Not likely. Cloudy water is usually caused by overpopulation of bacteria. Have you tested your water?

Not only check the water quality, check your filters, most probably they are saturated with debris.

It could also be from over feeding.
Keith

If the water is cloudy white two most likey possible reasons for it could either be overpopulation of the tank or overfeeding! :)

I also have cloudy water .. "looks" like white threads or dust in the water .. the tank has only been up 8 days .. it also has a stone called "Lace stone" that had some Lichens growing on it .. most of the Lichens were removed but not all .. the tank has a lot of aeration and is at 79 F ... gH = 300 ppm which is that of our tap water.

The tank was cloudy before the fish were put in the tank.

Bacteria ?? What would help clear the water ?

Good Day ...

Yes, the bacteria will eat up any excessive organic matter. You can add bacteria to the tank by seeding it either with a cupful of gravel from an established tank or with Cycle or Fritz Zyme no7.

I will look into that Raul .. interesting idea ... I was trying to figure out if the cloudy water is bacteria ? It looks like threads or dust in the water ..

Thanks ...

Good Day ..

I also have been having problems with cloudy water, I have a 55 gal tank it is about 2 years old I have had this problem for a few months now I change 20 to 50% of my water weekly I am starting to get desperate so I used some clear water chemical my tank might be over populated I have about 30 guppies 2 irredesent sharks about 3in long ( one is very sick getting very thin and won't eat) 4 courdiroys 1 gold fish 2 small placostomus just accuired 2 gourmis about 3in 3 rosy barbs 1 in long 3 black fin sharks about 2in long I have change my filters I have two filtration systems one that came with the tank and one penguin 330 biowheel filtration system I have read all the fourums and search the internet and still don't know what to do PLEASE HELP ME ANYBODY

If it's a new tank, chances are the tank just needs to cycle. That can take anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months. The trick is not to over populate that tank too soon. I'd hold off on the water changes for a while, and just top off the tank that's lost through evaperation.
Also, what kind of filter are you running?

-PF

Hi Fantasy74,
This is probably a dumb thought but have you given your tank a good vacuum/siphon and salt water soaked the charcoals and cleaned the sponges, fake plants and etc. I am no expert but since you have had your tank for 2 years it sounds like it needs a real cleaning, not just water changes.
Theresa

the filter that I use is the Aqua-Tech for tanks 30-60 power filter. I just read on another site where she put her plants and aquarium stuff in the dishwasher so I did that I have not put them back yet cuz my tank now has ich and I am treating that. but as for the siponing and gravel cleaning I do that every Monday but have been told that, that could be causing my water problem to. as for a saltwater soak what is that I used to put aquarium salt in my tank until I got some snails to help out my 2 placostomuses which one would be more benificial the salt or the snails??? and could I be using a better filter the one I use is a Wal-mart special. I desparatley need to fix this problem I am having nightmares about my fish dying, I get up in the middle of the night just to check on them.

Good evening Fantasy74,
Again this is my opinion. I would not use any kind of detergent for cleaning my aquarium accessories uncluding dishwasher soap unless you are putting them in there without any detergent.

Siphoning should be done no more then once a month. Weekly water changes with treated water, or OR water that you can purchase at the fish store costing, probably, no more then 50 cents a gallon.

When you do your once a month siphoning/vacuuming, only soak your charcoal in a bowl of water mixed with a tsp of plain salt to activate the charcoal.
Rinse your sponges and live plants, and scrub clean fake plants out with fresh water. No salt, chlorine or soap. I wouldn't have snails, I have heard people having more problems with them, it just isn't worth it. I never heard that placos needed snails. I had one that got to be over a foot long in my pond and he ate algae and any junk on the bottom. Very hardy tropical/warm fish. What does your water test read? How is your PH? There is a possiblity that you may have too many fish but since each fish can be 1" to 6" long, I do not know if they exceed your 55 gallon tank. How big are your Placos? Like I said they can get huge. A lot of fish means a lot of waste. Did you have this problem before you put those slimmy snails in? What did you do differently from the time you noticed this cloudy water effect? What did you add to your aquarium. I have read ick can be brought in by another fish or unbalanced water environment.

I found this information on Ick parasite.
When the fish is under stress and the immune system wears down, this coupled with poor water conditions (e.g. presence of ammonia, pH or temperature variation) will exposed the fish to infection. Injuries, bites or cuts on the fish can also lead to infection if not treated properly. In worst case scenario, the infection from a single fish can spread to all other tank mates and can lead to mortality.

Information on cloudy water:
Over feeding, can also cause cloudiness in tanks that have been set up longer. Remember to feed sparingly. Your fish's stomachs are usually smaller than their eyes, and they should be able to completely consume all the food they need in under two minutes.

