Cloudy water

[Hartman2287]

I had a 10 gallon established FOWLR tank. 30 min ago I upgraded it to a 29 gallon and when moving substrate to new tank, of course, the water got extremely cloudy. So what I need to know is how long do I need to wait or how clear does water need to be before i add my fish to tank?

Thank you in advance for those who read and or reply.

 

[TropicalNorth]

How cloudy is cloudy?
When moving substrate its a good idea to rinse it in some saltwater to get most of the detritus out before putting it into a new tank. I move my rockwork around occasionally which makes the tank go fairly cloudy (I can still see through the water) and this doesn't bother the fish at all.

The disturbed sand bed may cause some kind of spike, like nitrates or something. I would get a mechanical filter on the tank, maybe do a 50% water change and monitor ammonia etc levels before adding the fish.

 

[Amphiprion]

A good water change rarely hurts. Should clear up within a couple of days at the most. If not, then you have another issue on your hands and some "spikes" of various compounds may be causing a bacterial bloom.

 

[Cerianthus]

I would hold off on any unnecessary changes, including water changes, since no fish yet. Test for next few days to see if any spikes. Would rather let the tank establish itself and once established, move the fish.
If no show on NH3, NO2 in next few days, could move the fish but monitor water for next few more days followingthe relocation of fish just to make sure..

 

[Amphiprion]

I'd have to disagree. Contrary to popular belief, a water change will not hamper any cycling processes or stabilization. If anything, it could minimize the impact of anything substantial after a big move. This is assuming the change water has similar main parameters.

 

[Hartman2287]

The water from the 10 gal was distilled with sea salt and the new one is distilled was sea salt. I now can see my live and the back of the tank. So added my fish. So hopefully both of them survive the night.

 

[reefplayground]

A water change wont hamper the cycle one bit, most of the bacteria is living inside the rock and sand. A simple water change would do wonders for a cloudy tank. But if you choose not to, it should clear up in a couple days

 

[Cory Keeper]

Ya, a WC never hurt anything. My 5g cycled within a week, even with daily WCs (had some hitchiking rics).