cloudy fishtank

Question
QUESTION: hi, i have a freshwater aquarium with two goldfish in it, a couple of shells i bought at a shop, and two plastic plants, one green one red/green. i have a filter in it but the water keeps going a murky reddy orange colour. the fish are still swimming and eating, but its strange to look at. do you know what might be causing it to do this.
ANSWER: Hi Aidan
Wow, I've heard/seen white/grey water, and green water, but never murky red orange!!  That's strange!  
Ok, lets start with are the plants made for aquatic aquariums?  It's not something you bought at a craft store right?
What kind of gravel/substrate do you have in there?
Any rocks in the tank?  
And did you rinse it before adding it?
When did the water color start changing, did you notice if it was the same time/right after you added something to the tank?
Is there any metal in the tank?
How often are you doing water changes?
What's the size of the tank?
By any chance do you know your water parameters, ph, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates?
Are you using tap water or well water?
Any chance of getting a photo that you can email to me?

Let me know so we can figure this strange one out!!

Christy



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

QUESTION: christy i took a picture of my tank, but guess what when i moved the tank to get a clearer picture the colour went to a cloudy white tank, i moved it back to where it was, and i think the redish tinge is due to the yellow wall behind the tank, but i looked up white cloud and it didnt make any sense to me,it seems to go cloudy a few days after i do a water change. i dont know what my parametres are? any more suggestions would be appreciated.
thanks aidan

Answer
Hi Aidan
Lol, I was wondering if maybe it just the lighting.  I swithced one of my bulbs in my tank to a plant light.  I was looking at one fish and thought he was getting sick, he was starting to look red, but then I realized it was the lighting change making the color look off.

How long has your tank been set up?  Usually a newly set up tank will get a bacterial bloom-the white/grey cloudy water.  This will usually clear up on it's own in a week or so.
 
For the water parameters ammonia, nitrite, nitrates, you really should get a test kit to check those.  It'll help diagnose any problems-like this one-so it's important to know those.
 
If your tank's well established, and fully cycled(another reason to get a water test kit) it could be caused from anything new added to the tank that wasn't rinsed properly like the gravel/substrate.  Then when you do the water changes, it may be getting stirred up.

How big is your tank?  I ask because you mentioned that you moved it lol.  With goldfish, it's recommended to have a minimum of 15 gallons per goldfish.  You could get away with a 20 gallon tank, if you have good filtration and do frequent water changes.  This also could be a cause of the cloudy water, if the tank's too small for them.  

Hope that helps, and glad it's not red/orange water :)

Christy