I do a 25% water change every three days but it dosn't help. I put in the waste control and the other thing. The tank has been running for a week. Everything was clear until like 4 days after i started the tank. Should i do a total water change.

Your tank is cycling, I would not do a complete water change,as you will lose whatever cycle has already begun. Just keep up what your doing and moniter your params. It will get cloudy before the cycle is complete. Theres a link on the kokos home page about cycling. this will explain it better

No, since your tank is one week old, it is starting to cycle. The cloudiness you see is a bacteria bloom. Just watch the water parameters and change water as needed during the tanks cycle. It will clear up in a few weeks.

which is like
ph
ammonia
nitrates
What does cycle mean

What everyone is referring to is the "nitrogen cycle" that all new tanks go through. Its a three stage process - ammonia, then nitrite, then nitrate. The first two will kill your fish if allowed to get too high.

The cloudiness is probably a bacterial bloom. Is it milky looking? It's not going to harm the fish, just an indication of too many nutrients available in the tank. I've heard that too much overdosing of Amquel type products can cause this to occur.

To cycle the tank, you need to monitor the ammonia level, do partial water changes frequently to keep it below a certain level, say 1ppm. Eventually ammonia will drop to zero and nitrites will begin to build. You go through the same process, monitor nitrites and change the water to keep it below a certain level. On nitrites, I try to keep below 0.5ppm. When the nitrites drop to zero, nitrates will start to build. Your tank is then considered to be "cycled".

Nitrates can also be toxic, but at MUCH higher levels than either ammonia or nitrites. I don't even know at what level they become an issue, but I try to maintain my tanks at 10 to 20 ppm nitrate.

Good luck and take care.

Labrat

bacteria bloom... then it dies, and you would have to do a water change.

So what if the stuff dosn't go up. Cause i dont got any of those tests yet. I will have to go buy some if my fish will die if the only thing in is, is a water change.

The cloudiness will clear up. Give it a few days. Partial water changes will be the best thing at keeping the #s down but don't do a complete water change or you will have to go through all this again. Good luck with your tank and fish!

I agree. Keep up with the water changes every other day or so, until you get your test kits. The cloudy water is definantly bacteria blooms. Never do a 100% water change. Id go out and get a test kit as soon as possible so you can keep an eye on the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. While my tank was cycling, I had to sometimes change the water everyday. When you do get the test kits, i recommend keeping the ammonia below 1ppm but above .25ppm. Save with nitrites. This was just my prefrence though. I wouldnt let it get much higher then 1ppm though. Test the water daily so you can a real good feel on things. Good Luck with the new tank!

Good luck with your cycle

It is very exciting when the tank clears up... something to feel proud of because your doing it right!

k. ill go out and buy those test kuits

When i went to walmart they had a bottle by the test kits that says clears cloudy water instantly. I bet it wouldn't clear it instanlty but does this even work

I wouldn't put that in. Like everyone said, you've got a bacterial bloom. It's a good thing because you want your tank to cycle. Don't worry about the cloudy water. It will clear up. Just keep doing the 25% water changes.

Yah i though that.
This is totaly off topic but i done want to start another thread. Can i feed my fish bloodworms. My sister has some for her beta and if i can feed them to them then i would ask is i could use some

Yes, you can feed them bloodworms.

k and when i feed them oranges do i cut them up into small peices. or just let them nibble on a big peice

my tank took about 2 months to clear up, but now it has, its great

When I feed mine oranges I put a thin slice cut like the shape of half moon and they nibble on it and it bounces around in the water. But, I think the most popular way is to cut into small pieces removing all the membrane from the orange.

ok cause i was thiking to cut the outside off(the skin) and cut it in half moons and just put one in when they finished with one.

my philosophy.. follow it well if you really want healthy fish:

LESS CHEMICALS -- BETTER THE FISH.

seriously i believe it is true. theres no 'instant method' for many things, its just ad5, dont believe what its telling you. you may harm your fish. anyway, the cloudyness does not bother the fish. it only bothers you because you 'assume' it is dirty.

just do partial water changes, anyway -- how many days had this been?

every three days
it gets clearer every time i do a water change
but then i just gets cloudier

i put prob about half a inch orange in my tank so they can nibble on it at will. When i woke up my tank was extremly cloudy i couldn't see my fish when they were at the back. Should i do a 50% water change or just a 25%

How big is your tank?
How many fish and how big are they?
Most important - what kind of filter do you have on the tank and how many gph does it pump?

Sometimes even 10X an hour turnover is not enough to keep the water clear - the fish load may be full, the tank oddly shaped, the circulation less than ideal.

Depending on all the above factors, you may have more success by upping the gph that you filter - by adding an additional filter or changing to a larger capasity one.

On my corner 56 g tank, I finally ended up with over 800gph to get it clear - and I only have 3 fish in there. (they are large).

its because i put to much oranges in i found out. I got a 150 aquaclear on my 10 gallon. I going to do a 25% water change every day.

its is now clear as a whistle.