# Cloudy Yellowish water !! HELP !!



## tigerfish (Sep 19, 2011)

Hi everyone, me again ... 
Have a 28ltrs tank , tropical fish ... 
The water is getting cloudy and yellowish ... I have clean the filter, done 25% water change .. stopped feeding them 2x a day and now once. 

I don't know what to do, read a bit and some articles says about bacteria growth but good for the tank ... is it right ??

When I did the water top up , about 3ltrs I used "tetra aquasafe" to treat the water ... how long should take for the water to clear ?? 
Any advice, very much appreciated !!! 

Thanks, 
Tricia*c/p*


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## Manafel (Sep 4, 2011)

Never really heard of yellowish water, do you have any decorations in the tank that could be excreting colors into the tank? do the fish seem to mind it? what are your water parameters?


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Do you have wood in the tank? You can put carbon in the filter to help remove the yellow, but make sure you change it out once a month as carbon don't last that long.


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## tigerfish (Sep 19, 2011)

Hi, 
No I don't have anything that. Could be colouring the water ... No wood either.
I have 2little plastic plants and a smal ornament ... 
The fishes are fine, 4 neon tetra and a tiger . I find the tiger bait agitated.

It is cloudy and yellowish color like if the water is dirty ... I am not sure if changing the whole water would help, I think they will feel it ... Really clueless !

*c/p*
Thanx folks


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Hello tiger...

Changing just a quarter of the tank water isn't very much, to ensure healthy fish and plants, you need to change a minimum of half the tank water every week. The yellow is likely fish waste.

Think of your fish tank as a toilet. If you lived there, you'd want fresh water flushed regularly. The idea is to keep the toilet flushed. By flushing large amounts of fresh water through your tank, you guarantee no pollutants can build up.

B


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Have you tested your water?


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## madtyke (Sep 26, 2011)

Add a Purigen bag to your filter and do daily water changes till it clears


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## Alek (Jul 9, 2011)

The water does get yellowish from the fish waste and the food remains, I believe it's nothing to worry about. What would make me worry is the cloudy water.
From what you say, I think you might have relatively new tank and it's not cycled well.
I say this from my own experience, cos my first tank appeared to have the same problem. Later on, I realized that my friend (who was helping me get the tank started) didn't do a very good job.
Although the fish didn't seem to mind they were living in a cloudy tank with yellowish water, I couldn't accept this as normal condition and re-started the tank myself.
I took out the fish* and cleaned the tank completely. When I finally got to the gravel, I realized how smelly it had become and how much waste there was underneath (even though I was "vacuuming" regularly with a syphon (aka syphoning )
At that point I decided to try not to destroy the bacteria** that got built up in the gravel, so I just washed everything and put it back together.
I refilled the tank with water*** and there it was, normal tank with clear water.
Hope this answers your question 

*whenever out of the tank, the fish should be kept in water (hope you don't forget this one )

**you were asking about the bacteria buildup. I came to realize that not only it's good for the tank, it's actually necessary. It's the bacteria that keeps the water clear, not the filter. The contraption we call filter can only hold up to the larger particles of waste...

***before you use tap water for your tank, let it stall for at least 24h so the chlorine can evaporate


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## tigerfish (Sep 19, 2011)

Thank you Alek ...
Because It was taking a while for a reply , my instinct told me: "Start again". So, basically I did exactly what you said, 3 days ago. And YES they are happy and me too ... I tested the dirty water and all the figures (PH, Chlorine, nitrite, etc ) were fine ... just the smell and dirt at the bottom ... so DIRT was my problem. I used to feed them 2x a day. Now a do it just once.

My husband started it for me, and I don't think he did it right, when adding the chemicals, regarding temperature and preparing the water ... so now I hope all goes well ...

Next step, I want to replace the plastic plant for real one and add a ghost shrimp to help to keep it clean and a healthier environment ... 
Thanks for your reply ... 
:fish-in-bowl: Tricia


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## Alek (Jul 9, 2011)

I'm really glad it turned out fine.
btw, the dirt will gradually stop accumulating i.e. when sufficient useful bacteria in the tank, they somehow "grind up" the dirt. you will know this is happening by the dust like dirt sucked up when syphoning. in the meantime, adding a creature that feeds from the bottom of the tank sounds like a good idea (I used to have two little catfish). I know almost nothing about shrimps (besides they are beautiful), but go for your instinct again and good luck


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

IMHO the yellowish/cloudy water are "polution" (phosphates, nitrates) reacting with light to form various algaes.

I would add thriving growing plants.

and in the mean time kill the lights and stop all feeding for a few days until the water clears. then resume with less lighting and feeding.

my .02


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## tigerfish (Sep 19, 2011)

Hya !
When you say kill the light you mean the florescent light buitl in the tank ?? Or from the room the tank is in ... I am thinking is the sun light that comes from the window ... the water became cloudy again after a few days I changed the whole water and tested it all ... There is no direct light to the tank apart from the one built in but I think the very early morning the sun gets close to it from the living room window . Could it be the problem ? I think is algae water, because the ornament was very green within days after being clean ... and I only feed them 1x day.

Cheers, 
:fish-in-bowl:


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

tigerfish said:


> Hya !
> When you say kill the light you mean the florescent light buitl in the tank ?? Or from the room the tank is in ... I am thinking is the sun light that comes from the window ... the water became cloudy again after a few days I changed the whole water and tested it all ... There is no direct light to the tank apart from the one built in but I think the very early morning the sun gets close to it from the living room window . Could it be the problem ? I think is algae water, because the ornament was very green within days after being clean ... and I only feed them 1x day.
> 
> Cheers,
> :fish-in-bowl:


First kill the lights on the tank. and stop all feeding untill the water clears.


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

BBradbury said:


> Hello tiger...
> 
> Changing just a quarter of the tank water isn't very much, to ensure healthy fish and plants, you need to change a minimum of half the tank water every week. The yellow is likely fish waste.


Huh? You're saying a 25% WC weekly isn't enough??

Really?

Also, you're recommending at MINIMUM a 50% WC weekly??

Seriously?

No offense here sir, but that's just bad advice. Sry.


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## tigerfish (Sep 19, 2011)

Why The lights built in the tank can make it algae ? I though sun light would do this ??? And how long can they stay without food ??? 
I am just about to change the tank from living room to another room with less sun light and change 25% water ... I am scared they get ill ... 

*c/p*


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

When you put your tank together, did you wash your gravel substrate? If you didn't, the color/cloudiness could be particulates from dirty gravel. Add purigen to your filter, continue 25% PWC's, and cut back feeding to once a day or once every other day.

As to the 50% weekly PWC regimen - I do 50% weekly PWC's religiously on my tanks but only because I have live plants that strip nutrients out of the water and the nutrients need replenishing. Conversely, I was doing 50% PWC's when I was using Estimative Index fertilization to lower the fert concentrations in the water column. The frequency/amount of PWC's is also dependent upon what your tap water parameters are compared to your tank.

Just my thoughts...


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

tigerfish said:


> Why The lights built in the tank can make it algae ? I though sun light would do this ??? And how long can they stay without food ???
> I am just about to change the tank from living room to another room with less sun light and change 25% water ... I am scared they get ill ...
> 
> *c/p*


Any light from any source can result in algae.

fish can survive for weeks with no food being added. Very safely for up to 2 weeks.

the idea is to get the algae to die off from lack of light and nutrients (from the food being added). then resume with less light and food so that plants grow but algae doesn't.

my .02


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