Is this correct?

[New2Fish]

Thanks Arkylady!

Another thing my fiance keeps harping on is that it's so claoudy he can't even see the fish. We don't have any real plants in the tank that need a certain amount of light. Will keeping the tank light on help reduce the cloudiness and enable the fish to see better?

 

[New2Fish]

Ooh, another question. When should I change the filter sponge?

 

[carpguy]

The cloudiness (white haziness) seems to be a pretty normal occurence during cycling. It'll disappear on its own after a little bit. The fish will find their way around with or without the lights.

When you do your weekly water change take the sponge out and rinse it out in the bucket of water you just removed, then put it back in. Repeat until the sponge is shot. A lot of the nitrifying bacteria live on the sponge and you'll want to protect them. Rinsing under the tap could expose them to chlorine, which hey don't care for -- the waste water from the tank is already dechlorinated.

My aquaclears have space to hold more than one sponge. Assuming that your filter does as well, when your sponges are finally shot replace one at a time. This will give the bacteria a chance to colonize the new sponge while the old one is still taking care of things.

 

[New2Fish]

Carpguy, thanks. The thing is, after I looked a little closer, it seems the cloud in our tank has a more greenish tint to it. My fiance thinks I'm crazy and not being patient enough when I tell him I'm going to change the water once a week. It doesn't look like there's an extra place for another sponge but I'll check again and then get another sponge.

 

[New2Fish]

Yay! The cloud has lifted and fiance bought a bala shark. He's a bit of a tool but I think he's still adjusting to the tank. I changed the water last week and I"ve added more water today to replace the evaporated water. How is everyone else doing?

 

[carpguy]

I hate to be the wet blanket, but…

The bala is going to out grow the tank in a few minutes. They grow to be a foot or more and like longer tanks that they can cruise in. Six foot long tanks are normally the minimum size recommended.

There are other sharkminnows that stay much smaller (4-5") and would be a much better fit for your tank. The Siamese Algae Eater (SAE), redtail shark, rainbow shark, flying fox all are related, all are cool looking and interesting fish and all stay much smaller. And even they will be biggish in a 20, but not unreasonably so…

HTH

 

[New2Fish]

Well, I guess I'll have to tell fiance about that. Thanks.