The Puffer Forum

My puffer tank water is cloudy. I did a 75% w/c today and its still cloudy. I am giving him pimafix for what I think is ich (thats what I gave my other f8 and it got rid of the white spots) I don't want to keep doing w/c's because I don't want to stress him out and mess up my levels I just got them all to zero. I don't know if this post needs to be somewhere else but I would like some advise on how to fix my water. Some one told me to put more salt in the tank to help with the bacteria and help the water and I did that but it didn't help.
Thanks everyone!

What color cloudy is it? White? Green?

Its a milky white. Its like a fog. I don't understand I cleaned the tank (which was very dirty) my puffer is a very messy eater! I have ghost shrimp to clean up a little since my puffer doesn't eat them, so I don't understand why the water looks so bad.

Uhh, whenever my tanks were cloudy white was when it was in the process of cycling... Is it possible that you cleaned too much, and your tank is starting another cycle of bacteria? Do you have a test kit with you to check the ammonia and nitrite?

Maybe someone else with more tank experience can help you out. I've only been doing this for 6 months. ^_^

Could be from the salt if it wasn't stirred well enough.
remember only raise your sg .002 a week

What is your PH? Better yet, what are your water parameters?
Cloudy water in an established tank is caused by over feeding and not enough water changes. If you didn't vacuum out your substrate you may have stirred up all of the wastes in it as well.

Mt ph is 7.2 and my other levels are zero ( don't have the liquid yet still working on that) But i took it to my lfs and they said they were fine. I have been doing a lot of water changes lately since not doing them killed my last puffer and I gave him meds that said to do a w/c after 48 hours. I mixed the salt very well before adding it to the tank and I mixed up the gravel and got as much junk out of the tank as I could. I changed my filter since the meds I was giving him told me to take out the carbon but it was very dirty and I tried to clean it but it was so nasty that I just threw it away. I don't know the salt level since I don't have a hydrometer yet either (i know I'm horrible but I just got my wisdom teeth pulled and have been in bed for the last 4 days) I got up to clean the tank last night. I cleaned the plants and did a good cleaning hoping to get rid of the cloudy water as it was already there before the w/c. Please let me know if I am missing something or not sharing something you need to know. I just want to fix the water without hurting him.

I often have gotten cloudy water for a couple months AFTER a tank cycles. I just do twice weekly 85% water changes and hope for the best.

While I was doing my w/c yesterday (about 75 to 80%) my boyfriend told me he thinks my puffers keep dying because I keep messing with the water. He didn't want to help me change the water and clean the plants but I mad him . I just don't know why the water is like that. Is it the ich that I can't get rid of? Or is it just cloudy water. My water from the tap is cloudy when it first comes out but I let it run before adding it to the tank, but I have never had a problem with cloudy water like this. If I do get cloudy water it usually clears up after a few hours. I just don't know!

Katie

I think you should get some test kits. Cloudy water in a cycled tank never sounds good to me. You said (in the beginning of this topic) you added more salt after you've noticed the cloudy water then you said you threw the media filter away after the medicine treatment , right?

You probably messed with the bacteria adding too much salt and after you threw them away. I believe your cloudy water is related to bacterial explosion/growth. Don't trust when LFS says water parameters ARE FINE, we need numbers! That's why I suggested you to get some test kits.

Oh no my lfs is a good friend of mine and I got all the numbers and she told me the ammonia is high and she showed me and test and told me what to do, I got some prime and did a water change so I did a water change and the water was fine. That was two weeks ago. I did another w/c just 30% since I was on spring break from school I had lots of time to figure out why my puffers were dying. I can't remember the exact day the water started changing because it seemed like over night. Since I had my wisdom teeth pulled Wednesday I was in bed for the rest of the week, plus I have a gravel vac and you have to suck on the end of it to get the water to start and I couldn't suck on anything or eat for that matter (sorry I know this is kinda off topic). I have the test strips which I have been told are bad but I test the water and then try to bring it to my lfs just to check and make sure its right and so far they match up. I was treating for IP's and they told me to take out the filter so thats why I changed it. I guess thats the problem I didn't know that changing the filter was so bad. I have never had this problem when I changed the filter in the past. I added the salt after I changed the filter. The water was already cloudy before I added the salt.

So it sound you messed with the bacteria and it makes me believe you really have a bacterial explosion in the water column. I wish you get well soon to start constant WCs and wait to the cycle process to be accomplished again. Did you google cloudy water just to find out why it happens?

No I didn't google it. And I have been doing w/c every other day I just did one yesterday. Should I be doing them every day and how much till my water is better?

Well if you have a filter where bacteria can thrive you should do wcs everyday to keep ammonia/nitrite levels low, untill you get you tank cycled again. When you reach out this goal, your water will probably clear.

So doing w/c's everyday? That won't stress him out? How much water should I take out? I don't want to clean too much but I want to clean enough to clear the water. Thanks for the help!