Overpopulation can also be a a cause of cloudiness in an aquarium. Too many fish in a tank leads to stress, shortened lives, additional maintenance, algae growth, and cloudy water. Keeping your tank's population at or below 1" of fish per gallon of water for small community fresh water fish will keep this cloudiness under control.

If your tank is insufficiently filtered, or if your filter is not maintained properly, then the filter will not be able to efficiently process all the water in the tank, which, like insufficient water changes, can lead to cloudiness directly, or to algae or bacteria blooms that appear cloudy.
I would talk to your local fish store (NOT WALMART) about your filter to see if it sufficient for you tank.
Theresa

sometimes using that poly filter stuff and putting some in your filter can help to filter out smaller particles that are floating.

This also _may_ be an algae problem even though the water isn't green. I never found that stuff to clear up the water to ever work for me. But you may want to try (and follow the directions, don't over do!) a no-algae product. The last time I had this sort of issue, this cleared it up in about a week. Don't know if this is your issue, but it did work for me! But of course if you have live plants you can't use this product. And you need to check out the label to make sure it will be safe for the fish you have. They usually are NOT safe for invertebrates

Hi,
I'm a beginner in this "business" but I manage (me and my boyfriend) to build a filter for the water and never encounter this problem again. Seems that the enviorment is good... my Molly pair has (since this morning) 11 babies.

Laura

Congratulations and welcome Laura,
Oh what fun to have new frys. Enjoy and keep them protected from the other fish. Mama and all will probably wnat them for a meal. By the way this is not a problem but a challenge for you and your boyfriend to encounter.
Happy fishing,
Theresa

I too have a problem with cloudy water. The tank is a 30 gallon high, filter is the right size for the tank, have a mixture of fish, mollies, swordtails, algae eaters,zebras, etc. Water changes are done routinely, so are gravel and plant cleaning. Someone told me the reason it is cloudy is because it is by a window, I have a background on the back of the tank, but it is located in the living room by a window and also the T.V. which is on 24/7, could this be the problem?

SMTWN, having the tank near a window will definitely get you algae, but not necessarily cloudy water. I think you should skip the gravel cleaning for a while. There's good bacteria in the gravel. Also, when you change the filter material, it is essential that you leave a portion of the material in the filter box, because there is much needed bacteria growing there. It sounds like the tank may be a little out of balance due to over cleaning.

Good Luck!

-PF (andy)

ps. I'm on the Island too...where abouts are you?

Howdy,
We did have some problems with Algae, but used some stuff and it cleared it up.
Well right now there is a Diatom filter cleaning the tank, the local aquarium lent it to us for the weekend. It seems to be working, most of the cloudiness is gone. After we are done with the Diatom, we are going to put backgrounds on the sides of the tank for a bit to see if the cloudiness stays away. I keep saying the tank is having too many water changes, cleaning etc, but I am told I am wrong, lol. I had fish many years ago and did nothing to the tank and never had any problems. We also have a 46 gallon, with Parrot, Silver dollars and Barbs, which sometimes gets cloudy but corrects itself in about a week and a half. I am in Amityville, south of the Railroad, around the town area. formally of Copiague.

Greetings neighbor, from Massapequa! (used to like in copiague)
Ever go to Pets Warehouse right on Sunrise? It's really close to you. Also, in a shopping center on Montauk Hwy in West Babylon, there's an excellent store called South Shore Tropicals. You may want to bring a water sample to these guys. Ask for James.

Good luck!

-PF

Howdy neighbor,
Where in Copiague?
I have been to Pets Warehouse, rescued a Betta from there, but I have not been there since they redid the place. WOW, South Shore Tropicals, that is the local aquarium that is letting us use the Diatom. I have been going to them for years, since they opened and even before they had the store they used to work for a store called, Charlies, on Sunrise Hwy in Lindenhurst. The guys there are great, and we deal with John and when John is not there we deal with James. We have take water samples there and everything is fine, just the cloudy water. They said to try the Diatom, and then add some ACUREL F, and that should do it, we will see. Hey my name is Robin and next time I am in South shore I am going to mention this post. Thanks or the help.

Hey Robin. I used to live right off of Great Neck by the fire station.
South Shore is probably the best store for fish near here. The folks there (always deal w/james) really know their stuff. Plus, if there's something you want and they dont have it, they'll order it for you and usually have it in a week. Also, if you ever get up to Carle Place/Garden City area, check out Aquarium Adventures. They are also very knowlegable and have an amazing inventory of fish. We bring the kids there just to see the sharks!
Also, the tanks are very reasonable too. We're now deciding what size tank to get and where to put it. We started off thinking a 75 would be good, but now we're thinking 90, 125, or 150! We better stop thinking because that number keeps going up!!! Anyway, if you're getting advice from the guys at SS, you can't go wrong.

