from the dead fish which has caused the cloudy water. As soon as you can, I would get a decent test kit so you can test your water any time of the day or night. This is especially important on days when you are not feeling well so you can test the water yourself without having to take a water sample to the LFS to be tested. It just makes life a little easier when you are a fish keeper..( I have problems with my legs and they do not always want to work on top of also having a heart condition so I know what it is like to not feel well or not be able to get out anywhere.) Make sure to get the liquid test kit. Do not get the strips because they are wildly inaccurate rendering them pretty much worthless. A good test kit to get is Aquarium Pharmeceuticals Master Freshwater test kit. It is the best one on the market and the results are the most accurate.If you have a Petsmart near you, you can go online and print out the page that indicated the online price for this kit. Then take it to the Petsmart and they should honor that price. This will save you a good chunk of money.
You said you are changing out 5% of the water weekly. That is simply not enough and may be another reason for the cloudy water. I would recommend at least a 25% water change weekly and more if there is a problem in your tank.
Don't fret1 You will get there and this problem will be just a distant memory. Hang in there!
Marinemom
My Mom got the fish and they looked fine when I got them (aside from the murky water in the bag). If I were there I wouldn't have got them, but I didn't want to make a big deal about it. It was stuck between the side of the tank and a cave shaped rock so I didn't really know why the tank was getting cloudy. Actually for a while I thought it was just my actinic light making it look that way (those lights are odd). I started. I did somewhere around 40% or 50% water change. There doesn't seem to be very much change. I can barely see the back of the tank now. I looked at petco.com's articles and it said 10-20% heh coulda swore it was 5%. I don't think I'll ever forget. I was really attached to that black mollie I was determined to keep it alive. My brother was like 5 seconds away from flushing it . 
I will get a test kit as soon as I can. Any tips for adjusting if something is wrong? I remember having neons and whenever the PH was off we would adjust with this liquid stuff and it killed some of them off.
I will get a test kit as soon as I can. Any tips for adjusting if something is wrong? I remember having neons and whenever the PH was off we would adjust with this liquid stuff and it killed some of them off.
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OK then. Can you tell me more about how to tell whats good for the readings and how to change it or what to change? Some links would work too. You'd think if there is a PH test it would be important. :thumbsdown:
read up on cycling the tank.
in essence(very brief)
you need to establish a bacteria colony in the tank.
one will consume the waste created by the fish(ammonia).
the other will consume waste created by the first bacteria (nitrite). they will leave waste (nitrate) which is reduced with weekly water changes.
you test for the presence of the bacteria with ammonia tests and nitrite tests. the kit usually included nitrate tests.
get the drop tests. not the strip test.
pH is usually not messed with except in a few instances.
in essence(very brief)
you need to establish a bacteria colony in the tank.
one will consume the waste created by the fish(ammonia).
the other will consume waste created by the first bacteria (nitrite). they will leave waste (nitrate) which is reduced with weekly water changes.
you test for the presence of the bacteria with ammonia tests and nitrite tests. the kit usually included nitrate tests.
get the drop tests. not the strip test.
pH is usually not messed with except in a few instances.