Cloudy water.

[jschall]

My 3 gallon has had cloudy water since a few hours after I set it up. It's been set up for 3 days. It seems to come back after water changes.

Here's what's in it:
betta
3 RCS
anubias
crypts
driftwood, was boiled three times in fresh water each time, then soaked for a few hours

The water turned slightly yellowish brown from the tannins, as expected. What I didn't expect was cloudiness. I dunno about bacterial bloom since it's done cycling and is stable at ammonia 0 nitrites 0. (I dunked a bio-wheel from a high-bioload tank in there and scraped it off on the first day.) However, the fact that the cloud comes back after water changes points to bacterial bloom.

The reflection from the lights is white, so I think the color of the particles is white, while the tannins are causing the water color to be brown. This should rule out algae bloom.

I use RO water.

 

[RodInCALIFORNIA]

The water turned slightly yellowish brown from the tannins, as expected. What I didn't expect was cloudiness. I dunno about bacterial bloom since it's done cycling and is stable at ammonia 0 nitrites 0. (I dunked a bio-wheel from a high-bioload tank in there and scraped it off on the first day.) .

Dunking a used bio wheel in the water isnt enough to cycle a tank. I think you are still in the cycle period.

 

[bitbot]

Do you mean it's 3 days since you first set up the tank? - I don't know if it could cycle that fast. Possibly the shrimp are not producing enough waste to get a cycle going, or what they are producing is being taken up by the plants.

Even after cycling, it can take time for the tank to stabilise chemically (especially a small tank), and you can get blooms of various sorts.

 

[Jakezori]

If your going to force cycle it with a pre-loaded bio-wheel I would do water changes frequently (every other day or more frequently) and maybe put some extra food in there as it seems as though your aqua friends aren't pooping enough =p... Do this for about 1-2 weeks and you should be ok. Also, your substrate could just be unclean.

 

[jschall]

Do you mean it's 3 days since you first set up the tank? - I don't know if it could cycle that fast. Possibly the shrimp are not producing enough waste to get a cycle going, or what they are producing is being taken up by the plants.

Even after cycling, it can take time for the tank to stabilise chemically (especially a small tank), and you can get blooms of various sorts.

Nitrifying bacteria doubles in 7-12 hours in perfect conditions, 15-24 hours in more realistic conditions. I basically dropped enough live bacteria in there to handle the bioload already.

I have seen bacteria blooms before, but I just wasn't expecting one to persist very long in such a small tank that is basically already cycled.

I cleaned the gravel before I added it.

I guess I'll just keep doing 20-30% changes until it goes away. What do you mean by "stabilize chemically", anyway? What processes take place apart from the nitrogen cycle, and how do they produce bacteria blooms?

I have been feeding fairly liberally, and of course 2 nitrite/ammonia tests every day, but they still haven't come up detectable. One shrimp got eaten and I had to move the other small one out, but the fully grown one is fine and has been living with the betta for a few weeks. Are there any shrimp that would grow slightly larger than the RCS?

I'm sure the betta is perfectly happy, though.

 

[jm1212]

keep up with the water changes and testing. they should help sort out any water quality issues that you are having.