Originally posted by rmalford
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Cloudy water
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Originally posted by Renzo View PostI had the same freak out when my tank went cloudy. What is cycling? What causes it? Can I avoid it?Last edited by Austy16414; 11-18-2014, 07:34 PM.
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i think Renzo was more referring to what causes the water to become cloudy and how to avoid it becoming cloudy, not avoiding cycling. of course i agree with austy you shouldnt avoid cycling a tank, or it will never be in stasis and you will be continually chasing water parameters to make it hospitable for fish.
cycling happens over time with the build up of good bacteria to break down toxins into compounds that are not as harmful to fish. you can buy chemicals like seachem prime to introduce this good bacteria in doses to cycle a tank faster. ammonia is produced by fish waste and decaying food. bacteria breaks it down into nitrites. these two are the most toxic to fish. ideally you want those levels at zero or close to it all the time. nitrites are in turn broken down into nitrates. the nitrates are not as toxic, but will cause issues in high levels. routine water changes keep that level reduced (or live plants will absorb them as a fertilizer).
the tank will inevitably become cloudy for a short period, but will clear up over time. the cloudy look can be caused by a few different things:
-the introduction of fish into a new tank
-the gravel/sand being disturbed/cleaned
-your filter could need new carbon or a cleaning
-you could need more filtration to handle the bio-load in your tank
-or after a water change it can become cloudy too for a brief period
best way to avoid any cloudy look IMO is to keep on top of your water changes and filter maintenance. when the water gets dirty, it gets cloudy.
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