I've got a 25 gallon tank with 2 goldfish and some white clouds, and recently the water has been cloudy, almost milky, and there is brown discoloration on the filter intake tube and the fake plants. The tanks been running for about 3 weeks, the ammonia is a bit high, but that's expected at this point. Everything else is fine. So, is this from bacteria? If it is, how do I get rid of it? And if not, what is it?

EDIT: Also, one of the goldfish keeps going to the top for air, then lets it out of his mouth, not his gills. I thought that he needed more O2, but I have a bubble rock thing, and the air doesn't actually go through his gills, he gets some in his mouth, swims down and lets it out of his mouth. Could he just be playing?

Could you post your water test readings?

At 3 weeks, it's time for nitrIte to start showing up.

NitrIte is toxic. It enters thru the gills and binds up the red blood cells keeping them from being able to carry oxygen. Salt helps protect against nitrIte poisoning because it competes with nitrIte for uptake thru the gills.

I'd add the salt at 1 teaspoon per gallon of water. predissolve in tank water and make sure it disperses well when you add it. Be sure to use non-iodized salt with no other additives. When you do partial water changes just add 1 tsp of salt per gallon changed till nitrItes come down to 0, then you can skip adding any more salt. Your partial water changes will then remove it over time.

White milky is common in new tanks. It's the bacteria that eat debris in the tank growing too fast. They'll chill out but can increase your ammonia levels in the meantime.

Last time I checked, which was a day or three ago, the ammonia was 1, the nitrites were 0, nitrate was 5. My tap water has nitrates in it. :/

I'l probably be getting the water tested this weekend, but as far as I can see, nitrites are not showing up. ):

any idea what your pH is?

Yeah, it's 7.2-7.3

Cool. that'll help make ammonia less toxic.

I didn't read your description of the goldies behavior well the first time. My ryunkin does that too and I don't think it's a problem.

Ok. Well, that doesn't help with the problem of nitrites not showing up. Could it be because the temp of the water is 67F? That's the room temp of my house, so.... I'm guessing it should be warmer, about 72F?

Well, another white cloud died, it was the small gold one. The goldfish are fine, they show no signs of stress or illness, I don't know what's going on with the water, though.

Warmer temperatures would help get the biofilter bacteria up to speed faster. They actually like it up around 78-80 I think. Do you have fancy or common goldies?

I keep my fancy goldie tank temp up around 76F. Better for their digestion and immune system.

I've got 2 comets, they're around 3 inches each. And there are 4 white clouds, and now 1 gold white cloud.

The brown stuff on the glass is getting really bad. I think it's algae. Is there a way to get rid of it/stop it from growing? Maybe once the tank is cycled I should get a pleco?

72 should be fine.

Not a common pleco. They get HUGE like 2 foot. and can hurt goldies. Plus you're at capacity or overstocked for the 25 gallon tank. People usually recommend more like 15 or 20 gallons of water per common goldie.

Ramshorn snails would work. but they'd have to be bigger than the goldies' mouths.

Ok, I'll work on getting a heater, and keeping it at 72. I know it's overstocked, but one wall of the tank is so covered in brown algae that you can't see. ):