Good luck,

-Andy

ps. We used to love Charlies on Sunrise! Remember BTJ's? It burned down recently...so sad most of the animals perished. :-(

Hi,
Yes South Shore is the best. We had gotten an Albino Catfish for our 45 gallon, it was about 2 inches in length, it is now 8 inches and we are bringing him back to them, because we feel he is too large for the tank, and they give us credit for him and we get new fish. I hate to give them up, they feel like part of the family but they would do better in a larger tank. The Diatom worked great for the cloudy water, it cleared it all up, so we went ahead and used it for the 45 gallon, 20 gallon and my Betta's 5 gallon. We put a background on the 30 gallon, the side that is close to the window, we will see how that works. Good luck in deciding what size tank to get, and check out the Parrot fish, NOT painted ones you may like to put them in the tank, they are a little agressive but are really cute, will come up to the top and feed from your hand. I am going to check out that other store you mentioned, looked at their website, looks like a nice store. BTJ's, yes it was really sad they burned down, but in my opinon, they do not treat the animals well there, the envioroment is horrible, they reopened a little further east from where they were on the other side of Sunrise, at the time I saw it, they were not fully set up yet, but I hope the new location they treat the animals better. Great Neck Road, wow, I lived north of that off of Meucci Ave closer to the High school, had lived there all my life. Good Luck with your fish and maybe we will talk again, it was nice hearing from someone close by. Take care.

What a small world, ya know?!
I had a Giant Gourami that I got at about 1" from a pet store in Plainview. We had him a year and her grew (in our 65 gallon tank) to about 10" and showed no signs of slowing down. Eventually, we donated him to South Shore. The guys down there are so nice and knowlegable. That place is like an old fashioned, customer oriented place. Where even if you're wrong, the customer is always right.
There are a lot of folks on this board, and also in the Pond forum from Long Island. I've never met up with any of them, but maybe it would be fun some day!

-PF

A few years ago, I went to a reptile club meeting in Copiague. They had displays, sales, and a speaker. I wander if there's any such thing like that for fish...?

-PF

Howdy,
Where was the reptile meeting in Copiague, do you remember? I do not know if there is anything like that for fish, it is worth checking out, I will look up on the computer. My cloudy water is coming back in the 30 gallon, I am changing the food, but I went to South Shore tonight and I saw a 26 gallon bow front, cabinet included, I may get it, I still feel the 30 gallon high is just too high, don't know if height has anything to do with it, but I am getting a little annoyed with the cloudy water, maybe the 26 bow will be better, it is alot shorter. Oh well, have a good night.

height really shouldn't have anything to do with it...

If it is algae, then you're simply getting another "bloom" of it. I had issues with a cloudy tank years ago. It wasn't really near any outside light source. The thing that finally worked for me was an algaecide. But of course this needs to be used with caution depending on what type of fish and invertebrates you may have in the tank... and if you have live plants.

But the algaecide finally did the trick for me...

SmTwn...what kind of filtration do you have? The cloudy water would drive me nuts but I don't think it has anything to do with height either. I remember that you had mollies and other live bearers...do you add aquarium salt?

I'm interested in your filtration..

-andy

ps. The reptile club meetings were held at the copiage library. (IMO one of LI's best library's)

Hi. We have a AquaClear 300 on the tank. It is not the filter because we had that filter on the 46 gallon and had no problems. I had a Whisper double on the cloudy tank and the water was cloudy so we bought a Emperer 400 BIO Wheel for the 46 gallon and put the 300 on the 39 gallon. May be the fish in the tank, the variety, don't know, but I went to South Shore yesterday and ordered a 26 bow front black, he had only oak and my 46 gallon is black so we ordered the black one it will be in on Tuesday. I am replacing the gravel, right now I have the big rock type in there, I am going to go to the smaller ones, this way, when excess food drops down it will be easier for the bottom feeders to get to, that may also be a problem. As far as Algae is concerned, we have tried the fixes and it does work but not for long.

The AquaClear 300 is an excellent filter. It's the one I use and I've had great success with it in my 65 gallon tank. The great thing about the AquaClear is that you can leave some of the filter media (sponges) behind when you chage the other part.
That's great about the bow front. You've got to be psyched for Tuesday! I love setting up a new tank. All new possibilities. South Shore is a great place...I'll probably be there tomorrow at some point just to drool! In a few months, I'll be buying and setting up a 90!!

-andy

If an algaecide is actually working, then you know the cloudy water _is_ algae related... if you can (like you don't have fish or invertabrates that will be affected or live plants) I suggest to use this for a bit until everything clears up once and for all.

