Cloudy Water....bacteria bloom?

[eraser]

Im relatively new to aquariums i have 4 Balas in my 30 gallon tank, i have a penguin Biowheel 330 filter and a small pump and airstones.

I used Amquel as well as another product by Kordon(the name escapes me right now) and let my tank run with no fish for a day, then added Fritz #7(bacteria starter), let it sit for approx 5 days then added fish...its been about 2 weeks since ive added fish

Im using Quick Dip 6-1 Test strips to get the following readings...

Sorry im at work and dont have the exact PPMs

Nitrate in the "safe" area
Nitrite (dont remember exact number) It was under the "stress" area
Chlorine 0
PH Ideal 7.0ish
Hardness - hard to very hard
Alkalinity- i forget the scale but it was all the way to the right

Using a seperate tester for ammonia i had something around 2 PPM

The water was clear until yesterday when I added a few products and did a partial water change.

I did it in the following order...

Added aquarium salt to help with the hardness of the water according to the instructions (tablespoon per 5 gallons i believe)

Waited about an hour then used a product to get my PH from high level to ideal.

waited an hour then tested ammonia, saw that it was on the high side and so i did a partial water change then added the appropriate amount of salt, and Amquel to bring the ammonia down(its brought it down from 4ish PPM to 2 PPM)

Since then its slowly gotten cloudier and cloudier... i went to bed last night and could still see fish in the back of the tank, this morning you can barely see the back of the tank...

Sooooo what should I do? I know my tank readings are slightly out of whack.....

 

[rich311k]

It sounds like a bacterial bloom, perfectly normal. If I were you, I would stop using all those chemicals except the water conditioner. I would change water as much and as often as possible to keep the ammonia levels at a trace. Don't worry at the Ph and hardness as long as it is stable you will be OK.

Just so you are aware those bala sharks will grow to a foot long and need a lot of room to swim. I would return them to the LFS and start a fishless cycle. If you decide to keep them then you need to start changing much water.

Good luck.

 

[eraser]

It sounds like a bacterial bloom, perfectly normal. If I were you, I would stop using all those chemicals except the water conditioner. I would change water as much and as often as possible to keep the ammonia levels at a trace. Don't worry at the Ph and hardness as long as it is stable you will be OK.

Just so you are aware those bala sharks will grow to a foot long and need a lot of room to swim. I would return them to the LFS and start a fishless cycle. If you decide to keep them then you need to start changing much water.

Good luck.

I know theyll grow to be big... i either plan on a bigger tank eventually or different fish... thanks for the help

 

[Madness]

Put all the chemicals away accept one; the chlorine remover. You'll make yourself crazy tryng to create perfect water and it's unnecessary. You're likely clouding over because even at three or four inches the Balas are creating a very high bioload for cycling a 30 gallon tank.

My advice is first to get a Python for water changes. It's a life saver even with a 30 gallon tank. If you are going to keep all four fish you'll probably need 50% water changes with good gravel syphoning every day. I'd even test a couple times a day and see if you need to change more often. It can take a few weeks to cycle the ammonia only to be followed by a nitrite spike, continuing the water changing histeria.

Another thing to try is going to the fish store and asking them or a fish keeping friend for some of their filter media (seeding the tank)- Instant cycle. Additionally, plants prefer ammonia over nitrate and nitrite. They will consume ammonia out of the water before the other two. A few bunches of free floating plants like Hornwort will help a lot with the ammonia but won't aid nearly as much if at all with the nitrite. Yet another option is to install a powerhead with a micron filter attachment. They are excellent for polishing cloudy water. You'd want to clean the micron filter daily to help reduce the bioload.

I'm breaking in a tank myself. As a comparison to yours, mine is 150 gallons. It has fifteen or twenty young White Cloud Minnows, a mere fraction of your bioload. I feed sparingly. It has two store size bunches of Hornwort and one store size bunch of Java Fern. Water changes have been 50% once per week. The tank is three weeks in without ever producing any measurable ammonia or nitrite, though I expect to eventually see nitrite. The tank is crystal clear with only an air powered undergravel filter.

In a nut shell: The clouding will pass and is a sign of over bioloading. You are competing against your fish. Consider reducing your bioload.

I hope I'm wrong, but I think the only way you'll save the fish is by adding mature filter media from a mature tank into your filter, adding simple free floating plants like Hornwort, and installing and regularly cleaning a micron filter. Combine all with 50% water changes to keep ammonia down until the rest take over, which shouldn't be long at all - day or two. The cloud should clear in very short time as well.