cloudy water!!!

Question
my tank is cloudy..took out about 5 gals.(10 gal. tank)i thought it was because of my albino frog..took all of the gravel out and cleaned it..noticed there was still alot of waste at the bottom of the tank.put very little gravel back in and put 41/2 gals. of filtered water in...it's still cloudy!! added 1 tsp.clear water this morning and the colore is between a brownish greenish color..it looks clearer at the very bottom of the tank 'bout an 1-2 inches.do i just leave it alone and see if the clear water does the trick or what? been dealing with this problem for over a week..any help will be greatly appreciated..don't want to lose my sharks and dragon fish..took the frog OUT..thanks jo ann

Answer
Hi Jo Ann
Was the cloudy water green?  That's an algae bloom, if it was a whitish color, that'd be a bacterial bloom-usually occurs when you first start out a new tank-goes away on it's own after a few days to a week.  I'm gonna go ahead and assume it was a greenish color before you cleaned everything, if I'm wrong let me know.

First, is the tank near a window that gets lots of sunlight? And, if it has a light on the hood, how often do you leave the light on for?  Lights shouldn't be left on for longer then 8 hours otherwise you can get an algae bloom.  Same thing with direct sunlight, if that's the case, you'll probably need to move it to effectively get rid of the algae problem.  

To get rid of an algae bloom, don't use the chemicals, they don't work.  It's really not bad for the fish-they love it, it's usually the tank owners are the one's with the problem with the algae. I've never tried this, but have read a lot of people have had success with it.  Do a total blackout on the tank.  Get a blanket, and completely cover the tank for I believe it was for 3-4 days.  Don't feed the fish(they'll be fine), no light at all, and no peeking!  The darkness is supposed to kill off the algae. The frog wasn't causing it. You do have a filter on the tank right?  If not, I'd strongly recommend one.

You didn't ask for this info, but I'll pass it on anyway :)  Your frog, the common little African dwarf frogs are true aquatic frogs.  They'll have webbed feet.  There's also the African clawed frogs.  They're not total aquatic, and do require some land.  As they're name says, they're feet are clawed-not webbed.  That's how you can tell the difference in what you got, a lot of times they're mislabeled at the store.  Those also grow quite large.  And, your shark and dragon fish, the tank isn't large enough for them.  You should think about upgrading to a much larger tank in the near future if you want to keep them alive and healthy.  Yes, fish will stop growing according to their environment, but they're insides and organs don't stop growing, which dramatically shortens their lives.  

As far the gravel, I personally really dislike gravel because of the reason you mentioned.  It seems the junk and gunk all settles inbetween and underneath.  I have 2 tanks with gravel, but very minimal.  I'd leave it like you have it with just a little in there, easier to clean. Also, be sure to do weekly water changes of about 30% with your stocking levels.  If you don't have one, get a small plastic siphon, and clean the gravel real good to keep the water parameters(ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) good.  

Hope that helps!  Like I said, if I was wrong assuming the cloudy water was green, let me know.  If it's white/bacteria bloom, that's pretty much the tank cycling, which is a whole other deal.

Thanks!

Christy