# day 2 of cycling and already cloudy water



## tikkit (Dec 16, 2013)

What's going on with my tank. Yesterday when i filled it was beautifully clear, now today cloudy. Is this supposed to happen? It's a 65 gallon I am cycling with 6 zebra danios. Any help is greatly appreciated....Thanks


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## Marshall (Jul 8, 2013)

yes this is normal at first when cycling a tank, its a bacterial bloom, it will clear up in a few days, 

but since you are cycling with fish in, you need to stay on top of your water changes and test your water often to keep your ammonia and nitrites lower than 0.5-1.0 ppm.


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## tikkit (Dec 16, 2013)

Thank you for your input.....So your saying I should do water changes during the cycle? I didn't know that. So whenever ammonia gets near that point, what would be a good percentage of water to change out? I just got this tank up and running and I'm already addicted to the hobby so I'll do whatever is necessary with help from you guys.......Thanks


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## Marshall (Jul 8, 2013)

yes, when doing a fish-in cycle you need to do a lot of water changes.

only by testing the water can you determine how much you need to change out, say your test shows 1.0ppm of ammonia, to get it down by half you have to change out half the water, 

and so on


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## tikkit (Dec 16, 2013)

I knew to do water changes to keep nitrates down when they eventually so up but I didn't know to do water changes before that.


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## tikkit (Dec 16, 2013)

Thank you....I'll do exactly that, I'm at .50ppm now on ammonia.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Let your ammonia get to 1ppm(unless the fish show signs of stress) as you need to have some ammonia to start the bacteria growing.When it gets to 1ppm you are probly best changing 50% water.Make sure to dechlorinate and have water very close to tank temp.
the % of water changed is the % all nutrients will be reduced.


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## khalidkang (Sep 4, 2013)

Personally, I prefer fishless cycle. All you need to do is remember to keep adding ammonia everyday, no need to do water changes whatsoever until the cycle is complete. After that, just clean the tank and you're ready to go. Don't have to worry about accidentally killing your fish or doing constant water changes. AND, its a lot faster than fish in cycle imo.


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