Milky water

[kev82]

I added water to my 55g aquarium 2 days ago and the water got milky colored right away..

I think the color is because of the sand I have on the bottom, I probably didn't clean it up throroughly enough before I added it to the tank.

I figured the filter would pick up the dirt pretty soon so I didn't worry about it.
However, after 2 days it's still the same. I added carbon in the filter a few hours ago but I don't see any change


Do you have any idea how I might be able to fix this? The sand is pretty hard to clean, because I let water run through it for 2 hours when I first cleaned it and it's still "dirty", so that's pretty much out of the question.

 

[Vitaliy]

First thing I would like to point out is that when using sand, even if you have rinses it well enough, before adding water to the tank with sand you should remove your filter. It is generally a bad idea to let your filter pick up the sand - as that will destroy the implaer (spelling?), you should wait about 24 hours and let the sand settle down and then turn on the filter.

Second thing is, your tank is probably cloudy because it is cycling (bacteria bloom). How are you going about that whole process?

And last thing I would like to add is that carbon is not always necessary as filter media - many cases does more harm than good.

 

[bigwater]

That is normal, you tank is not cycled yet. You can try a product called cycle to speed up the process. Other than that its a waiting game.

 

[Roan Art]

That is normal, you tank is not cycled yet. You can try a product called cycle to speed up the process. Other than that its a waiting game.

Please don't use Cycle. Save your money. It doesn't have the proper bacteria in it that will promote cycling and even if it did, they'd probably all be dead.

The only product currently available that will assist in cycling is Bio-Spira. It contains the proper bacteria and must be refridgerated in order to keep them alive.

Of course, Bio Spira will not work unless you have fish in the tank or some other source of ammonia for the bacteria to eat and grow.

Roan

 

[kev82]

It's not a bacteria bloom. I'm pretty sure it's from the sand, because this came right away, no way the bacteria would have grown so much so fast

The sand dust is **** small tho so the filter wool doesn't seem to be able to pick it up..

 

[KingOfTheDeep]

2 days in enough for bacteria bloom, dependimg on your filter, it would have cleared up the particles making the water cloudy

it usually takes 2-4 days for it to show up in my new tanks