Help with my fish tank?

Question

I have a betta fish in a 5 gal fish tank... about 3 days ago I used a gravel siphon and siphoned out about 25% of his water and replaced it properly, then I used a test kit to test his water levels and everything was perfect, but yet his tank was even cloudier than it was before I cleaned it out, so I figured maybe I should try a different filter because the one I had was just a small one. I then bought a new Aqua Clear filter for 5-20 gal tanks yesterday, and still his tank is not clearing up. What is going on here and how can I fix this? Or should I just give the new filter more time? I only feed him once a day so I know it isn't over-feeding. Plus like I said, it's even cloudier than before I cleaned it. Maybe this is due to the debris from the gravel getting stirred up and not all siphoned out? If this is the case how can I fix it? I know that taking all the water out and starting over from scratch is not an option.

Please only answer if you know what you are talking about!

thank you!

Answer 1

If you have gravel and haven't cleaned out properly then that might be it.

Or it could be because you need to let the tank rest.If it doesn't get any better get some anti cloud stuff to put in the tank.

Answer 2

It's probably just new tank syndrome, although you might have it already cycled, depending on how long you've had the tank, it might just be cloudy because it's new. I have two fish tanks and both are very cloudy because they're relatively new. Just give it time and it'll clear up.

Answer 3

This is more likely a chemical issue than a dirt issue.  A 5 gallon tank is pretty small, so an extra drop of chemicals when setting up the tank is enough to cause problems.  I think you should either:

1. Go to the fish store and buy water clarifier.  It will make the particles that make the water look cloudy bigger so they can get stuck in the filter or

2. Empty the tank down to 20% and refill with spring water (the kind you buy in gallons at the grocery store.  You won't have to add any chemicals, the water is already safe for the fish.

Answer 4

I have had this problem before with setting up my new tank. If your tank is a new tank, it's likely that dust particles may be in suspension from new gravel. If this is the case, you may just have to do a 50 percent water change every month and put up with the cloudiness for a while. To me, this doesn't sound like an over feeding problem. Use the gravel filter a lot and stir up the gravel before you take water out of the tank. This should eventually work. If not, you could try taking all the gravel out for a while, washing it, and putting it back once the water seems to have cleared. Hope this helped.