How can I get my water to clear?

Question

Hey everyone. I finally got my aquarium a week ago and am running into a problem.

I added pebble-sand type stuff as the people whom we bought from said that the bottom fish would like that better and so would the plants. I also added this log-type thing.

Naturally, the water looked terrible for almost two days before it cleared up to what it is now.

It's clear to an extent, but is also just slightly murky. I've added these cleaning drops in which aren't helping.

Would the bacteria that I'm adding into my water be causing this?

My testing kit is not picking up on ammonia or anything that's polluting the water. And I placed a fizz-thing to get rid of chlorine and hard metals.

Should I do a 25% water change? Or should I just wait another week?

Answer 1

What kind of filter are you running? Activated carbon is supposed to help attract tiny particles.

I do, however, think that it is caused by a bacteria bloom, which is usually not a bad thing in a new tank. You want the good bacteria to grow!

Answer 2

You have to rinse the rocks real well before you put them in.  Do not put sand in.  If you did rinse the rocks well before putting them in and did not put sand in, and it's still cloudy, they have drops at the pet store that you can get to clear up the cloudy water.

Answer 3

a filter

Answer 4

It is almost certainly a bacterial bloom if you rinsed the substrate well.