What happens when the fish tank is clouded?

Question

What do I do if its cloudy? Why is it cloudy? What will happen to the fish?

Answer 1

um...you clean the filter. You could be overfeeding the fish...ir it is bad enough, the fish wil not be able to breathe....another good way to clean the tank if the water is green, get an algae eater!!

Answer 2

"cloudy"

if your water is mostly brown, but you can see through it, that means you have a lot of tannins in your water. NOT harmful to fish, and actually preferred by fish that come from the Amazon region of the world. Considered "black water"

if you water is mostly green and thick, it means you have an algae bloom, and it's considered "green water". This is actually good for baby fish, as they eat the infusoria that eat the algae in your tank. You get rid of it by dumping all your water out, emptying your filter and replacing the filter pads, letting the tank dry, and then refilling it and keeping on top of your water changes. prevent it by keeping up with your water changes and not over-stocking your tank.

cloudy and white = usually dead algae floating around in your tank. It'll settle and clear in a day or two.

Cloudy and brown = sand, dirt or fish p**p kicked up by the filter but for some reason not being filtered out. You probably need to change the filter pads and do a water change. If it's sand, you're probably using the wrong substrate, or have a filter that's too powerful and is kicking up the dirt too much.

You could also have a bacterial bloom in your tank, which will smell very badly and you'll want do to a series of 50% water changes every day for at least a week to try to flush it out.

Answer 3

okay.  this will be long.  fron the magazine aquarium fish international, an artical says that cloudiness is either small bubbles, algae, ditrus (poo), bacteria, or other diterrents.  if it is whiteish, turn off the filter.  the white cloud would be either bubbles or bacteria.  if you cant tell, get close to it and take a look.  if it is ditrus and/or other bad stuff, keep on running the filter.  it is important not to clean the filter.  the stuff caught in it will strain out any debris.  if you just cleaned it, keep on running it for awhile.  the cloudniness should be gone.  if you still see it, turn off the filter and then clean the tank.  if the water is green, quickly clean the tank and the water.  the water is filled with algae or bacteria.  good luck with your tank!

Answer 4

If the water is cloudy, this usually means that there is bacteria in the water and that is bad for the fish. Usually, if you have gravel in the bottom of the tank, you will find that there is lots of debris that accumulates under the gravel. This debris (lots of fish p**p and left-over food) feeds bacteria. This makes it easy for the fish to become sick and also makes it hard for them to breathe. You might consider:

-Removing the gravel - you will most likely find lots of dirt under there. (put the fish and part of the water in a fish-safe bucket so the stirred-up dirt does not make the fish even more uncomfortable). This will continue to happen, and you will have a near, loosing battle.

-Replace about half the water (using anti-chlorine drops for the new water).

-Replace the gravel with the very fine white sand they sell at aquarium stores. It NEEDS to be the very fine sand and only from the aquarium store - no sand from anywhere else, because it is not fine enough to prevent dirt to get underneath it.

Then, about one time per week, take a siphon hose and siphon any dirt that happens to have fallen into the bottom of the tank, or underneath the decorations. Also siphon off any sand that seems a little dirty. This will be your weekly water change and is like opening the windows in your house - it gives them a little "fresh air". This water you siphon off should be about an inch or two. Every once in awhile, you can replace part of the sand with new sand, and your fish should be pretty happy. See how it goes, but definitely change about half of the water. Make sure you do not have too many fish in the tank for the size.

By the way - there is one other reason the tank could be cloudy: If it is newly set-up, there may not be the proper biological balance, yet and this can also cause bacteria to build up. If you know anyone else with an already established tank, ask to "borrow" some of their water and after you do about 1/3 water change, then also replace another part of the water with that "good" tank water. That will help, greatly, if you just set the tank up, not too long ago - perhaps within the last month?

Answer 5

If it's cloudy you're either overfeeding or haven't cleaned it often enough. Or, you could have just added new water, after I do that in my tank the water is always cloudy for a few hours.

Answer 6

clean your filter....the gills will plug up and they won't breathe

Answer 7

Don't worry its just all the fish poo and stuff, its just getting a little dirty just clean it put some fresh water in and your fish should be ok, that is just my guess but its probably true, thats what i would do anyway. good luck