The photo disguises it a bit, but the water in my aquarium is very cloudy. It happened suddenly; I turned off the aquarium light, and after about two hours I noticed the water was cloudy and this was what I saw. The water was crystal clear and suddenly became like this. I'm 95% sure it was a bacterial outbreak due to organic matter, because I overfed the fish, neglected water changes, etc. In short, an excess of organic matter. I'm going to do a 50-70% water change, but I wanted to know if that's what you recommend, if anyone has experienced this before, and how they solved it. The ammonia rose to 0.25 ppm (it was zero) and the nitrite also rose a little. This was probably due to excess organic matter. (Note that this tank is 7 gallons, has 1 betta 2 otocinclus, 4 nerite snails and 3 wild neocaridina, i fed all of them too much)
https://i.redd.it/81cqpimr6nag1.jpeg
Posted by MrRogii
4 Comments
Hey, I don’t recommend doing a large water change, it can cause a rebound and worsen the bloom, do small but frequent changes, also try feeding every other day for your betta, especally otos and neocaridina, let them graze often, they’ll eat any surface biofilm. It will take a while for the bloom to go away so be patient.
Most likely bacterial bloom, not harmful but a bit of an eyesore, definitely do a water change though because of the ammonia and nitrites. Id do 20-30% changes daily for a bit as opposed to one big change though, since the levels are low enough that its not an immediate threat (unless nitrites are higher than ammonia that is). Side note though, 4 nerites will most likely starve in that tank, theyre picky eaters and usually will only eat algae, chances are there wont be enough to feed all 4, i have a 16g with one nerite and she keeps it mostly clear
What they said and turn the light off for a day or so. Helps a ton!
Cloudy water is just a bacteria bloom. Do absolutely nothing different than your usual routine. Excessive water changes will only introduce mineral rich water and help keep the bloom going. As soon as the nutrients in the water are absorbed, the bacteria will die off and the water will clear. Cloudy water is not harmful to your fishy friends.