Water going "stale"??

DrDanke

DrDanke

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Mar 11, 2004
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Today, I noticed that my water in my aquarium was a little foggy, even though I don't have or never had any fish in it. (it's brand new). It's been running for a week. I talked to the guy at the LFS and he said that my water went "stale". Has anyone ever heard of this? He told me to change out all of the water with fresh water, and try to add fish as soon as possible. Does this make sense? Why did my water get cloudy?
 
Most likely, it's a bacterial bloom, not stale. Just wait a week or so and it will clear up. Also go ahead and start getting in the habit of doing water changes. I prefer 20%, but the amount can vary depending on many fcators. good luck and welcome to a great hobby (obsession).
 
have you decided how you are going to cycle your tank yet?

as you have no fish it would be a good chance to do a fishless cycle. this would leave you with a tank that you could fully stock from the end of the cycle and is a good way of learning about the process without harming any fish, and would give you time to research suitable fish for your tank.

as for the water going 'stale', i suggest not listening to that particular employee again.

if you have no fish in the tank (or other forms of life) then you have no source of ammonia to start the cycling process. the cloudiness is most likely a bacteria bloom which will pass as the tank matures.

if you do decide to fishless cycle then don't bother with the water changes just yet, if you go down the fishy route, be prepared for lots and lots of water changes.

check out the archived stickies at the top of this forum for more information on cycling.

Good luck!

HTH
 
Yesterday, just to be on the safe side, even though everything in the tank was new, I drained the water, took out the gravel, rerinsed the gravel, rinsed everything, filled back up, retreated water, and got up to proper temperature (using 2 crappy tank heaters). It was a LOT of work, but the guy at the LFS led me to believe my tank was diseased or something... *SIGH* It's been running for 24 hours now, and I JUST brought back my first fish!! (SO EXCITED), 4 Tiger Barbs!!! I just love these little suckers! I realize this means no cory cats for me, but I just love the barbs that much.

SO, my cycling begins!
 
More then likely you will have another bacterial bloom. Only take out part of the water next time.
 
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