white water

[jeb102385]

i have a brand new 140 gallon tank with a fluval fx5 (rated for a 400 gallon tank) it also has a turbo twist 36w on it i am having problems with the water having a shade of white to. i have been told this would be a ammonia problem but i have no fish in it yet any body have any other suggestions?

[Mzungu]

Re: white water

Is anything living in there that produces waste? Is your filter new, as well? Usually, in new tanks, you'll get a white cloudiness in the first few days, indicating a bacterial bloom.

[nacra99]

Re: white water

"Brand New"... yeah.. sound right.
cloudiness during cycling is quite common.

Like she said... bacteria bloom
It should go away in a few days.

No fish? Are you doing a fishless cycle?

[jeb102385]

Re: white water

not a fishless cycle just waiting to finish setting it up befor putting any fish in the tank is used the rocks and filter re not new either all been running for about a month

[PhishPhreek]

Re: white water

The City adds chemicals to kill all the bacteria, you add chemicals to counter act the chemicals that the city added and the firs bacteria to get there have a feast with plenty of food and no enemies.  Add some water from an established tank (with good bacteria balance) and give them a few days to multiply,  

[PhishPhreek]

Re: white water

Here is enough information to make my brain dizzy.   Hopefully you can find some useful information.

hazy water

[eklikewhoa]

Re: white water

A month is probably not long enough anyways....I vote Mini-cycle at the least.

Give it a few days and watch the nitrogen cycle work.

[wesleydnunder]

Re: white water

I think the rest of the guys have it right, jeb.
Unless you're going to use something like bio-spira to jump-start your cycle, or plan to heavily plant the tank to start, I wouldn't do a fishy cycle on your new tank. The two spikes in ammonia and nitrite that your tank is going to experience will be very harmful to your fish. Whenever I start a new tank, I introduce some media from a cycled tank and add a little ammonia to the water. You can get pure ammonia at several places. Just make sure to get the kind that contains no detergents. I use a Freshwater Master Test Kit from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals to test my water daily and keep a log of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. I add enough ammonia to get about 3 ppm. I don't do any water changes during the cycle as there are no fish in the tank. After about 10 days to 2 weeks nitrite will start showing up. Keep adding the ammonia to feed the growing bacterial colony. As the nitrite readings climb, the ammonia readings will fall. Then as the nitrite begins to decrease after another week or so, nitrate will begin to show. When ammonia and nitrite read zero, I do a 75% water change and add the first couple of fish. At this time I stop adding ammonia to feed the filter as the fish are doing that now. I keep testing the water to ensure no ammonia or nitrite show up. After a few days to a week I'll change 50% of the water and add the next group of fish. I keep repeating the process until the tank is fully stocked.

Mark

[imagirlgeek]

Re: white water

Here is enough information to make my brain dizzy.   Hopefully you can find some useful information.

hazy water

What a great site, phreek!  This is one I hadn't run across yet.  Thanks for sharing!