Frequent Aquarium Questions

• I have a brand new set-up which is a 30 gallon tank. I am using a undergravel heating system to promote plant growth. The tank has no fish yet. I am using a fluval filter. After I set up the tank, the next day the water turned cloudy! What's wrong? My substrate is a flourite red for bottom layer then a layer of 2-3mm gravel.
  
  
• What do conductivity meters/probes measure?
  
  
• I recently added uncured liverock to my tank and 4 new fish. The ammonia is near 2.0 ppm, the nitrite levels are between .5-1.0 ppm, and the nitrate levels are at 20-40 ppm. What should I do?
  
  
• Could there be a reason that my fish are staying at the top of the tank?
  
  
• I've recently set up a 35 gallon tank with some lava rocks. Recently, the water has become red tinted. Is this the lava rock dissolving? How can I get the red out of the water?
  
  
• We recently have had a very profuse white, thick, goo growing in our tank. Our fish are healthy. What could this be?
  
  
• We had some recent deaths in our tank so we serviced the tank inlcuding wiping it down with alcohol. We still have high ammonia and fish are still dying. What else can we do?
  
  
• I, but everytime I need to add more water, I treat it and add it and it always makes my aquarium very cloudy, I can't even see through it, a recent ph adjuster I had put in it, I added more water each time, only like 2 gallons. What can I do?
  
  
• I have two 13" fish and am having a problem with the clarity of the water in my 75 gallon tank. I am also adding bottled bacteria. What else can I do?
  
  
• Can I do a 100% water change instead of frequent 20-30% changes?
  
  

• I have a brand new set-up which is a 30 gallon tank. I am using a undergravel heating system to promote plant growth. The tank has no fish yet. I am using a fluval filter. After I set up the tank, the next day the water turned cloudy! What's wrong? My substrate is a flourite red for bottom layer then a layer of 2-3mm gravel.
  
  It is perfectly normal for a brand new tank to turn cloudy a day or two sfter being set up. This is caused by chemical reactions between the chemicals contained in municipal tap water and water conditioners/dechlorinators added to the tank when it was filled. The tank should clear on its own within a week. If it doesn't, do a 50% water change. Wait for it to clear before adding fish.
  
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• What do conductivity meters/probes measure?
  
  They measure the concentration of free ions in freshwater, which increase the electrical conductive properties of water. They are useful for measuring the purity of reverse osmosis or deionized water to see if it is time to change media and/or RO membranes.
  
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• I recently added uncured liverock to my tank and 4 new fish. The ammonia is near 2.0 ppm, the nitrite levels are between .5-1.0 ppm, and the nitrate levels are at 20-40 ppm. What should I do?
  
  You have greatly increased the organic content of your water. If you can't seperate the fish from the rock, you will have to perform water changes until your ammonia and nitrite levels have gone down.
  
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• Could there be a reason that my fish are staying at the top of the tank?
  
  Your tank is probably low in dissolved oxygen. You can add one or more air stones powered by an air pump.
  
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• I've recently set up a 35 gallon tank with some lava rocks. Recently, the water has become red tinted. Is this the lava rock dissolving? How can I get the red out of the water?
  
  Yes, your lava rock is leaching out the red color. You can make sure your filter has a mechanical section as well as a place for carbon.
  
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• We recently have had a very profuse white, thick, goo growing in our tank. Our fish are healthy. What could this be?
  
  You are probably looking at fungus growing on decaying food. Keep vacuuming it out and perform small, multiple water changes.
  
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• We had some recent deaths in our tank so we serviced the tank inlcuding wiping it down with alcohol. We still have high ammonia and fish are still dying. What else can we do?
  
  You do not need to clean your tank with alcohol! You must do multiple large water changes, filter with zeolite and carbon, and aerate the tank.
  
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• I, but everytime I need to add more water, I treat it and add it and it always makes my aquarium very cloudy, I can't even see through it, a recent ph adjuster I had put in it, I added more water each time, only like 2 gallons. What can I do?
  
  Buffering additives will definitely cloud your tank water at first but a water conditioner should not. I suggest you top a little at a time instead of 2 gallons at a time.
  
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• I have two 13" fish and am having a problem with the clarity of the water in my 75 gallon tank. I am also adding bottled bacteria. What else can I do?
  
  Your tank is cycled. The problem is that you have 26" of large fish in a 48" tank. Unless you are prepared to do multiple water changes per week, you'll have to look into purchasing a larger tank with filtration.
  
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• Can I do a 100% water change instead of frequent 20-30% changes?
  
  In a word...no. Changing 100% of the water will be a large shock to the fishes system (think of it in terms of when you get a new fish you have to acclimate them to your water conditions).
  
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