Cloudy Water
 

I have a new tank that was set up 3 weeks ago and the water is still cloudy. There is no trace of ammonia. I do 30% water changes twice a week, but the water still gets mildly cloudy. I am not overfeeding the fish. I have 6 Albino Corydorus Paleatus juveniles (up to 1") in a 10 gallon tank with a Tetra Hang On power filter and a small box filter. There is an odor in the tank and I have vacuumed the gravel a number of times. Everything points to overfeeding, the odor and the debris in the tank when I do water changes or vacuuming, but I am only feeding the fish 1 Tetramin Bottom Feeder tablet or 2 Shrimp Pellets per day. I have never had this problem before. The tank is used as a quarantine tank, with gravel and artificial plants. The fish are very healthy and are feeding with no problem. What up with the cloudy water and the mild odor? How do I get rid of it, without breaking down the whole tank. Could the gravel have been contaminated or perhaps the artificial plants. I washed everything before I used it. Very Very STRANGE, This is a first for me?

I'd say its some sort of bacterial outbreak but cant know for sure without seeing it. You can add some carbon to your filter chamber to possibly clear it up and it would definitely get rid of the odor. There are also these additives (water polisher) I've used in the past that you add to the water and they would clump all the suspended particles which would then be easily removed by means of mechanical filtration.

Sounds like your tank might be cycling still. Try using some water or even the filter from an existing tank to help seed your tank. Also if your going to feed those pellets I would do it every other day, I find cories love fresh or frozen tubifex worms.

^^^ yep bacterial outbreakes are what causes the water to go cloudy during cycling.

Bderen was absolutely correct. I added charcoal to the filter and did a small water change and the cloudiness cleared up in 1 or 2 days. Thx :thankyousign: