food spill

Question
Hi- I am in the beginning stages of freshwater tank ownership.  What is the best way to handle food being spilled in the tank- our little girl found the food and dumped it all in there.  We've done a partial water change with a gravel vacuum and gotten as much of the food out as we can, but the water is still cloudy.  

Answer
Dear Wendy,
You did good doing a water change, but you need to do several more to clear up the water. I don't know how long your tank has been set up or if it has completed cycling yet, but be sure to watch the fish and test your water for high ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates since the spill could off balance things for a while.  Keep changing the water and be sure to vacuum too.I would take a third of the water out each day to help clear things up. It may take a while for the water to clear. Clean your filter too, but only in declorinated water, since the filter is having to filter more particles out of the water than usual.
Hope this helps!
Karen