Please help!!!

[Izzy25dog]

a canister is just a different sort of filter, in this case will usually sit under the tank, so the only equipment actually on the tank are a couple of hoses to handle moving of water to and from the filter.

cloudy water, can be bacterial, if it's free floating in the water, it will clear up by itself but the problem with avoiding water changes is the ammonia and nitrite.

If you use city water, and do daily water changes, using something like prime that will condition the water and bind the ammonia should be very helpful to prevent problems with the fish.

as noted above, if you have well water, and don't need to treat for chlorine/chloramine ammo-lock

I have well water and I add prime in the new water at every water change. And yes the water is cloudy. I'm actually going to test my tap water when I get home to see what the ammonia looks like in it.

 

[dougall]

be sure to check pH of your water too... from the tap and from the tank.


and see if yu can tell the color of the water, is it green, or white, or something else.

 

[Izzy25dog]

The ph was also normal and the water color is basically clear when I'm removing it from the tank and doing my water change.

 

[dougall]

If the water seems cloudy, if you put a white object (Obviously fish safe) in the water, you can best see the color... if it looks white, the water is clear or white, if green, it's green etc.


if it's not cloudy, don't worry about it.

 

[Izzy25dog]

I actually do have a white decoration and the decoration is white. The tank is just cloudy and the ammonia is a little high. Not killer high just a little.

 

[dougall]

Then don't sweat the cloudiness.

It's not as big of a problem as the ammonia

 

[Izzy25dog]

Okay thanks again Dougall. I will purchase a new stronger filter today and also perform a 50% water change. I will also add live bacteria. And cross my fingers that I can gain control of my tank !!

 

[Tifftastic]

Just a suggestion to add onto all of the rest really good info, but since you are adding a new filter today I think I should mention it. You're either going to want to run both filters for a while, or transfer the media from the old filter to the new one. Any beneficial bacteria that you have started growing in the old filter will be thrown out and you'll have to start over if you just change the filter over immediately, without transferring the media or running both filters.