Frequent Aquarium Questions

• I was wondering I just got a 55 gallon fresh water fish tank and It is staying milky It has been running for 2 weeks now..What do I do?
  
  
• I have been trying to get my tank clear but have been unsuccessful. It contains black sand.
  
  
• I have a 10gal tank with 3 fancy goldfish & a "sucker"fish. We have a 20 gal hang over filter & airstones. The tank has been doing fine till 4 wks ago. We noticed a strange odor coming from the tank which stunk the whole room up. Did a 50% water change and cleaned filter. Odor came back 2wks later. Took gravel out and rinsed till odor was gone. Did another 50% water change& cleaned filter. What is this odor? It's not a "fishy" smell more a earthy/soil/matellic smell. (Our other tank is fine)
  
  
• Hi, I have a new 29 gallon reef tank with 35 lbs. of liverock. It's been cycling for a week now and the water has turned a little yellowish in color. How come this happened or is this normal?
  
  
• I have a 2 month old cycled saltwater aquarium with about 25lbs of live rock and 2 inches of live sand, my pH level keeps decreasing. Do you have an idea of what i could do to keep my pH stabilized besides adding buffer?
  
  
• Our amonia levels are 8.0 and ph is high. Is there another way to lower the amonia quickly and safly?
  
  
• My house needs to be fumagated and I have a 100 gallon salt water tank With live rock. can I leave the rock in. Will I need to do a compleet water change?
  
  
• I just got a small one-gallon tank the water started to get foggy and a rancid smell from it. But the fish was fine. So the next morning I changed all the water and the rocks to glass pebbles, within 9 1/2 hours it started to get foggy again but didn't have that racid smell.
  
  
• do i need to buy a filter for my tank if i am olny keeping goldfish in it?
  
  

• I was wondering I just got a 55 gallon fresh water fish tank and It is staying milky It has been running for 2 weeks now..What do I do?
  
  When establishing a new aquarium (saltwater or freshwater)it is non uncommon to observe the water becoming cloudy due to a bacterial bloom. If this state of cloudiness continues over a period of weeks however this suggests that the system (biologically) has not remained stable. You can address this by conducting a partial water change mid-cycle.
  
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• I have been trying to get my tank clear but have been unsuccessful. It contains black sand.
  
  If the sand is new, you will be experiencing this cloudiness for awhile until the sand is cleansed properly.
  
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• I have a 10gal tank with 3 fancy goldfish & a "sucker"fish. We have a 20 gal hang over filter & airstones. The tank has been doing fine till 4 wks ago. We noticed a strange odor coming from the tank which stunk the whole room up. Did a 50% water change and cleaned filter. Odor came back 2wks later. Took gravel out and rinsed till odor was gone. Did another 50% water change& cleaned filter. What is this odor? It's not a "fishy" smell more a earthy/soil/matellic smell. (Our other tank is fine)
  
  Have you tried changing the filter media, ie. filter pad/insert. Sometimes these can get soiled with algae and fish food and then dry out.
  
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• Hi, I have a new 29 gallon reef tank with 35 lbs. of liverock. It's been cycling for a week now and the water has turned a little yellowish in color. How come this happened or is this normal?
  
  Your liverock is still in the process of curing.
  
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• I have a 2 month old cycled saltwater aquarium with about 25lbs of live rock and 2 inches of live sand, my pH level keeps decreasing. Do you have an idea of what i could do to keep my pH stabilized besides adding buffer?
  
  Hi Lance, If your not using r/o water you may want to invest in a r/o system. If you still need buffers you may want to get a calcium reactor.
  
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• Our amonia levels are 8.0 and ph is high. Is there another way to lower the amonia quickly and safly?
  
  Hi Tina, High ammonia levels are usually caused by overfeeding or having a new tank that hasn't fully cycled. Try a water change of about 30% to reduce the levels. There are chemicals that reduce the ammonia, but are only a quick fix to the problem.
  
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• My house needs to be fumagated and I have a 100 gallon salt water tank With live rock. can I leave the rock in. Will I need to do a compleet water change?
  
  Hi Brandon, You must completly seal the top of the tank with plastic (saran wrap, plastic drop cloth, etc). Use duct tape to make sure you have a good seal. Shut off all venturi's, pumps, etc. that bring outside air into the tank. Afterwards run carbon and poly filters to remove any chemicals that may have entered the tank.
  
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• I just got a small one-gallon tank the water started to get foggy and a rancid smell from it. But the fish was fine. So the next morning I changed all the water and the rocks to glass pebbles, within 9 1/2 hours it started to get foggy again but didn't have that racid smell.
  
  Hi Laura, Without a filter it's hard to keep any size tank from going stagnant. Small tanks get dirty faster. Look into getting some type of filtration.
  
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• do i need to buy a filter for my tank if i am olny keeping goldfish in it?
  
  Absolutely!!! Without a doubt, goldfish are one of the messiest fish there is....they need a filter on their tank more than most fish out there. Goldfish thriving in an unfiltered bowl is a terrible myth.
  
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