Cloudy Water... How to get rid of it

[Snowman70]

Hi everyone, I have a question for everyone. How do you get rid of the cloudiness in a tank without dosing? SO as of Sunday May 6, 2018. My water was crystal clear. Sunday evening my skimmer started to act up and it started overflowing, my skimmer hangs off my rimless 45 gallon tank. Yesterday morning I noticed the cloudiness in my tank. I kept the lights off all day yesterday. When I came home from work the skimmer kept overflowing so when I got home from work last night I turned it off. My tank is going on three weeks it is cycling.

I have 2 clown fish
Water Params as follows
ph- 7.8
Ammonia - .5
Nitrites - 5 ppm
Nitrates - 40
Calcium - 480

17lbs of dry rock
2 inch thickness of live sand
1 powerhead
Aquaclear 110 filter

I feed the fish once a day. I believe my skimmer since it has been on the fritz that, that is why my water is cloudy.

I have activated carbon, I was told to place that under the water fall of the filter and let it sit or I can take out the carbon in the filter and replace it with the activated carbon I have. Any thoughts or help?

 

[mcgyvr]

You don't worry about it..
It will pass..

There are stages of a tank that it just must go through.. Attempting to fight nature is a losing battle..
Cloudy water, diatoms, green film/hair algae and even cyano.. All should 100% be expected and tolerated in a new tank..

You are attempting to create a miniature ecosystem there.. That doesn't always happen in a beautiful process..
Time..

Nothing good happens fast in this hobby..
Patience is very important..

Many times attempting to fight nature will just make it worse..

Oh and be prepared for comments about how cycling a tank with fish thus exposing them intentionally to toxins like ammonia/nitrite is frowned upon by many..
I really don't care.. But I'm just preparing you for what may come... (hopefully the fact I made the comment will save you from some)

 

[Snowman70]

Mcgyvr thanks, just worried that it will kill my fish. I was reading it can be some kind of algae bloom. I will let it sit and see where it goes. Do you think I should turn the skimmer back on this evening when I get home from work? Or should I wait another day?

 

[mcgyvr]

Mcgyvr thanks, just worried that it will kill my fish.

Thats ironic..
I edited my first post to add one more comment that you might have missed which is whats ironic about your concern..

I would keep the skimmer running as it really helps oxygenate the water..
Typically cloudy water doesn't cause fish any problems at all.. Its just not visually appealing..

 

[Snowman70]

Thats ironic..
I edited my first post to add one more comment that you might have missed which is whats ironic about your concern..

Oh I am sure. I am waiting for the scolding, I've read some of these posts and I am prepared. Thanks for the warning, I meant to mention something about it in my original post. I am learning and thats why I am here.

 

[sde1500]

Setting up shop, now on sale! Buy one, get a free torch! Get 'em while their hot.

 

[mcgyvr]

^^ lol
Burn him...

 

[thegrun]

...I would certainly be a lot more afraid of the ammonia killing the fish than the cloudy water! Since you know about the unnecessary subjecting of the fish to ammonia do you plan on doing anything about it like returning them to the fish store until the tank has cycled? As to the cloudy water I suspect it is a bacteriological bloom, not much to worry about except that it can absorb a lot of the available oxygen so the advice given above about turning the skimmer back on is valid, just dial it way back so it doesn't overflow.

 

[mcgyvr]

To me looking at his readings the worst has passed.. If the fish are still fine then they should have no problems making it through the rest of the cycle..
No need to return them to save them..

 

[Snowman70]

got it. I will turn the skimmer on this evening when I get back home. I'll figure out how to not make it over flow. I'm not returning my fish as they seem fine. Thanks for all the advice and tips appreciate it.

 

[thegrun]

To me looking at his readings the worst has passed.. If the fish are still fine then they should have no problems making it through the rest of the cycle..
No need to return them to save them..

Could be but I don't see a history of when or if the ammonia spiked and started to drop. If it has dropped it usually does so very quickly down to zero and I agree removing the fish would probably not be necessary (although an ammonia level at 0.5 can be fatal). From the post however it could still be rising, there simply isn't enough information.

 

[Snowman70]

The ammonia actually started at 0 then spiked to 1 on friday, saturday and sunday then dropped yesterday to .5,