cloudy biorb in 1 week without fishes

Question
QUESTION: my brand new biorb tank was in its place with cleaned gravel and uncleaned decorations(biorb plants and a tube deco) inside for about a month with 3 or more days without its lid.One day i directly filled it up with water and connected and turned it on without washing decos and aquarium gravel again and without even cleaning the inside of tank.as per instructions though i added the stress coat after adding water.instructions said that after 24 hours of adding stress coat, stress zyme should have been added to make the water ready for fishes but i didnt add the stress zyme thinking that i would do that before adding the fish.2 days ago tank started looking dirty so i cleaned the inside of tank by putting my hand inside it with soft hand towel and cleaned it.after that it looked better (not yellowish).i dnt remember when but water has started becoming cloudy and i can see tiny particles moving around in water if i look at it closely.therefore in the morning i added stress zyme too but its still cloudy.please help. i wanted to add fish this weekend.plz tell me how should i fix the things.plz note that i need to fix in the heater yet too.

ANSWER: Hi Anna,
I would get rid of the all the water in the Biorb and start over. The particles may be dust, or something from the towel.

Its perfectly OK to add all new conditioned water into the Biorb today (or Sat.) and add fish on Sunday. It doesn't make a difference if the water has sat in the system for a week versus all new water in the same day.

What you are waiting on when letting the water sit is for the good bacteria to grow. But they really won't be developing if there is no food source (ammonia from fish) so letting water sit is basically not necessary. Initially, you do want your heater and filter to be working efficiently so letting the system run for at least half a day is best.

Remember to add only 2-3 hardy fish at first. Like black skirt/white skirt tetras, platies, or zebra danios. Add the stress zyme when you add the fish. Let the biorb run for at least 2 weeks with just these fish. You must allow for the 'biofilter' (good bacteria) to develop. If your fish ever seem stressed (breathing heavily, clamped fins, listless) do a 50% water change.

After the 2-weeks, take a sample of water to your petstore to have it tested for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. If the levels turn out safe -
ammonia-0
nitrite-0
nitrate-20 or less

Then you can add 2-3 more small fish and wait another 1-2 weeks. Continue this process until your biorb is fully stocked.

This slow, gradual stocking route is much safer than fully stocking it all at once. Which almost guarantees fish loss and illness.

I hope this helps and good luck!
Susan~

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: do i only need to get rid of the water or i need to clean the gravel too.if il have to take out the gravel il have to clean the whole tank.it will b difficult.......i have a 6 months old 1st baby :(

if i clean the tank's walls what shall i use then if not a towel or biorb cleaning pad?

Answer
Just simply get rid of the water. You don't need to do a major overhaul. Using a gravel vacuum for aquariums would be ideal just to siphon debris from the gravel bed.

I'm not sure if it was indeed the towel but its always possible. Just use a paper towel if the sides get fogged up or dirty. Or use a well-rinsed out washcloth.

I hope this helps and best of luck with your biorb and enjoy that little baby! :-)

Susan~