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Hey
i have 6 brachish puffer fish, and one algae eater, i folowed the pet shop guys instructions to the dot, and my watter turned all cloudy after one day, and one of my fish just died, the pet guys instructions were to put some of this powder Ph raiser in the water, then add some conditioner, then some aquarium salt. just to let you know i used the bio spiro solution to get the tank started, it is a 10 gallon tank and i have a side filter on it not a undergravel filter.
if you could tell me how to make the watter not cloudy anymore i will do anything.
thank you

i forgot to say that the Ph lelev in my tank is inbetween 7.8 - 7.5

and the temp is 76

Odd that you'd be getting a minicycle even after using cycle. Although if used improperly and or if you increase stock too quickly you can easily throw the tank into a minicycle. Few bits of background info for you, then I'd like some more info on the tank.

First, ph ajusting chemicals are bad for the wallet and even worse for the fish. If you need to raise or lower the ph there are ways to do it safely and naturally (coral to raise, driftwood to lower for instance). Using chemicals will ajust the ph for a shor period but the tank will revert to your tap waters ph rather quickly. The result being that you'll need to continually add ph ajusters and the tank's ph will yo-yo....which will cause stress to the fish.
Next, even with using biospira wich essentially jump starts the cycling process enough that it's safe to add a few small hardy fish it's generally not a good idea to add a full stocking load of fish all @once, especially the more delicate or heavy waste producing fish.

We need more info from you on your tank before we can help any. Answer as many questions from [link=this link]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/The%20Hospital/43725.html?200407200128" style="COLOR: #EB4288[/link] that's posted @the top of the hospital forum. We really need ammonia, nitrIte, and nitrAte numbers as well as tank size and all occupants. If you don't have a complete test kit yet, now is a great time to get one. Look for aquarium pharmicuticals master test kit it comes with everything you need and ends up being cheaper than buying each individually...and much more reliable and handy than getting it done at your LFS .
Welcome to the site hope you stick around.

^_^[hr width='40%']"When you try your best but you don't succeed. When you get what you want but not what you need
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse
And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace. When you love someone but it goes to waste
COULD IT BE WORSE?" ~Coldplay

my watter just cleared up today and my fish seem to be ok
except for one who got sucked into the filter, and lost a fin, and recently past away but other than that one the other fish seem to be fine they are all eating. and i got my watter checked at a local pet store and they said the nitrates and the Ph were perfect.
thanks for your help
and i think i will stick around

Anthony, I've replied to your thread about the filter issue and I think these problems are definitely related. Check my post out there.

Did you just set this tank up a few days ago or am I reading this wrong?

Welcome to the site and the hobby if this is your first tank.

Just a few things I wanted to add:

"Fine" is really too broad a term when you're talking water quality. This is because one person's definition of ok water could be very different from that of somebody else. In most cases it's much better to express water quality information with numbers. If you can, it would be really helpful to visit the shop again and get some numbers. Tell the pet shop you would like your water tested for:

Ammonia: __________ppm
Nitrite: __________ppm
Nitrate: __________ppm
pH: ______

Copy that part down and take it with you. Then you can just fill the numbers in as you get them. Make sure you tell them you want the numbers and "fine" is just not good enough. Threaten them if you have to.

If the tank was just set up, it is going through what is known as the nitrogen cycle and the cloudiness you're seeing is bacteria that are trying to cope with the waste products from your fish. If you don't know what the cycle is, take a look at this:

http://www.fishprofiles.net/faq/begin-cycling.asp

Usually cloudy water is a sign of elevated ammonia in the tank water, this is why I would really like more specific water quality results.

For now to make things easier on the fish you can do water changes, add an extra air stone/pump to increase oxygen levels. Also if you can, pick up a product like Prime, Amquel+ or Ammolock, all of these will make the ammonia safer for your fish as your tank is cycling. I recommend Prime because I use it, it works well for fresh and brackish water (I think it's even good for marine) and is the cheapest in the long run.

here's a picture of the bottle:



As far as I know bio spira is a strictly freshwater product, I'm not sure if it works in brackish set ups with increased salinity. This may be why your tank is going through the cycling process and not "bypassing" it like it should with bio spira. It isn't available here so maybe someone who has access to it could give more info on that.

Also do you know the specific gravity (SG) or salinity of your tank? And what kind of salt are you using? Is it marine salt or does it just say "Aquarium Salt" on the package? If you don't have specific gravity or anything then how much salt did you add to the water?

Let us know if you have any other questions.

The learning curve can be a bit steep when you're just starting out but we'll help you through.

Last edited by trystianity at 19-Aug-2005 01:29[/font]

actually it seems that the cloudyness wore of after a few days, and now the tank is crystal clear. i asked the pet store guy ( brian of Brians Fish World) ( best fish store) and he said it was just bacteria multiplying or something, i didnt get what he said really, the important thing is that is gone. thanks for all your help

actually it seems that the cloudyness wore of after a few days, and now the tank is crystal clear. i asked the pet store guy ( brian of Brians Fish World) ( best fish store) and he said it was just bacteria multiplying or something

The cloudy water is a sign that your tank is cycling, bacteria multiply rapidly in the beginning to cope with the waste your fish are producing. If the bio spira was working properly you wouldn't have seen the bacteria bloom at all because it is a sign of elevated ammonia in your tank. It does clear up on its own in a few days like you saw, but you will still have elevated ammonia in the tank at this point which is really not good for your fish.

Ammonia in the tank would cause your pleco to change colour from stress and your fish to be sucked against the filter. It will probably eventually cause your fish to die if it isn't taken care of. If the tank is cycling because the bio spira failed to work, the number of fish in your tank is going to create enough waste that the cycling process is really not safe and could be fatal (again) unless you take some other action. I am trying to figure out why the bio spira didn't work. Either the shop sold you an expired/bad batch or the salinity of your water is high enough that it will not work. Either way, the shop that has been helping you should have seen that as a problem and done something about it. When bio spira works correctly your tank is cycled immediately, you don't see any bacterial blooms or ammonia or anything.

You seem to be ignoring the questions I've been posting in your threads to try and help you out. Without some more info from you, we can't help. The reason I ask questions of you is purely to help you solve your problems and get those fish healthy again.

If you haven't read the cycling FAQ that I linked to in the last post, read it now.