# white cloudy water



## Mooky (Jun 5, 2011)

My 10 gal tank with guppies and plattys, now has white cloudy water. I know it's because I changed the filter too soon...I read it's a bacterial bloom when water is cloudy like this...I just did a small water change yesterday and started feeding them only once a day...hope it clears up soon...the fish seem fine and swimming around like normal. Anything else I should do? Should I just do normal water changes once a week or more than that? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Hi Mooky, you don't have to change out filter material. Save yourself some money and just rinse out in the tank water that you remove and that way you won't loose your beneficial bacteria. When you replace them like that you take the chance of sending your tank into a mini cycle which you have just found out. Fish are fine, keep watch on the readings like ammonia and nitrites and if they get above .25 do a water change.


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## Mooky (Jun 5, 2011)

so I should rinse my filter with the water I remove from the tank? Should I do that the next water change? How long should I wait to change the filter so I don't do this again? Usually after a few days the water level drops a little bit and that's when I add more water and use AquaSafe in the bowl of water I will add before I add it to the tank. How long should I wait to do a water change if I don't test ammonia and nitrites? The water hasn't gotten any cloudier in the past few days...I did use Clear Water to remove cloudiness and that didn't really help that much. Also, should I only feed them once a day instead of twice? Thanks for the help.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

I would just rinse the filter during a water change. If your doing once a week water change just rinse it every other change. You need to get yourself a test kit. Since you don't have one I would change 25% every 2 days till you get one.

With the filter you can keep rinsing it until it falls apart, if you have 2 different parts to the filter pads, just change 1 out and wait a couple of weeks to change the 2nd one. That way you won't loose bacteria then.


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## Mooky (Jun 5, 2011)

thanks...will check out kits at pet smart...I have a bio wheel....


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## Mooky (Jun 5, 2011)

Another quick question...how much AquaSafe Plus should I use when doing a water change? It says 1 tsp. for every 10 gallons. Since I am only doing a 25% water change...thanks for the help


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## obenchain1 (Jun 21, 2011)

Just treat the water youre putting in the tank, so if you're only changing 2.5 gallons only use like .25 tsp. it doesn't have to be exact. little too much never hurt.


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## Mooky (Jun 5, 2011)

Just did a test...had to get the 5 in 1 test strip because that's all I could find...the Nitrite level was 80 according to the chart..so I just did a water change...how long should I wait to test the water again? Also, should I just feed them once a day since I have been doing since this problem started?


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Are you sure that isn't nitrate and not nitrite. A nitrite of 80 would have all your fish dead. If its nitrates that are 80, you need to change out 50% or more to bring them down to at least 40. After change wait a couple of hours before testing again. If nitrates are above 40 change some more water.

The amount of water you change will cut the nitrates by that much percentage wise.


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## Mooky (Jun 5, 2011)

I meant nitrate sorry...tested again and hard 'totell from the 2nd test strip...looks like nitrate went down to 40...I did a separate ammonia test and its hard to tell in certain light if it's .25 or .50, but I after looking at it under my lamp it's .25...should I go ahead and do another water change now or what til tomorrow?


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Think you could wait till tomorrow. Thats really up to you. What is your nitrite reading.


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## Mooky (Jun 5, 2011)

will wait til tomorrow...can't tell if it's 1 or 3...looks bout the same to me


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## Mooky (Jun 5, 2011)

Just did another water change...ammonia level is 0..looks like the water is clearing up a little..I can see my background a bit better now.. still couldn't tell with the test strip the nitrite level if it was 1 or 3....after I use my last test strip, only have one left..I'll try to get a kit with all the liquid testing stuff once I get some extra cash...still feeding once a day til water is no longer cloudy at all...just to be sure...


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I would cut your feeding to at least every other day, if not longer periods. Aside from that, if the nitrites are what the strip says you need to do a water change to bring them down. Try to keep them below 1 while the tank is cycling....assuming this is a fairly new tank setup.


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## Mooky (Jun 5, 2011)

ok every other day it is then...should I still leave the light on during the day as normal?? I read different views on it on other sites.....thanks..


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

If you have live plants in the tank, yes leave the light on at most 8 hours, if there is no live plants, just have your lights on during viewing times.


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## Mooky (Jun 5, 2011)

still doing water changes...just did another 1..nitrates and nitrites are still high...anything else I can do besides just water changes?


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

No,pretty much all you can do for the water quality.

Live plants can help a little but not sure if you want to go that route.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Mooky said:


> still doing water changes...just did another 1..nitrates and nitrites are still high...anything else I can do besides just water changes?


How much water are you changing?


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## Mooky (Jun 5, 2011)

been changing 25% every day...or every 2 days until I bought mu testing kit a few days ago. I just did a 50% water change. I use AquaSafe plus every water change. I use it in the bucket of water before I add it to the tank. Also thought about using Api Nitra-Zorb. Anyone ever tried it and how much would that help?

*UPDATE* 7/26 Nitrite level is 0.25 and Nitrate is between 10 and 5.0

Tank is a lot clearer...Should I do another water change?


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