Cloudy water and water changes

S

sweethoneyjlp86

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Jan 24, 2006
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Ok, I am sorry to do this, but I am not getting the answer that I want. I have a 2.5 gallon tank with 1 male betta. My question is that the tank gets cloudy every single night. I don't know what is causing it. I do 10-20% water changes everyday. If I don't, then my ammonia will spike. That is my other question. I know that changing the water everyday isn't good for the pH level, but the ammonia will be high if I don't change it everyday. So I guess my three questions are as follows

1) Why is the tank so cloudy?
2) What can I do to keep the tank clean?
3 Should I keep doing water changes everyday?

Any other advice is appreciated:)
Thank you
 
Well, my first response is sweetness for having that much room for your Betta!! Things to consider:

* What kind of gravel/flooring material do you have, and is it established or new? Do you vacuum the gravel or whatever you are using? Food and poop can get piled up in the "flooring" and cause ammonia problems. Have you made any kinds of changes? Do you use Aquasafe or something similar when making water changes?
* I recently had the same problem with my 10g, whitish cloudy for a couple of weeks. I did more frequent water changes (usually 2/week, moved to 4/week with lesser amounts). Used Amquel--it's pretty good for dealing with Ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, etc.
* Are you using a tube test kit, which is much more accurate, or the 5in1 dip strips (not very reliable)? Test the water out of the tap for ammonia so you will have a comparison!
* Are you overfeeding him? They really don't need as much food as most people believe--that goes for most fish. I recommend the Hikari Gold if you aren't already using it.
* I've read that sometimes algae bloom can be whitish instead of greenish. Also, the aquarium might be constantly having to cycle since you're changing the water so often. Try twice a week, then once a week.

* For more experienced fishkeepers and to see this is a fairly common problem, go to Search at the top bar, type in "cloudy white water" and you'll find a whole list of threads on the topic!!!
*By the way, my fish were fine during this time--tetras, Gourami, and a mystery snail--no gasping for air, spending time at the top, or at the bottom with clamped fins, so your little mister should be fine.

I hope this was helpful; I was frustrated, too, when my aquarium did this. I had a male Betta over 3 years in a 2.5 gallon glass bowl but never had this problem with him. Good luck!!! :D
 
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1) Either a bacterial or algae bloom (hold a glass of water up against a white background - is it white, or green?). I'm assuming it's bacterial; these blooms are really common in new or uncycled tanks and go away on their own once things balance out.
2) If your ammonia is spiking daily, there aren't enough nitrifying bacteria to consume the waste the fish is producing. Do you have a filter on the tank? If not, see if you can get a little internal filter or HOB if it will fit. Once the media matures and develops a population of bacteria in a few weeks, the bloom should resolve itself and your fish will have much more stable conditions. If you do have a filter on the tank, make sure you're not rinsing the media in anything but old tank water - rinsing it in tap water will kill off the bacteria, so the tank will never have a chance to cycle.
3) IMO, yes. If you're seeing ammonia and/or nitrite, the tank isn't cycled and the water is poisonous for your fish. Providing the water is conditioned with something like Prime, Amquel etc. water changes won't prolong the cycle or harm the fish/tank in any way, and they'll reduce the toxins. Once you've got a mature filter, you can probably reduce water changes to once a week or so.

While you're dealing with this, I'd reduce feeding to once every other day to help cut back on waste. He really only needs one or two small flakes or pellets at each meal - overfeeding just compounds the problem, IMHO he's better underfed until the tank settles.
 
rosita said:
Well, my first response is sweetness for having that much room for your Betta!! Things to consider:

* What kind of gravel/flooring material do you have, and is it established or new? Do you vacuum the gravel or whatever you are using? Food and poop can get piled up in the "flooring" and cause ammonia problems. Have you made any kinds of changes? Do you use Aquasafe or something similar when making water changes?
* I recently had the same problem with my 10g, whitish cloudy for a couple of weeks. I did more frequent water changes (usually 2/week, moved to 4/week with lesser amounts). Used Amquel--it's pretty good for dealing with Ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, etc.
* Are you using a tube test kit, which is much more accurate, or the 5in1 dip strips (not very reliable)? Test the water out of the tap for ammonia so you will have a comparison!
* Are you overfeeding him? They really don't need as much food as most people believe--that goes for most fish. I recommend the Hikari Gold if you aren't already using it.
* I've read that sometimes algae bloom can be whitish instead of greenish. Also, the aquarium might be constantly having to cycle since you're changing the water so often. Try twice a week, then once a week.

* For more experienced fishkeepers and to see this is a fairly common problem, go to Search at the top bar, type in "cloudy white water" and you'll find a whole list of threads on the topic!!!
*By the way, my fish were fine during this time--tetras, Gourami, and a mystery snail--no gasping for air, spending time at the top, or at the bottom with clamped fins, so your little mister should be fine.

I hope this was helpful; I was frustrated, too, when my aquarium did this. I had a male Betta over 3 years in a 2.5 gallon glass bowl but never had this problem with him. Good luck!!! :D
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Ok, I have regular gravel and it has been there for a while. I vacuumed it a couple of days ago, but the cloudy water cleared up. I use something liek Aquasafe for the tank. I am using a test kit about every three days or so to check the ammonia which is high everytime I check it. I am not overfeeding him. He gets 1-2 freeze worms in the morning and 1-2 flakes of food at night. I know that if I keep doing water changes, then the tank won't cycle, but I can't let my fish live in cloudy water. I hope that you have an idea on what to do. Thank you for the feedback and responding to me:)
 
If your ammonia is high every time you test, your tank is probably not cycled.

Do you have a filter and what kind?

How long have you had the tank?
 
I have a male betta in a 5 gallon with a Whisper box filter and a mini heater. I change the water about once a week and its crystal clear. Try a small filter and see if that helps!
 
i agree that if the tank is cycled, you should not have such an ammonia problem. also, there are chemicals that can keep ph and ammonia down, but you should probably keep the ph down rather than ammonia so that you can cycle properly.
 
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