Bad Cloudy Water

[bigsloe]

ok so i set up my 150 gal and got it all full and added 6 neon tetras and 6 zebra danios to cycle the first day all was well the second was good untill last night it just started getting cloudy out of nowhere i used a bacteria suppliment but not a lot is this an algae bloom or am i just messing this up early please help me get this back on track thanks a lot

[Loman]

Bigsloe,
There are a lot of reasons for cloudy water. What are your basic water parameters?

[bigsloe]

im going to buy a test kit today ill post tomorrow morning sorry about that

[Loman]

Bigsloe,
Sorry for the short response. I was in a hurry. Cloudy water is not always a sign of bad things really. Most people dislike it because it makes viewing difficult to impossible but you may have a reasonable environment and it still become cloudy from time to time. The cycle will almost certainly cloud the water which is what I expect is happening. I doubt these fish are doing a lot one way or the other with regard to the cycle in a tank this size. I worry about the neons because IME they are not all that hardy and the cycle may be too traumatic. Zebras can be pretty hardy. Hopefully the spikes will not go too high and all will be well. Other obvious question - did you rise the gravel washing off any dust and other debris. And one more - are you running any filtration equipment?

[bigsloe]

yea im running 2 70 gal power heads with filter hookups im getting a wet dry filter that fits a 175 gallon i ordered it from ebay and it should be here any day i think that should be adequate any opinion and like i said i put in some bacteria supplement also it is a white cloudy not a green cloudy anything?????

[Loman]

Bigsloe,
I expect it is a by product of the cycle. It could be a bloom of many things. Given that it is white I would guess it to be more mineral based than algae. IS your water hard? I am assuming you have a gravel substrate and not sand. Once you put the filter is in place and get the cycle complete I would expect it to go away.

[Jay]

Let's file this under "a whole lotta stuff goes on while the tank is Cycling"

White cloudy water can happen during the cycling process, and frequently at other times, but it is really not part of the Ammonia --> Nitrite --> Nitrate bacteria colonies we wait patiently to form and refer to as the nitrogen cycle.

White water is usually a bloom of protozoa and/or bacteria which flourish after the water is detoxed. They are the beginnings of the OTHER bacteria colonies which inhabit the tank. The bacteria that breaks down organic waste, fish food, detritus, rotting plants etc. These bacteria can produce urea (an ammonia compound), which can on occasion overwhelm the nitrifying colonies (chronic overfeeding is a good example).

A lot of so called cycle boosting additives contain these bacteria and not the nitrifying cycle completing bacteria. They are helpful in the tank but have nothing to do with the nitrogen cycle as we refer to it.

White cloudy water is rarely harmful, just annoying.

FYI: white water can also be caused by tiny almost microscopic bits of dust and debris (called fines) from the gravel or sand. The light reflects off of them giving a cloudy appearance. Sometimes there is a combination of both bacteria and fines.

Both are very difficult to filter out without specialized equipment, but will settle out or leave the water column on their own.

Jay