Fish Tank

Question
I recently set up a 30 gallon tank, and once set up the water was crystal clear. I then bought two koi and a few hours later the water turned cloudy. I have fliter and bubbles and underground filter working. I put jungle clear water in and still isnt working. What can I do to get crystal clear water again???

Answer
Hi Tonya,
What you are seeing is a 'bacterial bloom' ... often a sudden occurrence of cloudy water due to the tank not being balanced in regards to the 'bio-filter' or the 'good' bacteria that develop which they are the ones responsible for keeping our aquarium water free of harmful ammonia and nitrite and our tank's system in good balance and the water clear. But in recently setup tanks, these bacteria have not yet had time to establish. And this is commonly called 'cycling' or establishing a biofilter.

It takes about 6 weeks or so for aquariums to fully cycle. During that time your aquarium may be subject to cloudy water and high ammonia or nitrite levels.

Good bacteria develop to convert ammonia into 'nitrite' and then later, more bacteria develop to convert nitrite into harmless nitrate. You can test for all three levels. In healthy aquariums they should be as follows -
Ammonia-0
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-15 or less

Most petstores will test your water for free.

In the meantime. Since you added two Koi already. Theres a chance the aquarium's pollution levels could on the rise. Which could really make your koi sick. The best solution to cloudy water and the best way to get your fish through the cycling process is with daily 30-50% water changes. Always make sure the new water is treated with water conditioner and the temperature is equal to or just a little bit warmer than your tank's temp.

Having test kits at home will help greatly in determining if you need to do more water changes or larger percentage of water changes at a time. Ammonia produced by the fish can burn their skin and fins and cause breathing problems and death often happens very quickly. Until the biofilter establishes, you must be very careful and keep a close eye on them. And as I mentioned, having test kits to check the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels will help you determine how safe the water is and what stage your aquarium is in the cycling process.

Any type of water clearing chemical or tablet has never worked for me in my past battles of cloudy water. Water changes were the best and most long-term solution.

With time your aquarium will cycle and the water will be clear as long as you are consistent with water changes.

I hope this helps and good luck!
Susan~