# Cloudy water w/ bubbles



## Cricketv (Feb 13, 2014)

Hi everyone!
I have a 29 gallon tank that has been set up for several months. Back in December I decided to expand my fish family and went to the local fish farm and purchased some guppies. It turns out, one of the guppies had ich and my whole tank needed to be treated.(I learned my lesson and will now have a quarantine tank). I used Kordon's rid-ich plus and the ich cleared up. I did a 30% water change after treatment and have been doing gravel siphoning and 25-50% water changes once a week ever since. The reason is that my water will not clear up. It's a cloudy white and there are bubbles(sometimes foamy) at the top of the water. When I siphon the gravel it comes out whitish gray. I bought a new filter, I went from topfin 30gallon to a marineland 50 gallon. I removed all the fake plants I had during the second week of cloudiness and only have 2 bubblers and a cave for the fish. I feed my guppies very little food. I tried water clarifier and the water became even more cloudy. This has been going on since the last week of December and I'm almost at my wits end. My water parameters are all normal (I test myself and go to Petsmart for 2nd reading). Today my pH is a little higher than normal but my ammonia level is normal. All the guppies I bought in December survived the ich but my old guppies passed away  does anyone have any suggestions to what's going on or what I can do?


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I would stop using the water clarifier and turn off your bubble wands. Is there anything else that may be disturbing your substrate? Do you add anything else to your water?


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## Cricketv (Feb 13, 2014)

I used the water clarifier once and let it cycle and didn't try it again. And did a water change the following week. I add a water conditioner since I use bottled spring water. There's nothing else I can think of that could disturb the substrate. I have 5 tiny little guppies in this cloudy 29gallon tank. I was going to turn off the bubblers but I'm worried about oxygen. Do you think they'll be ok without them on? The filter creates bubbles too but the foam/ bubbles at the top have me concerned.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

What is a "normal ammonia reading " to you?Most cloudy water is from overfeeding(not always though).Sometimes foods too high in protien for the fish to use completely are released into water column as waste and give the same symptom/effect of overfeeding even though the fish eat all food.
No food for 3-7 days and small (20%) waterchanges daily.That is most recommended for cloudy water.
Why are you using bottled spring water? Often it has more crap in it then most peoples tap(they just don't know this /or refuse to believe it).


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Yes, what is wrong with your tap water that requires you to use bottled water? This sort of explains what you said about your ph. I was going to ask about that but thought it was just one of those things. If you are using this water you may be seeing ph swings and that could be adding to the whole problem.

You need to check your ph multiple times throughout the day. You also need to get a kh test kit. This is all if you wanted to keep doing this. Largely, it is a dangerous practice if you don't know your water chemistry really well. At best, you should only be doing 50% - usually.


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## Cricketv (Feb 13, 2014)

Hello again,

I use the bottle water because its easier for me to pour the water into my tank and also my dad had said that our tap water sometimes has high levels of sulfur or something, so i thought i was being safe with the bottle water. I use water conditioner with the bottled water. 
pH:8, Ammonia: 0, Nitrate 0, Nitrite: 0, GH 120
This how my aquarium is looking these days:


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Well with the levels at 0 straight across the board the tank is no longer cycled. Also the cloudiness looks to be green water which will take more than just water changes. Its going to need a blackout or a uv sterilizer.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Take some of your tap water and test it.Then set some aside for 24 hours and test it also.The results are important.
Your levels due indicate uncycled filter and the spring water having high mineral content,NOT THE END OF THE WORLD THOUGH.
What is the conditioner you are using? Most here swear by(not at ) prime by seachem for dechlorinating.If you are going to stop the air bubbles then you should also raise your water level as it appears your HOB filter is adding more than enough O2.
Just for safety and water quality sake I would look for anything DEAD.1 dead fish or snail can cause all sorts of trouble if not found.


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## Cricketv (Feb 13, 2014)

I use TopFin water conditioner. ( I apologize for this question, if the answer to it is obvious but..) Is green water suppose to appear green, because the water is a greyish white. I think the aquarium background is whats giving it a darker tint. So, so far, I need to turn off the bubblers. I need to do a water change. At what percentage? Am i testing the tap water to see if its a better alternative to the bottled water? Again i apologize for any ridiculous question i ask and i appreciate all the help you guys are giving me.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Over the long run you will save money and be using a better product if you switch to Seachem Prime for treating new water.A 1 pint bottle I think treats 5,000 gallons!
Doen't really look green to me?


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## hotwingz (Mar 3, 2013)

This also could have been brought on by the over cleaning of your gravel then the quick change of your filter. You can have your tank be too clean. I agree that with your readings your tank is uncycled but I feel its because of the large gravel cleaning then the filter change. Now did you take any of the media out of the old filter and add it to the new filter? Without enough beneficial bacteria in your tank it can cause it to cloud up like this.

Oh and the "foam" are just bubbles from your filter pooring into the tank instead of flowing into the tank. Raise your water level to full and they will go away.


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## Buttons (Jan 22, 2014)

Is the Top Fin conditioner one that contains aloe? Are you treating just the water you add or for the whole tank when you do a water change? What are you feeding and how often? Possibly weekend feeders?? 

I would do as others have suggested, no feeding for several days (really, I promise they will be fine!), switch to Prime as a dechlorinator, and possibly add a wad of polyfill to your filter to help pick up the cloudy bits. They also make "water polishing" pads to put in the filter, but I don't know how big the compartment on your filter is.


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## SueD (Aug 4, 2012)

Take a look at these articles re: bacterial blooms. If you changed to a brand new filter with all new filter media, as others have said, you are starting a brand new cycle - with fish. Maybe something in these articles will relate to your situation.


Bacterial Blossom

Bacterial Blooms Explained - New to the Hobby Questions and Answers - Tropical Fish Forums

Cloudy Aquarium Water: Bacterial Bloom & Organic Waste In Tanks


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## hotwingz (Mar 3, 2013)

These articles will be a huge help! Read them in full. Thanks SueD for posting them!


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