Do you have an update for us, SmTwn?

-andy

Hi. Sorry it took so long to get back. Well we had gotten the 26 bow front on tuesday, but we waited till this weekend to set it up. Set the tank up on Saturday and today we put the fish in. Water is fine so far, everything normal. Just we have to bring some of the fish we have back to South Shore because we feel we have too many for this tank now it is 4 gallons smaller. but it does look nice. We also put it on the opposite side of the room, not near any windows. I guess only time will tell now. I hope the water stays clear, looks great. We also bought a diatom filter and will use this if we have too. We are still using the Aqua Clear 300 seems to be doing ok. Just wondering, is there any way we can post pictures on this site? Well let me go for now and finish catching the last of the fish that are going in, I will check back tomorrow, have a good night.

Great thread. I've known John over 20 years [knew Charlie from the 60's]. There very honest and fair at South Shore Tropicals, great little store. Even though BTJ's was dirty they had some some great oddball type fishes you cant find anyware else. Walking fish, Dragon fish, Mud Puppies, two headed turtles, even roosters running around the store. Dirty to some, ambiance to this aquariast.

James, they even had an old monkey at BTJ's that used to sit on a tire.
SmTwn, I post pix here sometime by using photobucket.com. You can post the pixtures directly, or put a link to them. It works very well and best of all, free! Don't forget, the tank will take about 4-6 weeks to cycle. Don't worry about cloudy water for like 2 months! Take your time.

-andy

I definitely agree... cloudy water may occur again because it's a new tank.

If all the other water parameters are good, I wouldn't worry too much about the cloudy water. Once good bacteria is established in the tank, the cloudiness will clear up.

...especially if you add all those fishies right away!

-andy

Yeah.... that's a hard one to resist!! Especially if you wander into a store and see a fish you just "have" to have!

I feel ya, Sky. That's almost every store I wander into!

-andy

Howdy all. Well so far the tank is doing great. Took some pic's and gonna try to see if I can post them. I think the water will stay clear. We also changed the food and things seem to be going good. This is for James. Nice to hear from someone else about South Shore and Charlies. John and the gang are fantastic over theer and if anyone reading this, lives in the area you should take a drive by, the store is great and so are the guys that run it. PequaFrog and James, BTJ'S was an original store with unusual pets. I myself could not get myself to stay in that store for long, well atleast I did not go any further than the fish, I did not like the conditions that the animals were living in. As far as the Monkey that was there, her name was Annie and I had heard through alot of people that she was monkey-knapped in the middle of the night by some animal rights group that felt she was not being cared for properly, do not know how true this is. Well I am going to try and post some pic's. Oh by the way, I also have a 46 gallon Blood Parrot tank, they are the cutest fish but lately all they do is hide anyone know why?

STLI, I know what you mean about BTJ's, sometimes the smell would get to me. My grandson who sometimes gets carsick threw up once after a trip to BTJ's. I was lucky to get him out of the store in time. I would get the water tested on the 46 gal. Behaviour change in fish is usually a bad sign.

Yeah...it was a bit nasty. My wife would always wait in the car when we went there.
There was another fish store just east of there on the South side of sunrise. They opened with a bang but didn't last too long.

-andy

Howdy all.
The 46 gallon tank has been tested and all is good. I am going to clean up gravel and stuff tomorrow and see what happens. So far so good with the 26 gallon. Fish seem happy, water is good, no problems yet. Everyone have a good and safe holiday.

after a week of having your tank set up, you will wake up and it will be very cloudy, this is GOOD. this is your bacterial bloom. It should clear up, and may get cloudy a couple of more times as your bacteria start to get established. DON'T add chemicals. Let nature take its course. Soon, your ammonia and nitrite's should read zero and your good to go. ALso the best way to cycle is to start with only 2 fish (NO BOTTOM FEEDERS) until ammonia nd nitrites are at zero, tehn add no more than 2-3 fish / week.

I agree with all the other replys, however, I ran into this problem as well and it was a very simple fix. First, never use white gravel, or while oraments in your tank. They give off a cloudy white haze even when thoroughly cleaned. I had to take mine out completely. Then my water cleared up. Try this and see if it works.

I have an established 55 gallon fresh water tank(2 years old) as of Jan. it has been cloudy. I replaced the old filters with a aqua clear 110 and I still have cloudy water I tested the water all levels are where they should. I have 12 fish a bala shark (12in.) and two(8in.) foil barbs, two kissing fish 1 (10 in.) algae and 1 clown fish they are all two years old, could this be to many fish for my tank and could this make it cloudy? Thank you Penny