View Full Version : Water is unclear
Arseniy
03-10-2004, 9:22 AM
I am a Newbie and don’t know much about aquariums yet.
My tank:
10 gallons
76 F temp
pH 7.Whisper Bio Filter
Air pump
Fish:
Bala Shark - 2
Tiger Barbus - 5
and a small catfish (not sure what its called)
I bought this tank two weeks ago. I set everything up, filled the tank with tap water and added some AquaSafe. After one week I got some fish and everything was ok for a day. Then color of water started to change from clear to almost white. What could be the problem? And how do I change it?
Anne L.
03-10-2004, 9:34 AM
You are probably getting a bacterial bloom which is ok. It should clear away in a few days.
Have you read anything about tank cycling? Have a look around here or do a search for it. You will need to monitor ammonia and nitrite levels for sure and do water changes to keep the levels down. Nitrates are also a concern, but ammonia and nitrites will kill your fish if they get too high.
Good luck with your new tank. I'm fairly new to this too; I just started a 10 gallon back in December and have 4 harlequin rasboras, 3 glowlight tetras and 2 (used to be 3) peppered cories. Also have 2 ramshorn snails.
OrionGirl
03-10-2004, 10:21 AM
Agree, this is normal--but it is not good. While the cloudiness is not harmful to the fish, the other, non-visible toxins are lethal. Do several large water changes, and pick up a test kit. You'll want to keep ammonia less than 1, and nitrites as low as possible.
You may also want to remove the bala sharks--their adult size is quite large, much bigger than a 10 gallon tank will support. Keeping them in the small tank for more than a few months will stunt the fish. You should aslo identify the catfish---many kinds sold are not appropriate for an aquarium, such as channel catfish.
Yes, get those balas out asap. There isn't anything sold out there under the name "shark" that should go in a 10 gallon tank. Even the tiget barbs may be on the big side when grown but can be doable if taken care of.
Yes, start doing water changes or else you won't have to worry about the adult size of those fish.